Hooray! Another movie where you can get into an argument with someone about whether a large chunk of it was either good or bad!
The House of the Devil opens with Samantha, a college student, checking out an apartment for rent. She really wants it, and the landlady is very willing to work with her by waving the deposit, but Samantha is still short on cash. She takes a job as a babysitter that she sees advertised on a flyer. Samantha's friend Megan takes her to the mansion where the family lives, and it is discovered that there is no child. Mr. Ulman tells Samantha that he really needs someone to stay with his mother. Samantha is quite creeped out by this, but Mr. Ulman offers her $400. She agrees. Megan does not care for this at all and leaves quite annoyed, but agrees to return to pick Samantha up at 12:30am. The Ulmans leave as well and the "horror" begins.
This film is an exact replica of late 70's early 80's horror movies in look, music, plot and pretty much everything else. An appearance by Dee Wallace as the landlady sort of solidifies this. And I mean every detail. The opening credit sequence, the Sony Walkman Samantha has, the hair, everything. All of this is not done in jest, but rather as a throwback or homage. And quite well done at that. I mean, just look at that poster. The acting was great, the directing was great. There are some pretty good moments that should cause you to jump out of your seat. The thing that is going to make or break this film for you is a giant portion of it where Samantha is in the house wandering around. You are either going to find it very slow and boring or you will find it suspenseful and perhaps even a satisfying build up. I actually did not realize how long this part of the film went on until eventually something happened, and the movie was over like 15 minutes later. The end of this film is a bit odd, and if you did not like that slow section of the movie, you will no doubt hate the end, and may call it anti-climatic or not good enough to justify the long period of relative inactivity. But that is the type of horror movie that the director, Ti West is trying to emulate. If you are expecting a murderous psychopath chopping heads off every 2 minutes, you are watching the wrong film. This is a very nice change of pace from the usual fare that is out there, and in that respect, it was a bold choice to to make it. I would really hope that those who find fault with this film would at least recognize that as a success.
This is a decent picture. It is very well executed, and conjured up pleasant memories of original versions of classic horror, as opposed to being lumped together with lackluster reboots, sequels and the modern over-hyped pieces of shit that do not belong in the horror category.
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