The House Of The Devil (2009)

December 8, 2009 by Morbid  

If any of you watched that trailer and thought to yourself, “My God, that looks good as hell.” Well you are in luck as the movie is as good as the trailer. I was surprised as after “Trick ‘r Treat” I didn’t think it would be possible for another horror film to contend as Best Horror Film of 2009 this late in the game. But that’s what has happened and if I were forced to choose between the two films, I’m not sure that I could. I already knew “House” was probably gonna be a good film, as the buzz from people who had seen it was pretty positive. I just wasn’t aware of how goddamn good of a film it was going to turn out to be. But now after seeing it, I can easily say that “The House of the Devil” is one of, if not the, best horror film of 2009.

Perky college student Samantha (the gorgeous Jocelin Donahue who was born to wear tight jeans) is fed up with dorm life and living with her slob of a roommate has become unbearable. She decides to get a place of her own and proceeds to rent an apartment she cannot afford. To help out with her monetary issues, she answers a babysitter wanted ad placed by the Ulman’s, a creepy couple (cult favorites Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov) willing to pay some good money for her come out to their rural home for a few hours. Once at the home it is revealed that it is not a child she will be watching, but rather Mr. Ullman’s mother. Initially balking on the arrangement, Samantha changes her mind when Mr. Ulman ups the pay. Before the night is over, this will be a decision Samantha will regret ever having made.

The first thing a viewer will notice about “House” is that director Ti West has captured the look and feel of an ’80-s film to a motherfucking “T”. I don’t mean that this looks like film from 2009 that takes place in 1980, I mean this film looks like it was MADE in 1980. Shot on 16mm, West echos all the art direction and cinematography of the ’80s horror film to such an accurate degree that I bet if you were to show this to a friend who knew nothing about the movie, they would not question you if you told them it was made 30 years ago. Accented by one of the best movie scores this year by Jeff Grace (to check out some score samples click here), this slow burner smacks of other horror classics like Rosemary’s Baby, “Halloween” and even “The Shining”.

Employing the Hitchcock Bomb Theory of letting the viewer know up front that something bad is going to happen to Samantha and then letting the viewer slowly stew in the juices. It’s classic suspense done correctly and while some may argue that the pay off to all this buildup is not completely satisfying, I every single, second of it. I was relieved to sit down to watch a horror film and actually get the feeling of dread and nervous anticipation that should come with any film that tacks the terms “suspense” and “thriller” onto itself.

The acting is superb throughout. Jocelin Donahue plays Samantha with convincing naivetivity, her look and demeanor perfect for the era. One particular scene that stood out for me in both style and subtle character building takes place inside a pizza parlor and is a simple conversation between Samantha and her finger-licking friend, Megan (Greta Gerwig). It reminded of “Let the Right One In” and how a simple conversation between two characters, when done correctly, is all you need to flesh out characters and turn them into living, breathing people.  Although I am a longtime fan of Tom Noonan (his Francis Dollarhyde character from “Manhunter” is still one of my favorite serial killers in a film) I particularly enjoyed seeing Mary Woronov in a film again. She oozes disease in “House” and her performance will set you on edge almost immediately upon being introduced to her. Both Noonan and Woronov have cut their teeth with decades of ominous character roles, but having them play a couple just amped that up to 11.

I was only 10 minutes into ‘House” before I realized I was developing a crush on it. By time Samantha was dancing around the Ulman’s spooky house while blaring The Fixx’s “One Thing Leads To Another” on her Walkman, I wanted to marry it and bear its children. This film was a remarkable achievement from start to finish and a refreshing change in this day and age of horror remakes and quick cash-ins focusing on blood and gore. It renewed my faith that there are filmmakers out there who do “get” horror and love it as much as I do. So for all you people bitching about horror remakes and what a pitiful state the horror film is in at the moment, put your money where your mouth is and check out this film. You can check it out on DVD and Blu-Ray when it is released on February 2nd, 2010 or watch it tonight via Amazon Video On Demand for the low, low price of $6.99. It’s worth it. I’m giving “The House of the Devil” an easy 4.5 bones in the throat out of 5.

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