Stamp of approval. That’s what I give Ti West’s The House of the Devil. In a year cluttered with horror remakes and homages, Magnolia Home Entertainment brings an extremely original, creep-you-out period piece set in the ‘80s. Honestly, if I hadn’t known this film was made in ’09 I would have completely believed I was watching a lost horror film from ‘80s. It’s getting a limited release in theaters this Halloween . . . or you can watch it RIGHT NOW!!!

Follow up:

I watched this film a few days ago and before I had time to post this article it seemed all the other horror news sites beat me to the punch. I make you aware of this so you know I’m not writing because of the recent fad but because House of the Devil is incredible and deserves the attention. You ask, “How can I see this right now?” House of the Devil has been quietly made available for rental on Amazon, VOD and X-Box (click here to rent it on Amazon for $9.99) even though (given the chance) I’ll probably be seeing this in theaters October 30th.

The indie and foreign horror scene is where it’s at this year. Homage films (Scream, Hatchet) and remakes (Halloween, Friday the 13th etc…) are getting all the theatrical face time but low-budget productions like Paranormal Activity and House of the Devil is where all the originality has been hiding.

"Set in the 1980s and based on true, unexplained events, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL stars the sexy Jocelin Donahue as cash-strapped college student Samantha Hughes, who takes a babysitting job in a remote mansion with her good friend Megan (Greta Gerwig, BAGHEAD). She’s desperate for money and the pay is good, but something feels wrong, and Samantha quickly realizes that the girls are trapped. As a lunar eclipse darkens the night sky, Samantha finds that her employers—cult favorites Tom Noonan (MANHUNTER) and Mary Woronov (ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL)—don’t have a baby at all, and have something truly terrifying in store for them."



Let’s talk the ‘feel’ of the film. This is one of the only movies of the decade that might be mistaken for a film released in the American ’70s and ’80s. I believe this is due to three elements. The story (similar in simplicity to ‘80s horror one dimensional plots), the lead star, Jocelin Donahue, who’s acting and appearance are a blast from the past and the set design and environment (clothing, hair, old skool architecture, Amityville/Exorcist-like etc…). In the first 10 minutes (with a nice Cameo of Dee Wallace) I kept thinking how much the style resembled the Exorcist and this actually added to the creepiness. A really cool marketing idea would have been to claim that House of the Devil was a lost film of the early ‘80s that they found tucked away on a shelf in some studio. I know with the internet this would have been an impossible secret to keep but a part of me still wishes they would have tried it. Plus, I’m sure Ti West wouldn’t appreciate having his name taken off his work for sake of a marketing ploy.



You font freaks can rest at ease with the opening title (which is a little bit of foreshadowing and symbolic of the style). This could be good or bad depending on when you grew up and how much patience you have. If you have a short attention span you might want to sit this one out as the film is a throw back to a ‘slower’ pace of filmmaking. House of the Devil is like walking carefully up a staircase. It’s divided between steps of tension and plateaus of realism creating extreme care for the main protagonist. Sure you want to see the former Levi’s Jean model take her top off but you still actually fear for Samantha and don’t want to see any harm come her way (and lets face it, in most horror movies these days they can’t kill characters fast enough). For once I didn’t want her sliced and diced. Honestly, I found relief every time the story would jump to the ‘antagonist’ just so I could keep an eye on them. I think I’m going to have to give House of the Devil the title of ‘Ultimate Throw-back Movie of the Year’.

Click here to head over to the official website for more info.