Ellen Reviews “The House of the Devil”

The House of the Devil (2010)

Written and Directed by Ti West

Rated R; 90 minute runtime

Streaming on Amazon and Shudder.

It’s no secret that I love a good retro and vintage aesthetic, and I do my best to live that vintage old-school vibe to my core, haha! But I’m 10x more the sucker when it comes to finding that same look and atmosphere in a movie. “The House of the Devil'' has everything I love about modern filmmaking, with plenty of retro flair in the vein of Hammer Films or Dario Argento. It’s full of tension, beautiful cinematography, just the right amount of camp and meta vibes, and a well-balanced dash of the gory stuff; brilliantly blending vibes of occult horror with realism via a logical and sensible timeline of events.

It leans into its vintage horror vibe starting with the opening freeze-frame title cards, that garish yellow font, desaturated grainy film, and a dash of glorious late-70s early-80s synthesizer soundtrack vibes, I knew I was going to be in for a treat. The movie is a little tongue-in-cheek, opening with a “based on true events” suggestive tagline, which is really the faintest, most remote connection to the “Satanic Panic” of the decade. I wholly appreciated the nod via cameo by Dee Wallace, the landlady showing our lead gal, Samantha, a lovely decade-appropriate (read ugly af in the best way) student friendly apartment. There’s lots of big foam headphones and cassette walkmans, oversized denim jackets, and the classic Pepperoni Pizza. (Is there anything more 80s than a pepperoni pizza? I think not, to be honest.)

The central storyline even follows my favorite 80s movie trope: babysitting gone amiss! The tension builds from the very beginning, as we feel poor Samantha’s alienation from her obnoxious roomie and mostly-useless best friend, played by Greta Gerwig. It comes as no surprise that this poor lonely girl makes a bad life decision in taking the ominous babysitting job at a dark, gloomy Victorian mansion in the middle of nowhere on the night of a full moon. What could possibly go wrong!? 

(As an aside, because I love to tangent if you’ve not already noticed, I truly can’t figure out for the life of me why there were so many babysitting atrocities in the late 70s and early 80s, and yet Movie Parents still leave their kids alone with strangers? And what’s up with all these teens and college students accepting these obviously sketchy job requests? Really… if a man said “I promise to make this as painless as possible” to me about a babysitting job, I’d, uhh, probably not really be so keen, even if he did offer me an obscene amount of money; but hey, it makes for great cinema and so I embrace this poor decision making in the name of art!)

The movie’s visuals are a real treat, and lend to its success as an atmospheric retro horror. There are plenty of nods to previous horror movies such as “Halloween,” “Slumber Party Massacre”, “When A Stranger calls,” “The Omen” and a healthy dash of “Suspiria,” just to name a few. The quick cuts between scenes are on par with 70s/80s film, as is the excellent use of light and shadow to create a sense of dread. It employs brilliant use of the jankity camera zoom on random objects to elevate shock value and discomfort, like a ringing phone or a door handle, etc. It has a lot of Hitchcockian overhead shots as well, aiding in the discomfort and anxiety. Combine all of that with excellent sound design and a brilliantly placed soundtrack full of staccato notes? You’ve got a recipe for a great throwback horror for older fans with just enough modern polish to keep younger generations intrigued.

I watched this one solo, but I can imagine it would be a blast with a group of friends! I’m all about a theme, too so I recommend grabbing a 6-pack of Tab, Fresca, or cheap beer, an extra cheesy pizza delivery, a bag of chips with dip and some classic cheezeballs, and turning all the lights off. Lean into the moodiness and old school thrills and enjoy the ride, because it’s a doozy.

Note: While this movie is mostly quite tame for a fair while, choosing to focus on emotion rather than relying solely on garish atrocities, the climax of the film features a fair amount of Blood, Gore, Graphic Gun Violence, and suggestions of Suicidal Ideation or Self Harm.

By Ellen Avigliano

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