Review of The House of the Devil (2009) by Mike S — 13 May 2010

THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL is a wonderful old-school horror film from director Ti West. Unlike the SAW and HOSTEL films that signify where the horror genre is today, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL doesn't feel the need to throw an endless amount of fake blood at the screen to try to scare its audience. Instead, West opts to build a sense of dread that hangs over the entire film. We know something bad is on its way, but we don't know from whom, from where, or when it's ultimately going to happen.

The real star of this film is West's visual style. This is not a film that is set in modern time, but rather one set sometime during the very early 1980s, and it very much looks like a late 1970s / early 1980s horror film. There's nothing slick about the visual presentation of the film. This is a dark and gritty horror film, with a visual styling that recalls some of John Carpenter's earlier work, such as HALLOWEEN. If one were to walk in and see this film playing on a TV screen somewhere without knowing what it was, one would easily be forgiven for thinking that this was a film that had actually been made during the late '70s or early '80s.

Jocelin Donahue, who play's the film's protagonist, turns in a wonderful performance that ranks as amongst the absolute best performances by a lead actress in a horror film in at least a decade. Her performance in very reminiscent of some of the more iconic ones in the genre, such as Jamie Lee Curtis' turn in HALLOWEEN. Much like the visual styling of the film, Donahue doesn't make it seem as though we're simply watching a modern actress play a different part. She truly owns the screen, making us believe that she herself is very much a product of the 1980s culture, and she does so flawlessly. Horror veteran Tom Noonan is also on hand, delivering a wonderfully subdued, yet still quite creepy performance that is all too appropriate for the film.

With THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD, director Ti West has turned in, without question, one of the best horror films in at least the last decade. It's certainly the best original work in the genre in at least that long, with the remake of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and EDEN LAKE being the only films in the genre from the past decade that can stand alongside THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL.