Review of The House of the Devil (2009) by Victor T — 29 Oct 2016

These days is quite difficult to get a legitimately scary horror film/critically acclaimed, so every time one gets a considerable amount of acclaim, it peaks my interest, thus is the case of the well received "The House of the Devil".

Set in the 80s, we follow a young sophomore named Samantha who recently bought a new apartment. Needing money for the first deposit, she accepts a babysitting job located in the middle of nowhere but little does she know that night will change her life.

Out of all the horror subgenres, demons/possession films are the ones I try to avoid due to its limited creative possibilities and the fact that the recent additions have been more than lackluster for my taste ("Devil's Due", "The Devil Inside", "The Exorcism of Emily Rose", "Dominion/Exorcist the Beginning", "Ouija", etc), but I do love "The Exorcist", "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Omen", so when people described this film as a fantastic homage to those films I decided to give it a chance (plus you have Tom Noonan in here) and I have to say I was extremely disappointed. "Th House of the Devil" is a extremely peculiar horror film, as it has good ideas and a more than confident director in charge (it reminds me of "You're Next" which shared cast members and had a cameo by this film's director, Ti West) but it is all limited/destroyed by the script. The film is made as an homage to those cult/possession films from the late 60s to the mid 70s but at the same time it tries to merge the old fashioned haunted house thus taking away all the tension. Being limited to a cliched location, you don't have anything to be afraid of, this isn't "Rosemary's Baby" where you don't know what/who to trust or "The Omen" where you don't know what is going to happen next, this is just a chick walking around a house (or even dancing) and therefore throwing every horror cliché possible. I know the point of the film is the buildup and it's payoff but the buildup is poorly executed (West tried and failed to follow the steps of Hitchcock) and the payoff is short, cliched and even campy.

"The House of the Devil" is a stylish and well made homage of the late 60s to mid 70s possession films, but it lacks an identity. Due to major pacing issues, predictable/barely basic screenplay and its location limitations, this film drags and will possibly bore you if you are well versed on the horror genre. A confidently made film that is ultimately generic and forgettable.