Review of The House of the Devil (2009) by Patrick E — 20 Jun 2010

The House of the Devil is a brilliantly effective horror film that's a throwback to the 70's and 80's chillers that relied on creepiness and atmosphere to frighten rather than loud noises or cheap gore. It's wonderfully designed as an 80's film right down to the opening credits and soundtrack and every part of the production works perfectly.

The plot revolves around student Samantha (played brilliantly by new scream queen Jocelin Donahue) who has just rented her first apartment and desperately needs the money to pay the rent. She finds a poster for babysitting shop and enquires about the position. After initially being stood up, she is offered the job and is driven by her best friend out the country house. Once there she learns that she has been deceived and the job is actually to take care of the fathers? mother. Being desperate for cash and despite the strangeness of the family she accepts the job. From here on in the film is intensely creepy with some wonderful lighting and sound effects that will genuinely have you frightened. The tension only builds as more and more little things seem out of place and Samantha becomes more and more worked up. Eventually it all leads up to perhaps and anti-climatic ending but it's all about the build up in this excellent film.

Yes it has a slow pace and many people, especially torture porn addicts, will be disappointed with the pay off but it is without doubt the most effectively chilling horror films of recent times and deserved a much bigger release than it received. With buckets of suspense and tension, The House of the Devil is a great film to watch with the lights off as it will really get the pulse racing!