Review of The House of the Devil (2009) by Alejandro C — 08 May 2010

Most of my stars are dedicated to the aesthetics of this period piece. It is nothing short of a tenderly crafted, love-letter style, passionately artistic homage to that initially disregarded but retrospectively culturally valued horror genre: low budget exploitation. Set in the 80s (giving it - for me - love at first sight kudos and embuing it with the romantic enticement of the now immortalised "summer in the 80s ~ American youth~ good times") both on screen and off, no stone has been left unturned in trying to deliver the most authentic look and feel of the genre in that period. It hits the mark with stunning accuracy.. had I not known it was made in 2009, I'd have assumed an early 80s re-release, digitally remastered to add in the wintry blue crispness of its mood-colouring. It also gets one whole star for pulling off that rarest of horror staples (rare because it is so difficult to get it right in what has become a truly densensitised culture of horror fans feeding off the factory farmed exploitations-of-exploitation movies... sadly a character statement of the industry today): the absolute SHOCK death. The kind that pulls the rug right out from under you. I think it works not just because of the impact of its violence (read: not gore.. though there is plenty of blood shed at this moment) but because of its timing to perfection: taking place all too suddenly in a quiet moment sandwiched between lengthy periods of suspense play.

Now the bad bits: Style-Over-Substance. I have no issue with the fact that nothing much happens for most of the movie.. that's what sets it out as a true independent i.e. remaining watchable in spite of little action. Building suspense is the name of the game and it does its job with incredible skill and dedication to the artform. That is all fine. But something else is missing.. something went terribly wrong at the end. It felt all too suddenly rushed. And it neglected to enlist the potential power inherent in its cast of monsters. For the protagonist - a slip of a girl - to suddenly outwit and overpower her pursuers, just doesn't read true and there isn't enough background detail to truly save this final failure.

In a nutshell, THOTD is a beautifully rendered, intensely creepy, cinematic gem which fans of the genre will have nothing but respect for, if not adoration. It has been crafted with passion and love and this will be immediately apparent to the viewer. It builds tension and suspense by concluding a day of transition and insecurity with horrific, demonic terror.