Simply A Masterpiece

Don't Believe the Hype

Absolutely Fantastic

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Ok, I never ever do this, this is my first ever IMDB review. Apologies to all involved. I know it is hard to make anything creative, be that a painting or a computer game or even a full movie, (I have a friend who makes indie movies and so I know there are a lot of factors to consider before doing what I am about to do, but that doesn't make me feel any better).I selected this movie to watch based on the old-school looks of the trailer. There was a real 80's vibe about it that made me believe this was going to be something enjoyable indeed and so I decided to watch it. The opening titles were stylish, the vibe being created was enticing and I was fairly certain I would be enjoying this movie in no time.After about 20 minutes I started to have second thoughts about my choice, it felt very flat and I didn't feel I was in the movie at all. After what felt like an eternity of nothing happening there was a shock moment that made me sit up and take note once again, maybe I had hit the spot that defined the whole movie (as mentioned by all the reviews here on IMDB) and then....that was it. The movie lost all pacing, cohesion and left me wondering if I cared about anything happening within the movie at all. The 'surprise' ending was seen ages ago and it just fell flat.Look, the people who made this are very talented, the look of the movie is exceptional but the story left a lot to be desired and left me feeling like I had not enjoyed what would have otherwise have had the potential to be incredible.

This movie is extremely true to the eighties. Although I didn't live in that time, I have seen many of the movies from then and the editing is incredible. It is slow at the beggining, but the director and writer uses this to develop fear as the girl hears strange noises.

Spoiler alerts ahead, READ AT OWN DISCRETION! House of the Devil leaves the audience terrified and interested. While watching, one could predict when something would happen, even if it was uncertain of what would happen. The doorbell for the pizza delivery is meant to be unexpected, but to those paying attention to timing it was not. When Samantha knocked on the door and on the other side there were dead bodies, it was clear that the mother was not behind the door, but something else more sinister was. What made this movie so great was that even though predictions could be made that something would happen, the audience is still left completely petrified. The suspenseful aspect of the movie is how TI West kept everyone on the edge of their seats. During the pentagram scene while the physical act of rape was not done, it was very apparent that the ram's head on her stomach and the blood dripping down onto her was meant to impregnate her. The whole idea of the pentagram and the summoning of the devil is something that terrifies me to the core. The parallels of being raped in real life by a man and the movie I think is what terrifies so many women. Because in real life, when a woman is raped and is found to be pregnant, there are so many thoughts that run through her head. Does she keep it? Does she abort it? Will she be reminded of the demon when she looks at the baby? While being raped and impregnated by the devil is not necessarily a possibility in life, the ideology behind it is.

*SPOILERS*By now, the conventions of 80's horror are well established within the genre. The final girl, panning shots, and incredibly tall hair. But what would an 80's film look like in a modernized world? That is the question House of the Devil seeks to answer. Director Ti West looks to shock viewers by broadcasting the nightmares experienced by Samantha, a babysitter just looking to make a quick buck. However, she ends up signing up for something much more sinister. Where House of the Devil succeeds is not only in it's accurate portrayal of the decade, but also the slow, gradual build to its climax. West takes makes the film feel as if it's a roller coaster slowly rising to it's descent, with low- angle shots of the gloomy house and a eerily-aching score. The backing music helps capture the magic of having a brilliant score, similar to the slasher flicks of decades before, such as John Carpenter's Halloween. But this film is far from being a generic slasher flick - it's quite the opposite. The House of the Devil is a smart, goosebumps- inducing film which tells the tale that not everything is what it appears to be on the surface. We find ourselves hoping for the pizza that Samantha ordered to just be a pizza, but we know better - and that's the best and worst part about this film. We, as the viewers, know that whatever is going to happen to this sweet babysitter (and trust me, what happens will surprise you more than you are ever expecting) is not going to be great, but we keep rooting for her to make it out alive. By the time we are finally able to get a close up shot of the madness (specifically the demonic creature that impregnates her), we're ready for Samantha to end this movie for once and all. The House of the Devil is just the answer to what a modern day 80's horror film should look like - one that invokes a sense of nostalgia, all the while being ready to be the cause of your nightmares.