House of the Devil

2009, US, Directed by Ti West

Colour, Running Time: 95 minutes

Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, Metrodome; Video: 1.78:1 1080p 24fps, Audio: DTS-MA

Heading into House of the Devil somewhat blindly I was admittedly expecting a traditional haunted house movie, having avoided reading much in way of reviews simply because I liked the look of it and didn’t want too much revealed before seeing it. Without spoiling much it’s more of a movie that’s ultimately about devil worship and ritual sacrifice, a world that Samantha, the young college student who is onscreen almost throughout, unwittingly gets herself tangled up in. Looking for some survival cash Samantha finds an advertisement for a babysitter role out in the countryside. On an evening happening to coincide with a widely publicised lunar eclipse, Sam persuades her friend Megan to drive her out to the place, which turns out to be a creepy old house near a cemetery. Meeting the strange old owner of the house it turns out the ‘babysitter’ advert wasn’t entirely truthful and the resident couple in fact want someone to make sure the lady’s mother is okay while they go out for the evening. Megan is suspicious of the whole thing but is persuaded to arrange collection of her friend around midnight after a substantial amount of money is offered to Sam for just four hours of vigil. After some time alone downstairs Sam starts looking around the house but sees no sign of the mother, however things start happening to suggest not all is normal in the household - Sam’s imagination may be overly active given the mystical climate of the night (and the fact that Night of the Living Dead is on TV!) but it’s clear there’s an air of uncanny discomfort in the isolated house.

Most of the film does take place within the creepy titular building and there’s a surprisingly slow build up before any nasty stuff starts happening. I do generally like slow developments in a story personally, as it provides opportunity to appreciate the hell that eventually breaks loose, and its with this latter aspect that I have small issues - after all happens it feels a tad anti-climactic, without a solid point to acknowledge. There is a generous dose of atmosphere, plus the central performance (by Jocelin Donahue) is quite likeable and proficient, reminding me a little of Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween. There are amusing nods to the genre with the emergence (sometimes brief) of several cast members who’ve appeared in movies you’ve probably already seen: Mary Woronov was a genre regular from the likes of the funky Night of the Comet, to the not so funky Chopping Mall; Dee Wallace was of course in The Howling, Cujo, and a million other things (she’s still pretty prolific); Tom Noonan played one monster in Manhunter, and another kind in Monster Squad. Certainly a fun cast to help elevate the lower budget movie to the realms of the credible. What the director and his team have commendably managed to achieve is to create an incredibly authentic late seventies/early eighties vibe and appearance - you could really be fooled into thinking this had been shot in the around 1980 rather than a couple of years ago. Overall an efficient film that I think (after one viewing) needed a bit more chaos to balance out the slower pace of the first hour; as some films take time to grow on you it’s something I’ll return to possibly in a year or so.

A specially commissioned VHS tape of House of the Devil was produced in the US to celebrate the film’s encapsulation of seventies/early eighties horror, apparently the first VHS to be commercially released in several years. I believe some time back Dark Sky (the US distributor) were doing a pretty cool VHS/DVD bundle that could be picked up by more dedicated fans. More interested in the best possible A/V presentation I opted for the movie on Blu-ray Disc. The 1080p/24 frames per second Blu-ray transfer looks very good with plenty of detail, though darker scenes are a bit swamped with black. Viewers will undoubtedly notice that there’s a fair amount of grain - some may be unhappy about this, however, it is to be expected more so than usual when a film is shot on 16mm (an unusual choice nowadays, but one I’m sure is deliberate given the objective). I still think it looks better than DVD, so once you get used to the grain it’s no real problem. The sound mix is less retro - DTS-HD makes sure there’s plenty going on with loud music effects often coming from behind and edging up the tension a bit. I certainly enjoyed the higher resolution sound mix myself (plus there are some nice music choices along the way). Extras include some deleted scenes, a 14 minute ’shooting’ documentary, trailer, plus two audio commentaries. Generally a good package of a film that will work well for some, yet need more time for others I suspect.