The House of the Devil

Plot synopsis:
It is 1983. Frustrated with living in the dorms with her oversexed and messy roommate, Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) rents a small apartment. Although the landlady (Dee Wallace) agrees not to charge her a deposit, Samantha still needs to come up with $300 for the first month's rent. She answers an advertisement for a babysitter. The man who placed the ad tells her that he and his wife need her that night while they attend a party to watch the lunar eclipse; the moon will be entirely in the earth's shadow at midnight. Although he behaves oddly on the phone, Samantha's desperation leads her to accept the offer.Samantha's best friend Megan (Greta Gerwig) drives her to the job, which is at a secluded house in the woods. There, Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan), the man who placed the ad, reveals that Samantha will not be babysitting but taking care of his elderly mother in law. Samantha tries to back out but when Mr. Ulman offers her $400 she agrees to stay over Megan's objections. Megan leaves. On the drive home, she stops in a nearby cemetary to have a smoke. When her lighter malfunctions, a young man, Victor (AJ Bowen) suddenly appears in her window and offers her a light. He then asks her if she's the babysitter. When she says no, Victor shoots her in the face, killing her.Samantha meets Mrs. Ulman (Mary Woronov) when she emerges from the basement. Mrs. Ulman explains she was looking for her furs then makes Samantha uncomfortable by commenting on how desirable she must be to young boys. The Ulmans give Samantha half of the babysitting fee plus some money to order a pizza. Mr. Ulman assures Samantha that the mother in law will be no trouble and will probably keep to herself in her upstairs room. They also leave a phone number where they can be reached if anything goes wrong.Samantha tries to do homework but finds the house creepy. She orders a pizza and, while dancing around the house listening to her Walkman, accidentally breaks a vase. While cleaning it up, she sees that the closet is full of fur coats. She also finds a box full of photos of a family other than the Ulmans, posing in front of the house and a car that Samantha saw in the driveway earlier. Victor delivers the pizza to Samantha, then wanders around the property to keep an eye on her.Unbeknownst to Samantha, the family she saw in the photos lies slaughtered in an upstairs bedroom, arranged as parts of a bloody pentagram. Samantha hears strange noises and, armed with a knife, goes to explore the attic. At midnight, all of the lights in the house blow out. Samantha sees a hand open the attic door, and she passes out.When she awakes, she is gagged and tied to a slab in the basement, surrounded by satanic symbols. The Ulmans -- including their son, Victor -- and a dwarfish demon enter. The demon draws a pentagram on Samantha's belly, then tries to force her to drink blood from a bizarre animal skull. Samantha breaks free of her bonds and rushes upstairs. Seeing Megan's body in the kitchen, Samantha grabs a knife. Victor chases her and shoots her in the shoulder but she slits his throat, killing him. Samantha is wracked with abdominal pain and flashes of demonic faces. Mrs. Ulman corners her in a bedroom and tells her that it is too late for Samantha to alter the plan. Mrs. Ulman is distracted when she believes the eclipse is sending her a message from Satan, and Samantha stabs her in the back. Grabbing Victor's gun, Samantha flees from the house, pursued by Mr. Ulman, who was wounded when Samantha escaped from the basement. He tries to calm her down and tells her that Satan will arrive as soon as the eclipse is over. Believing it to be the only solution, Samantha shoots herself in the head.Local newscasters talk about how astronomers are confused that the moon seemed to move through the eclipse more quickly than it should have. Samantha lays comatose in a hospital bed but she and her baby are expected to make a full recovery.

Tags: murder, cult, violence, horror, atmospheric, flashback, suspenseful

Review:
Once we finally get to the house, we do nothing more than watch Samatha stroll around for the rest of the film.West atmosphere is perfect, his camera work was great, the suspension was brilliant but nothing ever came from these very few moments.
The House of the Devil feels like it should have been released back in 1982, from the feathered hair of the leads, to the Walkman, to the music and sound, to the slow build of the suspense, to the vintage titles.
Most importantly, it has all the slow-burn intensity of the great horror films of that period.The baby-sitter in peril is Samantha (Jocelin Donahue).
The job that Samantha ends up taking, on the night of a full lunar eclipse, is obviously (cue Admiral Ackbar) a trap, more obvious to the audience than to Samantha because we know that the name of the film is The House of the Devil, because her employer is Tom Noonan, the original Red Dragon from Michael Mann's Manhunter and because Samantha is too self-absorbed to notice that she is in danger.There is a danger to read too much into it, but there is a very real sense that this film is pitched perfectly at the divide between the sex and drugs disco party lifestyle of the Seventies and the money-obsessed, self-absorbed Eighties.There is even a sense in which the film (with the benefit of filmmaker hindsight) acts as a horror metaphor explaining how the drugs and sex excesses of the Seventies led to the health catastrophes of the Eighties, especially AIDS.
This movie will stay with you for a few days for different reasons, but my biggest turn on was the feeling throughout the film, an homage to earlier times, and an evil that knows no bounds..
From the opening and end credits, to the walkman, fashion, soundtrack and the slightly faded visuals, even the storyline, centred on babysitters and Satanists feels like the movie belongs back in the 80's.Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is a college student who needs money fast.
Straight away it is obvious to us, and Samantha's friend Megan (Greta Gerwig), that this job is a setup for some sinister goings down (hence the title 'The House of the Devil').The first 40 minutes of this movie are excellent.
Events pick up at 75 minute mark, but with only 15 minutes left the final act is rushed with no time to generate any scares (apart from some nice gory deaths).The cast do an excellent job, the exchanges between Mr. Ulman and Samantha are deliciously creepy, and the house itself is reminiscent of the Amityville house.
The audience grows attached to the very attractive main character (Jocelin Donahue) who despite her and her friend's best efforts to be sensible throughout the film falls victim to classic horror movie stereotypes.
Director/Writer/Editor Ti West shows a remarkable proficiency for being able to truly scare, through an excellent slow-burn build-up, allowing the atmosphere of the titular house and the anticipation for when it is inevitably released to bring a viewer to nail-biting fear, rather than simply trying to startle with constant Boo!
Sure, the gore may look nice (and indeed it does; not top of the line, but it belies the film's budget), but it completely abandons House's almost regal sense of restraint that worked so effectively for nearly the entire length of the movie.
This problem I believe to later be solved by Ti West's later film "The Innkeepers," a picture I believe (and seemingly in the minority) to be the superior movie.However, despite its eventual letdown, the remainder of House of the Devil was truly a horror experience I rarely see from recent American horror films, this difference between House of the Devil and its peers thrown into sharp relief by the clearly nostalgic feel it gives off, even from the opening credits.
The House of the Devil (2009) 02/13/2010The 1980's were a golden age for horror movies, and many filmmakers today try to recapture that magic in their own films.
Perhaps it's because this is a carbon copy of a carbon copy and guys like Carpenter and DePalma were borrowing from suspense originators like Hitchcock.One scene in the film had me feeling like I was watching an episode of SyFy channel TV show "Scare Tactics." Why the director chooses to show the audience a gruesome scene behind a door at one particular point is baffling.
Sooooo limp and quick.If you really want to watch a blank-faced girl take half an hour to get a babysitting job, then sit around bored for another half an hour, then overcome the "horror" without too much difficulty, then HOUSE OF THE DEVIL is the movie for you!
Ti West's idea to make "The House Of The Devil" look like a forgotten horror flick of the 80's without any ironic self-awareness seemed really cool.
In this last third of the movie West doesn't even stay true to 80's horror anymore: The main villains make-up looks like something out of "The Descent", the quick cuts suddenly turn "The House Of The Devil" into "SAW".It seems, as if a lot of horror fans, who praise Ti West for this picture, are confusing the concept with the outcome.
Cash strapped babysitter Samantha Hughes agrees to take on a very well paid job by rather creepy home owner, Mr Ulman.(Tom Noonan.) As the Night Progresses however, Samantha comes to realize that Mr Ulman and his no less creepy wife(Mary Woronov) may very well have a sinister plan for her...The House Of The Devil may very well divide audiences and fans, as it's a slow burning film, which takes its time to get to its payoff.
(is like a collage of different movies, the omen, devil's advocate, rosemary's baby...).There's a lot of wasted scenes in the house, with no purpose, just silence and a girl looking around, searching for ...
Fifteen minutes of classic 80's horror (i'm not a fan of gore, so i wasn't looking for blood, suspense movies works for me), whit a predictable ending.
Known for some straight-to-video B-grade work, West finally cracked the A-list of horror with "The House of the Devil," his 2009 effort that promises some genuine chills.Samantha is a down and out college girl desperate to get out of a dorm with a lousy roommate and praying to find money for her new house.
It becomes so unbearably suspenseful that the final payoff is satisfying and still quite scary.Another advantage to "The House of the Devil" that old-school horror fans will take delight in is for a movie released in 2009, it certainly doesn't look that way.
The film definitely creeped me out, but I wasn't something I was going to think about and lose sleep over.The House of the Devil is one of the most well made horror movies of the decade as someone pointed on the user boards.
the best thing about this movie is that it is based upon the 80s style horror & thrillers.The film makers really deserve an appreciation for this one.The acting was good,the scenes were well crafted and so all this makes it worth watching,at least for me it did,also because it is based upon a true story(unexplained events)which makes a movie quite interesting (rather than boring).Its not spine chilling or anything like that but still makes an impression on the viewer.I give this one 6.5/10,its pretty decent for a thriller like this one but yes there will be some who would say that it does not contain enough material or terror but as i said its worth watching and you would not regret this one...enjoy!!!.
At one point while watching the movie (actually I'll admit that by then I had a browser open in another window, that's how bad this movie was) I noticed that 1 hr and 15 minutes had gone by, and basically nothing had happened, other than the girl exploring every nook and cranny of this house in agonizing detail and scaring herself a little bit in the process.
Ti West, the 29 year old filmmaker from Delaware, might not be a name you are familiar with -with regards to the horror genre of film-making - but if his future projects are anywhere near as good as his third directorial feature film 'The House of the Devil', then you will no doubt be hearing his name mentioned heavily in the next couple of years.
West has so-far spent his time primarily creating cheap, B-Movie-esquire horror films, however with 'House of the Devil' he changed his tactic and decided rather than ridiculing or satirizing the genre, to instead pay homage to it; in particular the haunted house/slasher subgenre.
And the result is an eerie, well-shot, competently edited, suspense-fuelled ride back into the horror films of the 1970's and 1980's.College student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) is the archetypal female lead at the centre of the ritualistic story.
The prospect of watching television all night, while occasionally checking on a child and ultimately getting paid cash-in-hand appeals to her financial stricken nature straight away, however she has no idea what the mysterious Mr (Tom Noonan) and Mrs (Mary Woronov) Ulman have in store for the naive young student.Filmed on 16mm stock to give the film that washed retro stylistic feel, 'Devil' is a technical back-into-the-past cinematic winner.
It pays homage to horror films from that era and uses all those movies' plot devices effectively.
I did read a lot of good thing about this movie, I didn't think i would like it as i knew it was going have a really slow start to the movie.This movie is slow but not as slow as i thought it wold be, it still watchable for the slow part of the movie, some of you will get bored, There was one scene that did shock me, i had no idea that was going to happen, that was really good scene and this movie did have great build up to this secret.The secret itself was little dull and so was creature they could have made him a lot more scary (Even The House on Sorority Row creature was scary then this creature) after the very long build up and this movie did have bloody scenes which i did not expect from this movie.it was good horror but just little over hyped 5 out of 10.
Can Samantha survive a night in the house of the Devil?Ti West, a fairly unknown director, has released a great tribute to the horror genre of this film.
I do not know if the "retro" fever in contemporary horror cinema is due to simple nostalgia or a genuine appreciation for the simplicity and ease the genre had during the 70's and the 80's.Whatever the way it is, I think this fashion will quickly lapse if it keeps being used as a mere ornament of mediocre stories, bad performances and poor narrative.Fortunately, there are a few exceptions in which the "retro" style is executed with purpose and talent, as we can see on The House of the Devil, a very competent horror film.The House of the Devil is not reloaded with cultural clichés from the horror movies made in the 80's, although that did not avoid director Ti West to use some familiar faces from that decade, not only because of their "historical" value, but also because they are solid actors who bring weight and credibility to their roles.They are Mary Woronov, Dee Wallace and the brilliant Tom Noonan.Jocelin Donahue and Greta Gerwig integrate the young cast, and they also bring competent performances (specially Gerwig).The element I mostly appreciated on this movie is the sober and concise narrative language West used to tell the story, something which reminded me of the work from directors John Carpenter and David Cronenberg.Like them, West shows long scenes of leisure to generate an oppressive atmosphere of suspense, with the tacit promise that something horrible is about to happen, and nothing will be done to avoid it.However, that comparison deserves some mitigating...West develops a similar style to the one of those great directors, but The House of the Devil does not reach the intensity and impact from most of their movies.However, I think this young director deserves respect because of his audacious strategy of "less is more", something he completely achieved.I will look forward to seeing more movies directed by him.In summary, it may not be a great film, but The House of the Devil is an efficient and very entertaining horror film which deserves a recommendation, thanks to its good rhythm, competent performances and solid direction.I took a nice surprise with this film..
If those two things don't strike a chord with you then it's very likely that The House of the Devil will drive you nuts - but not in a good way.Plot is simple, Jocelin Donahue plays student Samantha Hughes, who has found the ideal apartment to live in, but needs funds to pay the deposit.
He crafts The House of the Devil so delicately and intricately, making the house the most interesting character in the film (something one would've assumed mainstream horror would've discovered, what with all the haunted house films being made today), building suspense through the use of long, slow takes, and even incorporating some fun and lively 1970's tunes in for good measure.The film revolves around Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue), a college student desperately looking to make end's meet to pay for the expensive new apartment she just bought.
Megan takes off, the Ulman's depart, and it's Samantha, Mr. Ulman's ailing mother, and the house to themselves.West recognizes that despite The House of the Devil being a horror film, he doesn't always have to feel like he's setting something up in terms of momentary payoff nor does he ever feel like he has to constantly find ways to scare and play with the audience's emotions.
The film is pure nostalgia and he does a fantastic job at handling a slow set up which keeps the viewer interested.You fall back in love with the time and more importantly the innocent, struggling student character of Samantha, played superbly by Jocelin Donahue.
This is not your normal thrill-seeking/gore-loving/violence loaded movie, rather Ti West creates a "breathe of fresh air" story driven masterpiece convincing the viewer that the events taking place in the film can be believed by anyone ultimately instilling fear to anyone who watches this.
It's not easy to do, but writer director Ti West makes it seem like a walk in the park with his near flawless House Of The Devil, a gorgeous love note to the satanic works of yester-year that so adeptly recreates that time and place until we really believe we're watching a film that was made then.
The House of the Devil is a 2009 horror film written and directed by Ti West set in the 1980's and has to do with satanic cults.
All in all, The House of the Devil is a great horror film with some highly effective scares that will keep you on the edge of your seat up until the disappointing finale..
"The House of the Devil" is a slow-burn '80s throwback that actually looks and feels like a horror classic of that decade that has just now been discovered.
Writer/director Ti West goes back to the roots of modern horror films with The House of the Devil.Set on a 1980s college campus, we find Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) looking for an off- campus apartment to share with her friend Megan and away from her grungy roommate.
Therein lies the only stand-out problem with "The House of the Devil;" although I immensely enjoyed the movie, it never became more than facsimile of a certain style of film-making.
If I had to guess, I would surmise that the final scene had to be a studio insisted inclusion.Besides being an overall entertaining and tense film, "The House of the Devil" also provides very good cinematography and perfect subtle acting that is missing in many movies of its genre.
I know it isn't necessarily something that should decide whether or not you like a movie but they do such a great job here that it dredges up all kinds of fear that I had forgotten I had since I was a child watching scary films when I wasn't supposed to be.
About all it does for this film is keep you from taking nap.If you're looking for horror like nothing you've seen before, which as a bonus involves two girls and a house as the primary setting, then see Martyrs.
Filmed as a "lost early '80s movie" with such attention to detail that it might actually be a freshly-discovered artifact from a film vault, "House of the Devil" is a little gem of atmosphere, creepy setting, and a mood of slow-building dread.
Ti West is very talented and has a good idea of what the 80's were like and how the horror films functioned back then.
House of the Devil is a good horror movie, but you'll probably need a few (non-spoilery) details to decide if it's for you.
West uses such great orchestra music to build up that suspenseful feeling to keep us at the edge and give us that great scare that every great horror film should have.
In entirety, The House of the Devil gives hope and a fresh sense to the typical belief horror films and adds a nice cliffhanger to it that keeps you wondering even after the movie is long over with..
And in "House of the Devil" Ti West brings a very slow burn movie that uses it's homages fittingly in it's film making.
Now this what I like to see from Ti West and I can take this as a heavy reminder why this guy is a talented film maker even at a young age.But what stops "House of the Devil" from being a great movie for me is it's pasting issues.