The House of the Devil - Classic Horror Movie DVD | Supernatural Thriller Film | Perfect for Halloween Movie Nights & Scary Film Collections

It's been done a hundred times, late teen to early twenty something needs cash so she takes a babysitting job at a large, creepy and barely lit house; either in the middle of the nowhere or in the middle of a group of homes with people who couldn't hear an atomic bomb go off in their front yard. It's a simple, creepy and old premise. And it's one of my favorites.With such films as "When A Stranger Calls" and "Halloween" being two of the grandparents to Ti West's wonderful throwback film "House of the Devil" no wonder the film is so good. You take the above mentioned premise, throw in a little devil worship and some Alfred Hitchcock; and 'bang' you got yourself a sure fire hit; at least in my opinion.Samantha is a busy and broke college student, who despises living with her borderline prostitute of a roommate, so she goes out and finds herself a nice little place right beside a church no less. Her soon to be land lady is very nice, even waving the deposit; as long as Sam has the first months rent by Monday. But, this is only a few days til then, where will the money come from?! Enter an ominous 'BABYSITTER NEEDED' ad on the ads board and an ill fated phone call and the set up is done.The great thing about "The House of the Devil" is that it doesn't rely on gore or something MAJOR happening every 5 minutes. That is fine for some, but in this day and age of instant gratification and now, now, now film making where a gallon of blood and a few severed limbs are needed to keep most of the ADHD kids interested; it's great that Ti West has the guts to go out on a limb and give us a very simple set up and then let our imaginations go into overdrive for the middle 45 minutes of the film.Yes, you heard me. After Samantha gets to said house, meet the "owners" and after a few bumps in the road, with one or two HOLY CRAP moments, we are left alone with Samantha, her walkman and a HUGE mansion of a house to explore and be creeped out by. And this is where the film shines. By making the mundane experience of exploration into a tightly wound, edge of your seat ride. And as things begin to become clear to Samantha, and little tilts of the camera or focusing on an open doorframe become more noticeable, the chills of the film start to sink in even more. The ending, although coming on very fast and ending to easily and much to quickly for my taste, is a perfect example of 80's horror. How what you are exposed to earlier in the film, such as a staircase, or a doorway, or a carpet, becomes a bit more important. Even simple lines are used well to help throw us and Samantha off.The cast was wonderful. I had never heard of Jocelin Donahue before this film but her portrayal of Samantha was great, bringing just the right amount of innocence, fear and fight into the role and her beauty didn't hurt. Greta Gerwig as Sam's best friend who's name alludes me at the moment was also great, even if her screen time was short. She was spunky and feisty and showed a genuine amount of concern at leaving her bff out in the middle of nowhere. "Manhunters" Tom Noonan was creepy and imposing as Mr. Ullman and "The Devil's Rejects" Mary Woronov was the same with her limited sceentime.The films design was PERFECT, as it was set in the 80's and was meant to emulate an old 80's horror film. The leads girls had their hair feathered, wore tight or acid washed jeans. I LOVED Samantha's HUGE mittens at the beginning! SOOOOOO 80'S!!! Even the music was 80's! With the film frame freezing during the opening credits to really cheesy synth music, and Samantha's little dance number to The Fixx's 'One Thing Leads To Another' mid film!The sets were creepy when they needed to be, and fun when they needed to be and throwback normal when they needed to be. Little touches were also great, like the phone in the Ullman's kitchen, and Samantha's walkman.I'll admit that the film is not for everyone. It's a slow burn of a film, having a fun and creepy beginning, and a tightly wound and very disturbing middle, and then a VERY quick and fast paced ending. But, if you enjoyed films like "When A Stranger Calls" (the original) and "Rosemary's Baby" then this is definitely a film you'd enjoy.