The House of the Devil is a fastidiously detailed, pitch-perfect homage to 80's horror, that adheres to genre conventions while at the same time transcending them. Director Ti West understands what makes horror films work, that the horror is always more exciting when you don't know when to expect it. Jocelin Donahue plays Samantha, typical college-girl hoping to get a place of her own but without the cash to do so. She accepts a babysitting job that promises to pay well, and is then left in a creepy house in the middle of nowhere. Borrowing a page from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and others) playbook, the been there, done that story is absolutely the point, complete with opening statistics promising a true story. Horror doesn't need to be complicated, just well executed. West builds dread and terror like a pro, understanding the classic Hitchcock sensibility that people fear what they don't see, and what they don't know (Lovecraft said so as well). In the face of torture porn and slasher flicks, where the only horror is the gore and the murder (and unnecessary soundtrack spikes), it is quite unsettling to be subjected to a thrill ride like this one.
Review of The House of the Devil
