House of the Devil: Film Review
Ok, so riddle me this: how is it that a film so good in the first half ends up sinking lower than a leaky fishing vessel in the second?
This is a question only House of the Devil director Ti West can truly answer. But given that Mr West is unavailable for comment, it seems only fair I give it a go.
A game of two halves…
Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
Let’s start with the good…
Mainstream Hollywood is presently preoccupied with remaking every film it can get its grubby hands on, so it’s always refreshing to see an original entry into the horror genre.
To Ti West’s credit, he brilliantly builds tension and audience expectation within the opening hour of House of the Devil.
College student Sam, played by Jocelin Donahue, is lured to a Victorian mansion deep in the woods in search of work. Desperate to earn cash to pay the rent on her new apartment, Sam reluctantly accepts a babysitting job despite sensing something is amiss.
And as the name of the movie suggests, the night ends in a bloody mess.
It’s not called House of the Devil for nothing…
The crackle and pop of the opening hour is infused with a fantastic 70s/80s grind house aesthetic. Unlike Tarantino’s Death Proof which reneges on its gritty cinematography half way through, House of the Dead remains true to its roots throughout.
So convincing were the stylistics that on a number of occasions I found myself scanning the sleeve of the DVD just to make sure that the movie wasn’t actually made during the 80s.
House of the Dead is of course a 2009 production, but the soundtrack and credit sequence channels the nostalgic joy of classics such as Halloween.
Fruity hair cuts, walkmans, dour clothing and a lead actress who looks as though she walked straight off the set of Starsky and Hutch, all add to the film’s evocative aesthetics.
Purring like a kitten at a milk factory, the build up is an exercise in pure cinematic class.
Where the movie falls down is in its cack-handed reveal.
As the mystery finally unfolds, what emerges is a clichéd ending that’s almost amateur in its execution.
Without giving too much away, the inevitable blood bath is one of the weakest payoffs I’ve seen of late.
It may be that the ending benefits from repeat viewings and I’m sure the final third is deliberate in its implementation.
But as the saying goes, sometimes you’ve just got to take the bad with the good.
Rating: 
– available on Blu-ray and DVD
Ross Wheatley
12:41 pm, July 9, 2010
I think this riddle has been well truely cracked. Very good review on the film, Matt. Hit the nail on the head on the 80’s feel to the film, Ti West obviously researched well in to this. Shame the second half didn’t live up to expectation, also like you stated. Nice review.
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