Watch The House of the Devil For Free

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely Fantastic

In 2009's The House of the Devil, Ti West invites the audience into what is possibly one of the most tension building labyrinths of terror. Centered around the Satanic cult craze of the 1980's, West inserts little details in the mise-en-scene to trap an everyday college student, Samantha (Jocelin Donahue), in the dark, secluded house of the Ulman's, played by Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov. Shadows, window panes, door frames, you name it and West has utilized a certain quality of the architectural nature of the house to drag us into his dungeon of insanity. He unleashes the beast by building up the tension until the very last moment. Viewers will feel like there is something watching them at all times, whether that be true or not. His work is supported by a talented group of actors, who embody the soul of soullessness. Noonan and Woronov, though very unsuspecting, give off a vibe of unbalance in the little screen time they have. The briefness does not matter, as they are able to make the best of it. Donahue makes Samantha into an extremely relatable character for any young person. Her goal is simple, and yet she finds herself in a situation in which she did not expect. The movie brings up many social issues through underlying context, such as the exploitation and prostitution of the body, the falsehoods of faith, and the transformation of man into monster. Overall brilliance on all levels. Could not be any more satisfied with the end result.

House of the Devil utilizes tension through patience and sound to create an unsettling atmosphere many viewers underestimate in the horror genre today. 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. West is able to capture certain viewers for an experience they would not soon forget. House of the Devil was created in 2009 and takes place in the early 80s. It is put together beautifully to vividly imagine life in that time period and also to make it look like it was filmed in that time too. Sound plays a very significant role in the progression of the film. Throughout the earlier parts of the film the sound is soft with its diegetic and non-diegetic sound except for the music Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) plays through her Walkman Cassette player and music played in various other scenes. The louder music enables the audience to experience safety through these parts (and also wakeup calls for whoever may be yawning in this slow-paced film). I believe these moments are crucial because even though we may step away from the horror aspect of the film for a movement, we become vulnerable. When we become vulnerable with a false-sense of safety, it impacts the fear element to become even greater for the viewer. Not knowing the outcome of a situation creates interests, interests creates the viewer to engulf themselves into the atmosphere of the film, when we engulf ourselves this is where Ti West has the audience on the edge of their seat vulnerable. Vulnerability is a crucial element of the horror film which is underutilized and at many times not executed well. House of the Devil executes this feeling effectively to create a movie unlike most others, one not to be watched but to be experienced.

A review of The House of the Devil If you love slow building suspense and not knowing what is coming around the next corner, you will love this movie. However for myself, I found the movie to be rather boring. The film had a really slow build with not much build up for an epic finale that lasted about five minutes. This movie was the biggest tease of a horror movie I have seen. The artistry and techniques throughout the film were beautifully done, however the actual build up and story was rather bland. I was expecting the movie to be much more suspenseful than a girl wandering a house for 50 minutes. There were maybe two points throughout the entire movie where my heartrate increased, other than that I was just trying to stay focused. If you can get past the slow burn throughout the first 75 minutes of the movie then the ending is well worth it. I just had higher hopes for more stalker-ish, satanic ritual and a creepier house than were presented throughout the film. However, with plot and story set aside, this film is a work of art. The style in which it was made to replicate an 80s movie was beautifully done. It hardly felt like I was watching a film made in 2009. The costumes and soundtracks were brilliant, adding to the suspense and feel of an 80s horror flick. The low lighting effects as well as low and canted camera angles created incredible visual effects along with the 16mm film added a haunting effect.

The House of the Devil is one of director Ti West's first feature films (he had two under his belt before this one), and it's a brilliant one. West is already carefully watched within the horror genre, and he's swayed me over to his side with this film. Previously, I was split — he directed one of my least favorite shorts in The ABCs of Death (I called it "the laziest of the bunch"), but my favorite short in V/H/S. The House of the Devil was released in 2009 but takes place in 1983 and, man, if you didn't know better, you'd swear it was filmed then, too.It follows Samantha (Jocelin Donahue), a college student who is trying to do whatever she can to get some extra cash and move into her own place, away from her obnoxious dorm roommate. Her best friend, Megan (Greta Gerwig), drives her out to a babysitting gig off-campus which seems too good to be true, and, well, it turns out it is.** SPOILERS! **What impressed me most about this movie is just how much West nailed the 80s vibe. From the opening credits to the music (a mix of a perfectly atmospheric score almost reminiscent of John Carpenter with some perfectly placed 80s rock hits, plus the theme song which is freakily close to "Moving in Stereo") to the use of 16mm film to give it an accurate aesthetic… it was just perfect. It had that spot on 1980s slasher vibe without taking it into the realm of being almost a spoof, which can be a tough balance to strike.I mean, really, it's hard to describe exactly why, but the shots are just perfect, both in their accuracy to classic 80s "scream queen" films and just being pleasant to watch. Nothing felt out of place, nothing seemed to drag on too long, the shots were creative without becoming over-the-top, and it was meticulous without becoming too stiff. The shot of Megan looking out the windows as the camera pans back… the entire sequence of her dancing around the house… her creeping up the stairs with the shadow of her, knife in hand, moving along the wall behind her. All fantastic.The jump scares were efficient AND sparse, which is something that is becoming all too rare nowadays. The hand appearing out of the darkness to light Megan's cigarette made me physically jump, and the doorbell ringing as Samantha is nervously searching the house was perfect. For that matter, the mysterious man with the lighter (who we later find out is the couple's son) shooting Megan COMPLETELY blew me away (pun kind of intended).Tom Noonan as the mysterious Mr. Ulman was fantastic (as he always is), and Mary Woronov as his wife was also great. Both of them conveyed the perfect level of creepiness without being overly dramatic… just enough weirdness to give you a healthy amount of suspicion without actually making their intentions known.It was one of the few movies I've seen where it took over an hour for any action to happen (literally… maybe an hour and 10 minutes), but the suspense was palpable. I was just enjoying the mystery, the build-up, watching every corner and shadow to see what might be lurking.Honestly, the movie was almost perfect until the crescendo… when we finally find out that Mr. and Mrs. Ulman are part of a Satanic cult and Samantha is the centerpiece for a bloody ritual in the attic. I don't know if it was because it was all crammed into the last 15 minutes or just how unbelievable it all became (Mother being a grotesque, deformed creature who forces Samantha to drink her blood, Samantha conveniently escaping from ALL of the ropes tying her down, waving the knife haphazardly in defense and managing to slice the son's neck PERFECTLY open), but it kind of took me out of it. Though I thought her suicide in the cemetery was pretty awesome, and the ending was just uncomfortable enough.Even though it seemed like some direction was lost in the last moments, this was still an incredibly solid film, and recommended for sure.