Drawn-out sense of dread slows 'House of the Devil'
Samantha, the cute college student, takes a baby-sitting job at a creepy old Victorian house in the boonies, and when she arrives, discovers the weird couple living there doesn't even have a baby.
Run, Samantha!
The lady of the house tells Samantha she's just been checking her furs in the basement. But Sam finds the furs in a closet on the second floor.
Run, Samantha! Run!
In an upstairs bathroom, Sam discovers huge chunks of lopped-off hair in a drain.
Samantha, get your tushie outta that house and run!
Part of the fun of watching "The House of the Devil" comes from noticing the signs screaming "Danger!" to a well-paid baby sitter who doesn't really want to see them.
The title "The House of the Devil" pretty much tells you all you need to know about this low-budget, delayed-fuse horror film by writer/director/editor Ti West, who does a reasonably good job of recreating the look and feel of vintage terror tales from the 1980s, when this movie is set.
This, although '80s horror was dominated by cheap mad slasher epics inspired by "Friday the 13th" rather than diabolic Satanist thrillers that hailed mostly from the 1970s. (1968's "Rosemary's Baby" leads the pack, which includes "Daughters of Satan," "Race With the Devil," "The Omen," plus others.)
West directs "The House of the Devil" with all the affection a filmmaker could have for the period horror genre. But in meticulously resurrecting one of those old "you're not alone in the house!" scarefests, West fails to bump up the genre to tougher, quicker and more graphic 2009 sensibilities.
The result is an opus that spends so much time setting up an atmosphere of impending doom and dread that viewers might forget they're watching a horror film. Or worse, that they've seen this one before. Many times.
A fresh-faced Jocelin Donahue plays Samantha, a sophomore who rents a house (from "E.T." star Dee Wallace) so she can escape from her bimbo roommate. To earn rent, Sam accepts that sitting job from a mysterious, desperate man who promises her $100, then $400, for a single night's work during a lunar eclipse!
Sam's chatty pal Megan (Greta Gerwig) has a car, and she drives Sam to the house of the strange Mr. and Mrs. Ulman (cult stars Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov). They say they don't have a baby, just an elderly woman upstairs who Sam doesn't need to check on. Ever.
Megan catches on fast. "They're mental!" she warns.
"I need the money!" Sam barks. "It's only a few hours!"
Megan agrees to pick Sam up at 12:30 a.m. If you think Megan will be around to do that, you haven't seen enough 1980s horror movies.
As Sam explores the old house (conveniently skipping rooms with dead bodies), West cranks up the tension, not quickly, but like a frog in cold water slowly being brought to the boiling point.
Then, finally, comes the climactic confrontation, a quick, brutal and bloody event topped by a rather fangless finale that makes us ponder whether West's lengthy fuse was worth the fireworks.
A special shout-out goes to Eliot Rocket for his spectacular widescreen camera work.
Sure, it packs a visual punch, but looks way too slick to evoke the cheapie productions of the 1980s era.
"The House of the Devil"
Rating: 2½ stars
Starring: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Dee Wallace
Directed by: Ti West
Other: A Magnet release. Rated R for violence. 95 minutes