With a title like The House of the Devil you know you are getting into satanic waters and that whatever goes on is bound to be evil on some level or other. In this particular instance, we’re looking at a film that is not a grind ‘em up splatter fest filled with laughing diabolicals, but a slower paced film that harkens to a by gone era, the 80s. The entire movie is shot in a very gritty kind of style that really does summon a retro vibe. Filmmaker Ti West uses a very specific aesthetic and pacing that certain horror fans love, but others despise. Those in search of fast paced journeys through pain with monsters popping out around every corner are advised to turn back. Yet, if you appreciate the more methodical build to a shiveringly sinister climax then you will definitely find something to like in The House of the Devil.

Set in the nostalgic year of 1983, the movie opens on a college student named Samantha Hughes is fed up with dorm life and wants to get her own place. In an effort to raise funds for this future move, she seeks employment. When she spies a flier that has been put up to advertise for a babysitter, she calls in and eventually meets with an older couple of not insubstantial wealth. Sensing an opportunity to better her economic status she agrees to take the job despite its rather atypical conditions. The couple seem nice enough, but you already know this is the devil’s house and so Samantha is bound to find nothing warm and comforting here which lines up nicely with her quest for cold, hard cash. After all, the devil’s always got a bargain for those he seeks to influence, right?

There are lots of little 80s references thrown about throughout the course of the film and viewers with a taste for this decade will enjoy picking up on those. The Walkman cassette players, the period perfect fashion and all the details of the set are so accurate that you might think you’re watching any one of those scary films that played on late night cable back in the 80s. West accomplishes what he’s set out to do and the vibe from movie grows increasingly colder, rather than hotter as more modern movies tend to do. The tension rises gradually and even though some might feel that the movie’s pacing is tedious at times, it is about the minutiae when it comes to a movie like The House of the Devil. All the potentially overlooked details are handled with a certain artistic grace.

The climax delivers enough to make the wait worth it, even though for fans of West the wait is part of the appeal in his movies. At the end Samantha gets to find out the real purpose and why she’s been lured by such excellent profit potential. It’s fairly intense so be sure you’re alright with the scare that might surprise you after such a seemingly gentle build up.
All told, The House of the Devil makes for a nice visit back to old school horror, but you wouldn’t want to stay there.