Achieves what it sets out to do. As a viewer you feel like you're watching a movie made in the 80's. Nice little homage to old slasher movies. I'm sure if I would have used my imagination a little bit more the movie would have ranked higher for me but due to the pace of the film I just couldn't. If you're on the fence and not sure whether to see it my advice is to watch it, it's not terrible but youre not going to be walking away with a new favourite movie either.

Solid homage to classic horror but the end of the movie was pretty bad.

Excellent little horror. Tom Noonan is great at creating an eerie atmosphere.

The House of the Devil is a great homage to a time when horror movies actually put you on edge. The entire build-up was beautifully directed and very suspenseful. Some people are knocking the finale, but I really enjoyed it. The action was very fast and crazed bringing a sort of realism. Definitely check this out if you like slow, suspenseful horror.

71.500

In a sort of cruel paradox, no matter how much better this is than the Tarantino/Rodriguez "Grindhouse" stuff, it's still only homage. No, it's not "too slow," you fucking idiots, the pace is fine. It's "too derivative." No matter how explict the derivativeness is, it's STILL - DERIVATIVENESS.

Sounds like a cutesy conceit on paper, but filming this as though we were still in the 80s actually works to up the tension. Loved it.

"Yet another of this year's homage-facsimiles, The House of the Devil forgoes campy self-awareness in favor of reverential faithfulness--and in doing so, implicitly critiques contemporary horror cinema." - Nick Schager

A decent call back to the 80s, but that's all it is.

It's nothing more than an 80s horror nostalgia piece, and it never becomes truly scary, but the build-up is handled quite well and Tom Noonan is one spooky motherfucker.

Was pretty pumped for this one and loved the start, but it is a bit too slow and anti-climactic.

Nicely put-together small 80's-style horror film concerned more with atmosphere and tenseness than blood and gore. The ending is weak and obvious, but the film is nevertheless very solid.

A pretty typical 70s/early 80s horror film about a college girl stumbling onto a satanist cult, with a slow, atmospheric build-up that runs completely counter to the slasher films that were just starting to take over the genre back then, not to mention the 30 years of parody, deconstruction and post-ironic gorefests the genre has gone through since... except the film was made in 2009. Excellent throwback that makes its style work for it.

For three-fourths of this, I was viewing the sort of horror film that needs to be made, where the filmmaker realised that silence, and spare and slow pacing, is far more suspenseful and unnerving than telegraphing the scares. Unfortunately, when the build-up leads to the finale, it's a letdown. If Ti West kept to the style of the first three-fourths, which is brilliantly made, this would have been something special.

Effective build-up and interesting stylistic and aesthetic choices marred somewhat by a rushed and slightly incoherent denouement (it seemed as though scenes may have been deleted during editing). In retrospect, the entire narrative made little sense. It is perhaps more difficult than the filmmakers thought to make satanic ritual seem anything other than silly (but for me, this was the lesson of "Rosemary's Baby"). The likeable protagonist was well cast.

i was sort of led to think the calling card of this film was a glorious and suspenseful last act, but that couldn't have been more misguiding. after a gorgeous first 70 minutes - with a surprisingly excellent performance from the hot as hell jocelin donahue, my hopes were dashed with an incomprehensibly disappointing finale. UGH.

It doesn't commit to the stylistic progression from 70s to 80s in the ending. I can sympathize with offering a defense of 70s atmospheric horror in the light of the slash and burn that's replaced it, but pointing a finger at its nihilism and then folding your arms is neither a defense nor productive. That being said, the attention to detail in recreating that 70s style is wonderful, and a lot of fun.

Jocelin Donahue...

As it turns out, the devil is not scary and boring

I can´t remember any actual Horror/Thriller flick I ranked with a score this high, but "The House of the Devil" deserves nothing less. The misery lies in the air from the first few minutes. And the hole House part scared the shit out of me. So simple but absolutety intense and gripping.

Meee. Nice try, but the end sequence didn't fit the rest of the movie.

Loved the atmosphere and the stylish use of camera (it actually looked liked it was filmed in the 80's) but the last 20 minutes seems rushed and tacked on, as if the director just made it up on the spot, sans script.

A very nice and atmospheric throwback to the horror days of old. Relys solely on tension to get it through to the finale and it does it very well. Unfortunately (like the 70s/80s horror it's mirroring) the pay off is not worth the wait. Jocelin Donahue turns in the best female horror performance I've seen in years and also happens to be adorable.

pretty awesome throwback

Talk about slow burn. 3/4 of the movie was buildup to the 15 minute final scene which was kind of predictable, but decent nonetheless. Loved the 80s look. 'Twas spot on, right down to those awesome jeans.

I have to respect this movie, because it uses classic horror techniques of good cinematography, sound design, and practical makeup effects to build tension, and it does it well, the problem is that the story really isn't frightening, has nowhere to go, and takes forever getting there. It's a step in the direction horror should be going in, but the weak screenplay undercuts a lot of it.

A great movie, until the final act. The movie works its eighties angle to great effect. Jocelin Donahue is a likable protagonist, and Gerwig is good as her friend- the two really meshed well together. There are some very minor pacing issues during the first two acts but, overall, the slow pace is very effective- West does a great job of creating tension. The only problem is that all of the tension evaporates during an unsatisfying third act that does not do justification to what came before.

As has been said by many: the style, atmosphere, and tension in this film are all pretty top-notch. I really liked where they were going with the little oddities (wish a few were less obvious and that there were more), and I digged the Lovecraftian tinge to the build-up. However the pay off is simply waaaay too underwhelming. With the big reveal, I was audibly surprised at how blandly stereotypical it started out. Veers a BIT off the beaten path again by the dénouement, but not by much.

If you have fond memories of cruising the horror aisles of your favorite video store for some gory fun, this one's for you. Its reverence of all things 80s is undeniable (don't think I didn't appreciate the feathered hair and old fashioned walkman), but there's one huge difference between this and the typical drek of old: it actually generates suspense and it does so methodically and with precision. A little draggy with a humdrum ending, but this homage easily surpasses its source material.

Good Movie

Crap. This film really takes its time setting up the grand finale. Out of its 90 min runtime, other than a 10 sec scene of senseless violence, absolutely nothing happens, no tense suspenseful buildup to nothing. Then around the 73 min mark, things begin to perk up only to reveal the dumbest, most sorry ass satanists I've ever seen either on screen or off it. I mean you really can't help feel pity for the poor bastards. Bad movie. Not recommended.

West's loving homage to the horror films of the late seventies and early eighties is an expert exercise in cinematic patience. At times it feels as if the film is all build-up, the exact opposite of the current trend of launching straight into headlong action. Even when West gets around to the mayhem, he presents it in a wild rush, as it would actually transpire. It's an inspired conceit and a tremendous piece of directing. Donahue is bland, but Noonan and Gerwig are great in supporting roles.

Passes the time.

The '80s fashion and accouterments were very nicely and tastefully done (is there some warehouse where you can order those old pizza parlor Coke cups?), but the film itself is of little direct consequence. That said, this seems to serve a greater purpose -- much like "Drag Me To Hell" -- of tuning in the thinking members of its mainstream audience to the pacing and thematic elements of a largely bygone era of horror. I'm really glad this movie was made.

This movie has striking similarities to the original "When a Stranger Calls". Tension is created not from action, but instead by the feeling of oncoming doom for the heroine as she wanders throughout an eerie house. The 80's throwback thing is quite nifty and executed quite well, but when everything comes out in the wash, "House of the Devil" is STILL a B-movie.

I definitely dig the vintage style and the attempt to build suspense. The development is too slow, however, and the payoff isn't as satisfying as it should be.

Retro horror homage set in the 1980s. Refreshingly free of the sadistic torture that mars so many modern horror flicks, relying instead on good old-fashioned suspense. Genuinely scary stuff, understanding that it's not what you see, but what you don't see.

An old fashion thriller that has a restraint and some finesse in craft. For 75 minutes you won't be delivered anything else than cruising around with goosebumps tracks and faux jumper moments, for 15 you'll get the most mediocre turn of events possible. So easily forgettable that I don't remember much 5 minutes after.

This is the first "80s horror throwback" that ACTUALLY made me feel like I was watching an 80s horror movie. The music, camera angles and movements, editing, clothing, hairstyles were all pitch perfect. I loved how the characters spoke and bevahed realistically. And my god, did this movie get intense. This redefines what it means to be a slow burn. By the time the payoff rolled around (and it was a great payoff), my knuckles were white. I wish more horror movies were this effective.

More style than substance, Ti West crafts an effective thriller in the vein of Dario Argento and his giallo horror contemporaries. Well acted, well shot, and, interestingly enough, very much a 1980s period piece. Worth seeing in the theater or via Amazon.com's rental service.