The House of the Devil – a horrorfest? more like "crapfest"
Written: Oct 30 '09
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: sorry
Cons: Story, pacing, predictable, been there done that
The Bottom Line: Don’t waste your time with this one
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| scapp70's Full Review: The House of the Devil |
the plot
Samantha is a sophomore in college, and she is currently looking for a new apartment to live in instead of sharing her dorm room with someone she doesn't get along with. She did find a place that seemed that was affordable and nice. She agrees to bring a check next week despite not having enough money for the rent. On her way back to the dorm room, she noticed a sign posted that read ‘Babysitter needed' with a phone number written below. She called the number, hoping to get this job to help pay for her rent.
She called and she met with a man named Mr. Ulman and his wife at their home. Mr. Ulman confessed to her that he didn't really need her to mind any child, but rather watch after an elderly lady, his wife's mother. Samantha didn't have any experience with this and told Mr. Ulman that she didn't think it was a good idea. Her finally convinced her to take the job by offering her a whopping $400 for the night. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it usually is, isn't it?
After about a half hour of hanging out at the huge home, she found herself getting disoriented and she passed out after following creaking noises throughout the home. When she came to, she was tied by her four limbs to a round table with an evil upside-down pentagram painted on it. The perfect end to a perfect night - what's better to know that you are either ending up as some sacrificial offering for Beelzebub, or worse that you'll end up being the involuntary tool in some evil satanic plan? If you care how this ends up, go see The House of the Devil tonight when it opens in select theaters around the USA.
the bottom line
I refuse to believe that Nicole Sperling of Entertainment Weekly or Hunter Stephenson from USA Today had watched the actual film before giving their rave reviews. Either that, or their palms were greased to give this film a misleading rating. Stephenson goes so far to say that this is in his top five movies of 2009. What film did these people watch? Thank goodness for the HDNet Movies channel which premiered this two nights before the theatrical release. This was one of the dopiest, low budget, crap-acting crapfest I've seen in a long while. Yet, from the trailer I saw, I couldn't wait to watch this. The trailer was ultra-creepy with a classic horror movie overtness that really drew me in. Perhaps, the trailer is what Sperling and Stephenson were reviewing after all and not the film itself.
Ti West is the director, writer and editor (and actor) of this film as he is with his other films Trigger Man and The Wicked. I'm guessing that West is a fan of those 1970 satanic horror films such as The Devil's Rain and the like because The House of the Devil tries to capture that overall feel of the era. I feel that his film tries to hard, and results in the transparency of his efforts. The film feels very low budget from the simple settings of a dorm room, a pizzeria, an exterior of a university, and a mansion-sized home. The soundtrack is filled with cheesy incidental music that strives to be both creepy and from the early 70s. The setting of the movie is in the 80s, and therefore there are also a couple of popular songs included from that era.
Yet, Ti West was able to woo a couple of quasi-big named talent like Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov oddly enough. The star of the film is Jocelin Donahue whose petitely-bundled good looks cannot even save this film. Ti West's terrible dialogue isn't even the film's biggest flaw, but his "borrowing" from a played out horror movie formula that makes this effort not only very predictable, but also ultimately disappointing. I was aghast at the gall that West even sets this crapfest up as a possible sequel. Is he kidding me? When this opens later tonight, do yourself a favor and stay home and watch one of your favorite horror classics, because I'm sure that you'll only be more frightened of the admission price than anything in this movie.
The House of the Devil
Directed by: Ti West
Written By: Ti West
Starring: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan (Last Action Hero) and Mary Woronov (The Devil's Rejects)
Rated: R (gory violence, blood, some language)
Length: 95 minutes
Released: 10/30/2009
Rating: one star
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Scary Movie
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Worst Part of this Film: Everything
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scapp70
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Member: Michael Scapp
Location: NYC
Reviews written: 483
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