The House of the Devil (2009)

In 1983, financially struggling college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.

Director:

Ti West

Writer:

Ti West

Stars:

Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov

3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jocelin Donahue	...	Samantha
Tom Noonan	...	Mr. Ulman
Mary Woronov	...	Mrs. Ulman
Greta Gerwig	...	Megan
AJ Bowen	...	Victor Ulman
Dee Wallace	...	Landlady
Heather Robb	...	Roommate
Darryl Nau	...	Random Guy
Brenda Cooney	...	Nurse
Danielle Noe	...	Mother
Mary B. McCann	...	Elaine Cross (as Mary McCann)
John Speredakos	...	Ted Stephen
Lena Dunham	...	911 Operator (voice)
Graham Reznick	...	Local DJ (voice)
Ti West	...	Favorite Teacher

Storyline

In 1983, financially struggling college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.

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Plot Keywords:

retro horror | retro | lunar eclipse | pregnant | female protagonist | 

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Taglines:

Talk on the Phone. Finish Your Homework. Watch TV. Die.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some bloody violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot over a period of only 18 days.

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Goofs

The rotary phone inside the house has a "516" area code, which is Nassau County, Long Island, NY. There is also an emergency sticker on the phone displaying the real life working phone number for the New Hyde Park Fire Department. New Hyde Park is a suburb on Long Island, NY. However, the film is set in a remote area on the outskirts of an upstate college town.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Landlady: I can tell you like it.
Samantha: Oh, I love it. It's perfect.
Landlady: Well, great. It's such a neat place. You know, I showed it to another girl this morning, but to be honest, I didn't like her very much. She looked like trouble, and I'm way too old to be dealing with all that nonsense. I go a lot on my gut feelings, and I have a good one about you. You remind me of my daughter.

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Crazy Credits

Special Thanks: Goatse & Tubgirl

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Connections

References Rosemary's Baby (1968)

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Soundtracks

Suspicion
Written by Graham Reznick
Performed by Grazer

User Reviews

any second now i'll be blown away... maybe not

Well then, what do we have here? A modern horror film placed in the 70/80s era. I already like Ti West thinking. With most Horror films today being god damn awful, it refreshing to see one which pays homage to the classics while trying to be unique. From start to finish, the film is littered with classic horror references. The opening titles design, the babysitter, Satanism. Even some parts of the music score is identical to the famous Halloween score.

Now then, this film is very slow. It takes it time to build up, in fact, it takes the main character 30 minutes to reach the house. Thank god then that Samatha was likable. Now, it doesn't matter how slow a film starts, i mean the shining is regarded as slow but there one big contrast between the film's build up. One goes somewhere the other doesn't . Once we finally get to the house, we do nothing more than watch Samatha stroll around for the rest of the film.

West atmosphere is perfect, his camera work was great, the suspension was brilliant but nothing ever came from these very few moments. The suspense just keeps building , West keeps on adding more fuel onto the fire until finally he runs out and the credits starts rolling . Very little happens and when we do reach the final act, it ends up being boring and forgettable.

This film looks great but sadly , the script is poor leaving a potential film into a easily forgettable one. If you particularly enjoy watching people do nothing for a hour and 10 minutes, then this is highly recommended

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official soundtrack site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 May 2012 (Taiwan)

Also Known As:

House of the Devil

Filming Locations:

Lakeville, Connecticut, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,195, 1 November 2009

Gross USA:

$101,215

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$101,215

Company Credits

Production Co:

MPI Media Group, Constructovision, RingTheJing Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1