The House of the Devil (2009)

The House of the Devil

Starring Jocelin Donahue
October 30 (Limited Release)
December 2009 DVD Release
Watch it now! Amazon.com

Sometimes I feel like the movie gods take pity on my poor soul and send a Muse to a movie maker to inspire him to make a movie that strikes right into the heart of all I love. My very favorite decade of movie making is the mid-to-late 1970s. That era provided more inspiration in movie-making than I believe any other era. Included in that inspiration was making suspense movies a certain way that crawled into ones conscious with its element of supernatural wrongness. The Changling, The Amityville Horror, Halloween, and many more hidden gems of slowly building atmospheric creepiness punctuated film in the 1970s.

hod5 The House of the Devil (2009) Many folks say that mega-blockbuster and children horror movie Paranormal Activity is scary due to using what they termed as “Hitchcockian” techniques. Those folks should have their movie-going license revoked, of course, because they obviously wouldn’t understand a Hitchcock movie if a bird impaled its beak in their eye. However, I think what is being attempted is to describe the feeling of dread, provided by certain movies, that leaks from the response center in the brain down into one’s suddenly thumping heart. Most movies never break through the reality filter of the brain enough to touch the visceral and trigger a survival instinct. The movies that evolved from Hitchcock’s atmospheric and reactive tension, mystery, and suspense featuring the normal to incorporating fantastical or paranormal properties succeeded at massaging that survival instinct. Movies makers, for a short time, discovered that viewers are most frightened of what they can’t see and when they don’t know what is going to happen. “House of the Devil” tries very hard to make a movie that incorporates those elements.

Set gloriously in the 1980s, “House of the Devil” plays to the obsessive fear of that decade regarding Satanic cults and the disappearances of young people – especially young girls. The atmosphere is fed with snippets of news casts regarding a rare lunar eclipse set to happen that evening near midnight. Sam (Jocelin Donahue) is a college student unhappy with dorm living and hoping to finally set-up in her own place. She finds the perfect apartment and a great landlady, but she’s flat broke and desperate to get the cash for the deposit. Luckily (yeah, right) she stumbles on a advertisement outside her dorm for a baby sitter and, after some strange sequences, secures the job in the nick of time.

Once committed to the job and at the rural home of her employer, Sam finds out that a baby sitter is not really needed, but rather someone to stay in the house to make sure the elderly mother upstairs is OK while the employer and his wife goes out. Sam hesitantly agrees after negotiating for a substantial raise. Very slowly, however, Sam begins to believe that something else isn’t right. Exploration of the house yields strange clues including indefinable sounds and strange items. She’s also stranded at the rural location because she was dropped off by a friend and cannot reach that friend by telephone.

hod3 The House of the Devil (2009) So beings Sam’s journey into the dark heart of cult practices. “The House of the Devil” takes its time building up to the final twenty minutes of climax. The entire first act is spent introducing Sam, which works fabulously due to the zeal in which Donahue embraces the role. Sam is plucky and cute as the 1980s version of a good kid. I grew up in the 80s, but was younger than Sam’s age in this film. Therefore she reminds me of every crushable older sister of my friends in a charming and gangly way that makes her instantly endearing.

The second act continues to slowly build tension as Sam goes from goofy college kid dancing to her hip-holstered Sony Walkman (I mean the portable cassette player) and roaming the house that she has almost to herself, to a jumpy girl all alone convinced that something is wrong. The high tension in the second act is very effective. It made me physically fidgety while anticipating the beginning of the climatic activities.

The climax of “The House of the Devil” was honestly a bit of a let down. There was a good bit of gore and Donahue’s Sam was convincing as being a scared kid turned feral. There was legitimate tension leading up to the end, but the end was void of tension for the most part. It was almost too clean. Therein lies the only stand-out problem with “The House of the Devil;” although I immensely enjoyed the movie, it never became more than facsimile of a certain style of filmmaking. I appreciate the effort and believe for the most part it worked, but the film was not completely successful in its endeavor. The flat third act gave way to an near embarrassing final scene that seemed to not be congruous to the established tone of the film. If I had to guess, I would surmise that the final scene had to be a studio insisted inclusion.

hod4 The House of the Devil (2009) Besides being an overall entertaining and tense film, “The House of the Devil” also provides very good cinematography and perfect subtle acting that is missing in many movies of its genre. There were no gimmicks from the camera other than the deliciously appropriate 16mm film used to give the movie a 70s and 80s genre vibe. However, some of the scenes shot in the interior of the house are technically superb and perfectly placed. Long stationary shots with action taking place in and out of the frame; over the shoulder perspectives; dark, and I mean dark, interior lighting. Magnificently done. Jocelin Donahue was outstanding as well. One particular scene that happened near the middle of the second act stayed with me. During the scene, Sam is snooping around the house just as she begins to feel something is not right. She comes upon, typically, a bathtub with the curtain partially drawn. The viewer of course knows that it is too early for a major happening, but when the curtain is pulled back there is a slightly horrific discovery where Donahue completely nails the reaction. It’s just perfect. The viewer knows that there is something strange behind the curtain after the reaction, but the reaction was not too blasé or too over-the-top to make the scene feel false or hackneyed. When the viewer is finally shown the discovery, he cannot help but to think that it was exactly how he would have reacted. Wonderful.

“The House of the Devil” is not for everyone. If there is anything that I have learned this year with brilliant movies like Moon and Trick r Treat , it is that there is always going to be a good portion of the movie going public that needs modern by-the-dots structure to enjoy a film*. That’s fine, there is nothing wrong with whatever one’s tastes are (even if bad), but I appreciate the aim of a film like “The House of the Devil” and I can bask contentedly in its subtle craft.

*”Paranormal Activity” is obviously an exception to this statement and for the life of me I don’t understand it. I’ve never been more underwhelmed by a film – and that includes “Star Wars” episode one.

The House of the Devil (2009)