Less is more, and writer/director/editor Ti West knows it -- until he forgets near the end of this babysitter-in-peril nailbiter.
Comment
12/03/09
Rate this Movie 
The House of the Devil (2009)
87
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:60
Fresh:52
Rotten:8
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: Though its underlying themes are familiar, House of the Devil effectively sheds the loud and gory cliches of contemporary horror to deliver a tense, slowly building throwback to the fright flicks of decades past.
Theatrical Release:Oct 30, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: A coed struggling to pay her rent ends up taking the wrong part-time job in writer-director Ti West's old-school, 1980s-set horror flick THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL. Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is a... [More]
Starring: Jocelin Donahue, Greta Gerwig, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov
Director: Ti West
Reviews for The House of the Devil
In the end, this homage to '80s horror is little more than a faithful flashback -- authentic in execution but about as scary as something you saw again and again way back when.
10/27/09
Top CriticDirector West gets credit for delaying the mayhem to the last 20 minutes, but fails to evoke a necessary tension until then.
08/31/09
A horror film with no punch.
10/26/09
Top CriticAlthough the payoff is creepy, it takes a little too long to arrive -- and when it does, it's about as worn-out as the movie's title.
10/30/09
Top CriticThat's the problem with this sort of homage: Unless you've got a startling new take, you wind up with a movie that's been done hundreds of times before, to much better effect.
10/26/09
It may not completely succeed as a horror film, though I would take its deliberately funky and low-key vibe over the hard-sell nonsense of "Paranormal Activity" any day of the week.
11/13/09
Not a bad venture into the "girl meets devil" genre but a few rock songs short of a hit.
05/15/09
The House of the Devil could have certainly turned out stronger with a shorter buildup and a more drawn out climax, but who am I to argue? I haven't been this scared watching a horror film in years.
10/30/09
With the suspense cranked so high, it's almost inevitable that the bloody finale comes as a bit of a letdown.
10/29/09
West... has all at once crafted a film that beautifully reproduces the look and texture of a straight-to-video horror from the '80s, and filled it with the sort of nail-biting tension that works in any decade.
09/09/09
The House of the Devil is not only set in the early '80s, but director Ti West chose to shoot and structure the film in a way so as to make it feel like it was made in the early '80s. In a way, this throwback style is reminiscent of what Quentin Ta
10/30/09
This pitch-perfect genre throwback would be right at home among the creaky and weird supernatural thrillers of the 70's and 80's. (And yes, I mean that as a compliment.)
10/15/09
Devil is generously unassuming, making the film more of a secret handshake than a blood-spattered, deafening gorefest. The attention to mood and setting is marvelous.
10/29/09
There is a lot about The House of the Devil to admire but West ultimately likes the slow burn a bit too much and it fizzles out.
11/13/09
skims away so much of the noisy and excessive clichés of today's terror flicks that it feels like a breath of fresh air
10/29/09
West avoids cliché and cheesiness with wise casting choices. Donahue's naturalistic performance is as persuasive as the subtly sinister portrayals by Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov.
10/29/09
The film is a perfectly pitched old-school horror homage to a '70s/'80s-era of cinema that should have been.
11/02/09
Ti West has been building a reputation among horror fans as an expert in the art of the slow burn, and more power to him for exhibiting something that seems to be increasingly rare in filmmakers in any genre: patience.
10/26/09
Puts to shame most major studio horror releases. Classy even while getting down-and-dirty, unusually savvy about the importance of tension and character nuance over viscera and a soulless body count.
10/08/09
Latest News for The House of the Devil
October 29, 2009:
Critics Consensus: This Is It Is Certified Fresh
This week at the movies brings only one wide release: the hotly-anticipated performance documentary Michael Jackson's This Is It, which captures the King of Pop in rehearsals... More...
October 04, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
September 28, 2009:
New: Brand New Trailer and Poster
More...
September 28, 2009:
New: Brand New Trailer and Poster
More...
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
History of Disney Animation
MSN Movies offers a little background on the success of Disney Animation.
90 Years of Screen Vampires
TIME takes a look back at the history of vampires on film.
Virtuoso Vistas of Lovely Bones
Techland examines the visual splendor of Peter Jackson's upcoming film.
Recent Headlines as TV Movies
AOL put together a list of 10 recent news items that would be perfect as TV Movies.
The Death of Original Thought
Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill explores how remakes and reboots have warped our thinking.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds