The greatest movie ever made..!

Lack of good storyline.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A nice little flick with great care for detail (brings back the 80s in music and "style" like) and good acting (Jocelin Donahue playing Samantha remembers me a little of Jessica Harper playing Suzy Bannion, the heroine of the classic Suspiria). The transition to the gory end and the resolution are a little blunt and not well paced for my taste and well, I was never really scared, surprised or shocked or anything like that. But anyway, not a bad flick but certainly no must-watch or must-collect for the lover of the art of horrors.

In 2009's The House of the Devil, Ti West invites the audience into what is possibly one of the most tension building labyrinths of terror. Centered around the Satanic cult craze of the 1980's, West inserts little details in the mise-en-scene to trap an everyday college student, Samantha (Jocelin Donahue), in the dark, secluded house of the Ulman's, played by Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov. Shadows, window panes, door frames, you name it and West has utilized a certain quality of the architectural nature of the house to drag us into his dungeon of insanity. He unleashes the beast by building up the tension until the very last moment. Viewers will feel like there is something watching them at all times, whether that be true or not. His work is supported by a talented group of actors, who embody the soul of soullessness. Noonan and Woronov, though very unsuspecting, give off a vibe of unbalance in the little screen time they have. The briefness does not matter, as they are able to make the best of it. Donahue makes Samantha into an extremely relatable character for any young person. Her goal is simple, and yet she finds herself in a situation in which she did not expect. The movie brings up many social issues through underlying context, such as the exploitation and prostitution of the body, the falsehoods of faith, and the transformation of man into monster. Overall brilliance on all levels. Could not be any more satisfied with the end result.

House of the Devil is a love letter to classic 80s horror films that timidly hides among modern horror films. This film managed to capture the true essence of the 80s: the nostalgic hits, the grainy camera, and the prominent fashion marked by big hair and high-waist pants. However, House of the Devil really shines through its purposeful callbacks to 80s horror elements. Unlike modern horror films, this film does not spoil or desensitize the viewer to a marathon of gore and nudity right off the get-go. Instead, this film takes its time by building up the horror and suspense through elements of mis-en-scene such as the lightning, sound, and the reoccurring colors of white and red leaving the viewer submissive and vulnerable to the plot by sitting on the edge of their seat thinking, "when will this go bad?". Director Ti West manipulates our emotions with the sound as it creates an illusion for the viewer that a jump scare will happen soon, only to find out it was a false alarm. Ti West allows the audience to soak up the mis-en-scene in this film by placing the camera in a seemingly casual spot as if we are to watch something horrific unravel behind the curtains, or behind the couch that Sam is sitting on, yet we are actually examining the house and the environment, searching for clues just as Sam is doing herself. The reoccurring colors of white and red are evident through the placement of white and red lamps, as they are foreshadowing the splashing use of those colors later on. Low-key lighting is used to cast a shadow of the stair railings on Sam's face to indicate that she is trapped, also foreshadowing events to come. Ti West explicitly incorporates these techniques that may be familiar to 80s horror fans, as this film shares intertextuality with Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre and John Carpenter's Halloween as both films also utilized sound and lighting techniques to frighten its audience.

In a time where jump scares are so prevalent, Ti West's The House of the Devil is a refreshing film that does not rely solely on jump scares but of the paranoia of the audience. Ti West brilliantly succeeds in making the mundane task of babysitting utterly horrifying through the film's foreboding atmosphere and use of tension. Silence is utilized throughout the film as a means to build this terrifying tension which lasts hours after the film has ended. The House of the Devil makes you question the safety of mundane tasks, such as the simple act of walking down a street at night. The lingering presence of this film can also be attributed to the main location of the film a house. While the claustrophobic hallways and frequent use of low angle shots give the house a horrific presence, it is the normality of the house that is terrifying. Other films such as Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre throws the audience into a terrifying community with a killer, while The House of the Devil puts the audience in an obscure house leaving everything else up to their imagination. The film immerses the audience through the use a single main character, instead of splitting the audience's attention between a group of friends allowing for a more intimate connection as well as an unnerving sense of isolation throughout the film. Overall, The House of the Devil is a beautifully innovative film that leads you on a terrifying journey making you question the safety of everyday events.