"The House of the Devil"
by: Paolo Sardinas

Horror, no matter how you look at it, was always about being scary rather than gory. Sure one or two films are able to pull of both but after awhile it just gets pretty damn boring. None of our horror flicks now focus on what’s actually important in a horror film. Scary... they never are. So when a film comes along that’s able to bring back some of those old frights that made going to movies during Halloween both fun and exciting. Well it's a breath of fresh air.

Though most people will dismiss it as a slow, boring, and sometimes utterly snooze inducing, Ti West's horror masterpiece is, sadly, none of the above. This VOD(Video on Demand) release is something new, fresh and exciting. It takes the horror genre and re-invents it in a way thats truly a tip of the hat to the previous horror classics. You know that one’s which everyone wants to remake now. The classics are classic. That’s why they're called classics, so why remake them? Well Ti West doesn't remake he re-invents. And its a job well done.

The story follows Samantha Hughes, a college student, who takes on the task of babysitting. A task which is never an easy one She’s babysitting in order for her to make a down payment on her new apartment. She gets taken to the house by her friend, Megan. Once there she meets the owners Mr and Mrs Ulman who confess to now owning any children. She quickly discovers what’s going, she’s trapped. And as a lunar eclipse closes in she quickly discovers that the Ulmans are planning on doing a satanic ritual. And shes in the center of it.

Now the story may not seem like much, but throughout the entire movies there is always this slow burning builds up as to what’s about to happen. For some people it may be too slow for a horror film but that’s the beauty of it. It doesn't just jump right in and start hacking off all of its main characters. It slowly but surely builds up to the event that occurs and slowly engrosses you in the process. Now it’s been awhile since a horror film has actually been scary, but "The House of the Devil" actually manages to pull off scary while making a retro style tip of the hat to the old 70's and 80's horror films.

The performance by its lead Jocelin Donahue, who in my opinion just might have a future in this business, is absolutely breathtaking. She’s able to portray another one of those innocent babysitters which gets innocently thrown into some pretty extreme situations. She also manages to not be annoying or stupid. Just scared. The two actors portraying the Ulmans are Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov the two work well together and are able to convey a sense of the creepiness. The two strangers who own that strange and creepy house is a plot element often mimicked but never duplicated. At least not well.

Director Ti West creates the perfect atmosphere for his soon to be horror classic. Though this film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival it hasn't received much attention. Well all I have to say is that "The House of the Devil" is a pure horror classic. One which develops the perfect horror atmosphere and offers something more than just teens getting hacked off. It manages to be both exhilarating and fresh. Fun and new are what this movie is. And as a plus it actually manages to be scary. This is something that this generation of movie makers doesn’t seem to know how to do. Well Ti knows best. Grade: A-

Rated R for some bloody violence