House Of The Devil (2009): Review

Samantha is a college sophomore trying to earn some cash so that she can get her own place. After seeing an ad for a Babysitting job, she decides to go meet the family. What she finds out is that the family doesn’t need a babysitter at all, because they actually don’t have a baby. Instead they supposedly want her to watch their elderly Mother. After much hesitation and bribery the Ullmans finally talk her into accepting the job, but what she has just walked into is a ring of hell that will have her fighting for her life.

House Of The Devil is a modern day film that takes place in the 1980’s. In fact, if Mary Woronov and Tom Noonan had been slightly younger in this film, one could’ve actually believed that this film HAD been shot and shelved twenty-plus years ago. The film is pretty slow-paced, so those of you that expect your films to be filled with fast-paced thrills and chills may not like this film.

I liked the main two characters Sam & Megan. Megan is Sam’s best friend, a friend that really cares and would do anything for Sam. Sam is just your typical plain Jane. Her side of the room is neat and Tidy, while her roommate’s is a wreck. She is just so well put together, and independent. Mary Woronov and Tom Noonan, both do a great job of portraying the creepy Ullman’s, of course with both of them being long time cult actors, that’s not a big surprise.

My favorite scenes in the film are the “Gunshot” scene, because it’s sudden and unexpected, and the scene where Sam sits on the sofa and turns on the television (Night of the Living Dead is on TV). Those two scenes just really stood out to me. There are a few suspense building scenes, nothing that will keep you on the edge of your seat or anything, but there is some suspense.

It was interesting to see the 80’s props in the film. The table fan in Sam’s dorm room is exactly like the one that I had as a kid in the late 80’s. The ashtray stand next to the Ullmans sofa, in the scene where Sam and Megan go to meet the Ullmans, is the just like the one my Grandmother gave to my Mom in the 80’s.

In conclusion, I won’t say that this film will rank on my list of favorite films of all time, but I did like it, earning it a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

2 comments:

  1. Being a tad older than you, Te*, I appreciated that while the film was set in the 80's - the filmmakers took pains not to hit us over the head with every damn 80's prop they could come up with, nor did they fill the soundtrack with 150 greatest hits of the Regan era - subtlety, thy name is "The House of the Devil", Of course seeing Mary Woronov and Dee Wallace in the film (two prolific actresses of that era) was the icing on the cake.

    And when the shooting occurs, out of left field, I found it more disturbing than any death scene one sees in today's gore fests.

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  2. LOL, yeah I occasionally leave 'The' off some titles, as I see it as unecessary. Didn't Dee Wallace look amazing? I wonder who her 'Dentist' is? lol.

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