'The House of the Devil' - High-Def Digest Review

**loganfire3** · 11-04-2010 07:57 PM

Wow, I had heard such good things about this movie. What a waste of time. If your going to try to emulate an 80's movie, at least make it a GOOD 80's movie. There were plenty of movies from the 80's that were scary. Although this movie did get the look right, the story and acting were horrible! SOOOOOO slow, I can't even call this movie a slow burn because there was no explosion at the end. The ending was OK but nothing great. I was really digging the whole vibe of the movie for the first 15 minutes but then nothing continued to happen. I streamed it and still felt ripped off.

**bradp56** · 11-04-2010 09:29 PM

I am so dissapointed with this film. I was in love with this film until the last 15-20 mins that just killed it for me.

**poof2124** · 11-04-2010 11:12 PM

Totally agree with the review. Try to state this opinion on the movie's IMDb board and you'll get flamed with, "You have no attention span!" I wanted to like it more.

**Blu-Balls** · 11-05-2010 01:49 AM

Funny, I just grabbed this for $10 from Best Buy.com. I rented this movie from Net Flix when it came out earlier this year. I read nothing but great reviews back then.

I watched and really liked it and told myself I'd pick it up once the price dropped. Well, here I am, a proud owner. Those on the fence, don't let this review or other posts here dissuade you. Give it a rent and make a judgement for yourself.

**EvilResident** · 11-05-2010 07:47 AM

I ended up loving it. The entire movie, even the "boring" parts, gave (and still give) me that feeling of being alone in the house, being okay, when suddenly, you get that feeling that you're not by yourself anymore, so you run around and turn on every light in the house. It creeps me out.

**Landy** · 11-05-2010 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by poof2124

Totally agree with the review. Try to state this opinion on the movie's IMDb board and you'll get flamed with, "You have no attention span!" I wanted to like it more.

That's the truth. I've seen so many people flip out when someone doesn't like the movie that it's pretty scary, far scarier than 'The House of the Devil' to be honest. They make assumptions and automatically resort to negativity like "you just don't 'get it' because you are too young and of the ADD generation that needs flashy movements every 2 seconds to stay awake and blah-blah-freaking-blah."

Well, that's a load of B.S. because A)I'm actually a few years older than Ti West and B)as a horror fan I love and appreciate ALL KINDS of films whether they are slow burns or in-your-face gorefests. 'The House of the Devil' is mostly a no-burn, though, and even by eighties standards it's painfully dull and would probably be a forgotten memory if it was really made in 1985 or whatever since it is one of the blandest so-called horror films from ANY decade. Yes, West does manage to establish an effective sense of dread in places, but he also severs it frequently with the tedium. It's so extreme that I just didn't give a crap what happened to her anymore.

Other things that I didn't like are:

Spoiler:

**krylonman** · 11-06-2010 12:14 PM

...perceptive viewers may notice some modern fixtures and other elements that don't quite jive with the setting's timeframe...

The word is "jibe." I feel like a jerk for even mentioning it, but this feels like the twentieth time I've seen this mistake this week and maybe the tenth time I've seen it in an HDD review. JIBE, damnit.

**Landy** · 11-06-2010 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by krylonman

The word is "jibe." I feel like a jerk for even mentioning it, but this feels like the twentieth time I've seen this mistake this week and maybe the tenth time I've seen it in an HDD review. JIBE, damnit.

Ah, touche. Fixed it. Thanks.

**RoadLizard** · 11-07-2010 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by Landy

That's the truth. I've seen so many people flip out when someone doesn't like the movie that it's pretty scary, far scarier than 'The House of the Devil' to be honest. They make assumptions and automatically resort to negativity like "you just don't 'get it' because you are too young and of the ADD generation that needs flashy movements every 2 seconds to stay awake and blah-blah-freaking-blah."

Well, that's a load of B.S. because A)I'm actually a few years older than Ti West and B)as a horror fan I love and appreciate ALL KINDS of films whether they are slow burns or in-your-face gorefests. 'The House of the Devil' is mostly a no-burn, though, and even by eighties standards it's painfully dull and would probably be a forgotten memory if it was really made in 1985 or whatever since it is one of the blandest so-called horror films from ANY decade. Yes, West does manage to establish an effective sense of dread in places, but he also severs it frequently with the tedium. It's so extreme that I just didn't give a crap what happened to her anymore.

Other things that I didn't like are:

Spoiler:

Well HELL yeah, Landy! God forbid you dont like a film thats slow and boring. Ive been the black sheep for years because Im not afraid to say something is slow and boring - especially films that are critically acclaimed or whatever. They cry "Go watch Transformers again". So, I do.

This film was just awful. Putrid. Lousy. The McNeil/Lehrer report on the cable access channel is more interesting.

**kannisto** · 11-07-2010 10:02 AM

I pretty much liked the film and I'm a fan of 80's horror films, I started watching them in the 80's as a teenager. I didn't know much at all about the movie before watching it, so I went into it without any expectations. For me this was never boring, it built tension quite nicely throughout. The one part that I didn't quite like was the ending, it seemed to be rather underdeveloped. Up until then the movie was very enjoyable in my opinion, creepy & atmospheric, and I very much enjoyed the 80's style. The ending didn't really spoil it for me either. Certainly there were a lot of holes in the "logic" of certain things that happened in the movie but it didn't exactly bother me since it wasn't exactly a documentary and "logic" is a rather flexible concept in horror movies anyway. The main point is atmosphere, mood and the overall "scare factor" and I think this movie was pretty good in those areas.

I've got the French Blu-ray release instead of the U.S. release. It has a lot nicer cover than the U.S. version.

**Landy** · 11-07-2010 10:10 AM

That's cool, I didn't realize there was an import for the movie. Does it have anything different?

I also think it's pretty clever that they decided to release it as an Amazon exclusive with a VHS cassette. I don't know how many people can still actually play VHS, but it's probably a nice collector's item for fans of the movie and it does come with the DVD.

**kannisto** · 11-07-2010 10:28 AM

The French version: http://www.amazon.fr/house-devil-Blu...dp/B003TP3UHI/

I got it from a Swiss friend as a present some time ago. I think it has forced French subs and is region B locked. My "HTPC version" had those problems taken care of though. Otherwise the specs seem rather similar to the U.S. release as mentioned in the review but since I don't have that one I haven't compared them directly.

**REDBULL74** · 11-07-2010 09:23 PM

To each their own................I loved this movie! The 80's vibe was so spot on, it's really hard to believe this film was produced in 2009. It has such a really creepy atmosphere and builds up great with a slow burn. It's funny to see such bi-polar opinions concerning this film.............. I think the majority of people who don't like it have ADD or a short attention span. lol

**krylonman** · 11-08-2010 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by Landy

Ah, touche. Fixed it. Thanks.

Heh, thanks for dealing with such nit-pickery so gracefully.

**Landy** · 11-09-2010 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by krylonman

Heh, thanks for dealing with such nit-pickery so gracefully.

No problem. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I don't mind if people point out things that need fixing.

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