Quickcard Review - Chicago International Film Festival Review The House of the Devil
Directed by: Ti West Cast: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig Running Time: 1 hr 30 mins Rating: R Release Date: October 30, 2009 (Limited)
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PLOT: Sophomore in college Samantha (Donahue) gets a babysitting job at a strange house located deep in the woods. She slowly discovers that the owners don't want her just for security work.
WHO'S IT FOR? Horror junkies, but the old school breed who are content with boring stories that fumble their climactic delivery of the goods.
OVERALL
Congratulations, House of the Devil writer/director Ti West. You’ve managed to make an homage to all of the sub-par horror movies of the 80’s, whilst repeating their mediocrity and adding nothing of your own to their legacy. Somehow you’ve managed to stretch what could’ve been an impressive twenty-minute short into a bland full-length feature that only stands out because it could actually pass as a B-grade midnight movie from the 1980’s. Why bother viewing this film, never mind making, it, when the exact same thrills (or lack thereof) can be found in more genuine material?
Granted, if one moves past the film’s historical context, this movie is not a student film from hell. However, it is blatantly a student film, full of extended shots that don’t know what a cut feels like, unnecessary camera showmanship, acting that more than not leaves a bad taste in the mouth, and even a totally wasted opening credit sequence.
A textual prologue that hints at Satanic rituals is the only bit of life that the film gives us to hold onto for an hour. A fitting musical score helps make a handful of moments in House of the Devil actually have a heartbeat, complimented by cinematography that seems to be selective on when it wants to be taken seriously. But when watching this mostly disappointing novelty film, I spent more time wondering (1) why someone like Mr. West can be allowed to bore us with his “slow rising tension” when American Movie subject filmmaker Mark Borchardt still hasn’t released his own feature, or, (2) I was trying to figure out what Mr. West’s average grades must’ve been in film school.
FINAL SCORE: 4/10