The House of the Devil

The House of the Devil (2009)

Director: Ti West

Cast: Jocelin Donahue, Tim Noonan, Greta Gerwig, Mary Woronov

A serious concern pervades as to the benefit of remaking film years, even decades, after they are released. On the one hand, remakes continue the positive tradition of reproducing strong narratives (i.e storytelling) throughout the generations, pointing towards the engaging and transitive properties of certain storylines. On the other hand, the constant prevalence of remakes poses a threat to innovation and original screenwriting and filmmaking, since they are easy cash-cows for studios that have little interest in innovation to begin with.

Case in point, The House of the Devil, which is not a remake as much as a re-imagining of the Satanic Cult horror trend of the 70's and 80's. Why not take a once popular sub-genre and modify it for the better, not necessarily mimicking it as much as tailoring to perfect it? Ti West's result is a wonderfully frightening and entertaining journey over the course of a day (under the backdrop of a lunar eclipse that proves more relevant than initially expected) as college sophomore Sam accepts a lucrative babysitting job to afford the new apartment she desperately needs.

The first hour (two-thirds) of the film involves Sam (Jocelin Donahue) finding her dream apartment through a generous landlady (Dee Wallace), mulling over ways to secure financial income to afford it, discussing her situation with amazing realism and sincere dialogue with her best friend Megan (an awesome Greta Gerwig), and accepting a babysitting job spontaneously (and recklessly) after being contacted by a creepy and obviously- not- normal patriarch, Mr. Ullman (Tim Noonan).

Sam is offered four hundred dollars for her watchdog services one night, which, in all honesty, few of us would turn down! "Did you ever think it is too good to be true?" asks Megan, pissed that her friend is refusing to reject an obviously dangerous situation. Of course it's too good to be true, but when has that ever stopped us from taking risks? (SPOILERS) Megan's abrupt and stomach-turning murder is the first scene of the consistently even-paced film that sets into the motion a legitimate sense of danger, whereas the earlier portion of the film only gives a profound sense of uneasiness. No scene competes with this in the factory of disturbingly relatable material, except for when we meet Mrs. Ullman, as she enters a dining room, turns to the mirror, and ala Polanski, sneers in the reflection.

The last half hour of the movie rockets into bloody supernatural chaos, after Sam has gradually investigated the entire house in boredom, introducing the pivotal spaces (i.e rooms of the house) that our villains will manically chase us through, like a maze. The result is that West's pacing comes off a delicately wound up coil, all segments relevant and tied to the other, finally springing to a snap by the end.

By the time the credits roll, we know all the why's; why the lunar eclipse, why Sam, why she was forced to drink a horrifying witch's blood... and why she is saved. This cohesion elevates West's film from typical homage, to highly mastered horror.

A