Top bad for mu taste. There is nothing interesting in this movie

The House of the Devil is a methodically structured film that highlights the monstrosities of the human psyche. Although the film's slow-paced narrative may seem daunting to a viewer's attention span, the director's elaborate storytelling and the strikingly visual ending makes the viewing worthwhile. From the beginning, we are put into Ti West's homage to the 1980s as Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) walks back to her dorm room while listening to her Walkman. This was not the film's only relationships to the 1980s as it was shot on 16mm film, which gave it a very similar grainy look as many past films did in that era. These retro elements of the film present feelings of nostalgia and intertextuality to films such as Halloween (1978), especially in relation to voyeurism. From the beginning, it seems that Samantha is being violated when Mr. Ulman stands her up at the school and lies to her about the details of the babysitting job. By this point in the film, Samantha is already the victim, before even confronting the demons of the house. As Samantha's stay in the house continues, she is forced deeper into a dark pattern by uncovering insightful clues on who the owners of the house really are. Half-way through the film, Samantha is already helpless since every time she comes closer to the truth of why she's there, there is already someone one step ahead of her. That person is Victor Ulman (A.J. Bowen), who we share the perspective from as we see Samantha sitting on the couch through the window in one particular scene. Not only does this first-person shot share elements to the opening scene of Halloween (1978), but it also puts the audience in the shoes of the violator. The Ulman family and the audience share the bond of knowing that Samantha is in danger, which presents the use of irony in the film. As we watch Samantha wander around the house throughout the film, we become the violators of the film and by the end during the satanic ritual, we have become participants. This is a feature that Ti West and his crew are able to create which increases the tension as the film reaches its climatic end. What makes this horror film a unique and innovative experience is how it is able to make ordinary horror elements and amplify their effect on the audience. Not only does the use of low-key lighting present an ominous tone in the film, but it also draws reference to the fading shadow of the moon from the lunar eclipse. And most importantly, the sharp high tone soundtrack amplifies the intensity to the already appalling moments in the film. Ti West does not recreate the pallet for making horror films, but merely polishes it to construct a pleasing experience for viewers.

Being a college student on a campus causes you to read the bulletin board postings and wonder who are the people that post them. Now that I've watched The House of the Devil, I am 100% not trusting bulletin board postings even if they are for walking dogs- must watch movie to understand! Overall, the movie provides a relatable feeling to what Samantha is going through that being with finding a new apartment, economic hardships, and emotionally drained perhaps psychological as well. As the movie goes on, Samantha's character starts to buildup and we sympathize for her as if we were close to her and just want the best for her. The actress who plays Samantha has such a naturalistic acting that gives off the vibe of an innocent sweet girl and towards the end we see her defend herself like nobody's business, is such a great transition and character buildup to see. The film provides great acting with a nice, and somewhat slow, buildup of the climax where it all comes down with surprises and twists. It's not your usual gore flick, but the amount of blood used is reasonable and so is the violence that keeps the suspense going and creates jump scares at the end. We see the director, Ti West, use lighting and sound techniques to set the emotion and mood of the film such like, bottom lighting to create the dominant and frightful look as well as side lighting to create a vulnerable feel. We see a lot of low-key lighting to give us that mysterious vibe and have us guess what's behind that mysterious door. West uses such great orchestra music to build up that suspenseful feeling to keep us at the edge and give us that great scare that every great horror film should have. In entirety, The House of the Devil gives hope and a fresh sense to the typical belief horror films and adds a nice cliffhanger to it that keeps you wondering even after the movie is long over with.

Spoiler alerts ahead, READ AT OWN DISCRETION! House of the Devil leaves the audience terrified and interested. While watching, one could predict when something would happen, even if it was uncertain of what would happen. The doorbell for the pizza delivery is meant to be unexpected, but to those paying attention to timing it was not. When Samantha knocked on the door and on the other side there were dead bodies, it was clear that the mother was not behind the door, but something else more sinister was. What made this movie so great was that even though predictions could be made that something would happen, the audience is still left completely petrified. The suspenseful aspect of the movie is how TI West kept everyone on the edge of their seats. During the pentagram scene while the physical act of rape was not done, it was very apparent that the ram's head on her stomach and the blood dripping down onto her was meant to impregnate her. The whole idea of the pentagram and the summoning of the devil is something that terrifies me to the core. The parallels of being raped in real life by a man and the movie I think is what terrifies so many women. Because in real life, when a woman is raped and is found to be pregnant, there are so many thoughts that run through her head. Does she keep it? Does she abort it? Will she be reminded of the demon when she looks at the baby? While being raped and impregnated by the devil is not necessarily a possibility in life, the ideology behind it is.