HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, THE - DVD review

Mark Steensland is an award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter and author.

A number of years ago, a musician friend of mine introduced me to a band by giving me their CD and saying, "These guys come closer to sounding like The Beatles than anyone else I've ever heard." He meant it as a compliment, of course. But I don't see it as one. Being known for something because it's like something else seems an artistic dead-end to me. In fact, I think The Beatles have enjoyed their tremendous success precisely because of all the ways they sounded like nothing else. To me, that's real art.

So perhaps you can guess that I'm growing rather tired of the whole trend of movies that act like other movies, made by directors whose entire educations seem to have come only from watching other movies. And although Quentin Tarantino certainly wasn't the first filmmaker to engage in this sort of thing (what some might call "post-modernism"), I daresay he is one of the most well-known. And what might have seemed interesting at the beginning of his career reached a nadir of some kind in "Grindhouse." Spending nearly $70 million trying to make a movie that looks like it cost less than $1 million is the definition of what's wrong with this whole line of thinking.

So what of "The House of the Devil" (2009), the latest film from Ti West, director of such festival favorites as "The Roost" (2005) and "Trigger Man" (2007)? Much has been made about the film's atmosphere, which duplicates the look and feel of an ‘80s drive-in horror quickie like "Silent Scream" to such perfection that it actually feels like a lost film, only now (re)discovered. In fact, the distributor has pushed this particular angle so hard that the film is also being released on VHS. Yes, you read that correctly. And they've done a fine job with the tape version as well, making it look exactly like one of those movies you rented to watch after your parents went to sleep. But here's the difference: "House of the Devil" is a great movie, far and away my favorite of 2009. And what makes it especially great is the fact that it never gets overtaken by its imitation of those movies from another era. Too often in the work of Tarantino (and his disciples), I feel like the whole point of the movie is only to act like another movie. Not so in "The House of the Devil." Ti West has made a good old-fashioned horror movie without apologies or irony – a rare thing in cinema today, especially horror cinema.

Like those other movies, the plot (on the surface, anyway) is razor-thin. Sam (played by Levi's model Jocelin Donahue, also seen in JT Petty's "The Burrowers") is a college student so desperate to earn money for a deposit on an apartment that she accepts a babysitting job from creepy old couple Mr. and Mrs. Ulman (Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov) even after she finds out there is no baby. It doesn't take long to figure out that all is not as it seems and that the night will not end well. It's a set-up worthy of comparing to such other horror greats as John Carpenter's "Halloween," Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," and Roman Polanski's "The Tenant." And like those other movies, what seems a simple plot is fleshed out by believable characters made all the more convincing through truly great performances. I was especially pleased to hear that Jocelin Donahue won Best Actress when the film screened at last year's Screamfest in Los Angeles. (Jeff Grace's excellent music also won Best Score at the same fest and deservedly so. His music is completely contemporary and goes a long way toward preventing the film from falling completely into the abyss of imitation.) Similar praise should also be lavished on Mary Woronov, whose turn as Mrs. Ulman is the comeback performance of the year.

Some viewers have taken issue with the film's pacing, complaining that the whole thing feels like a short stretched to feature-length. I disagree. It's a shame that we've gotten so used to the Smorgasbord-style viewing experience embodied by YouTube that our attention spans can't handle anything longer than 90 seconds. But I never once doubted the slow-burn quality of "The House of the Devil." Like the best sort of foreplay, the first hour of the movie set me so on edge that the final act became all the more terrifying. And even after four viewings, it still works.

I've always thought the old adage that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" only held true for the one being imitated. For me, I'm usually left scratching my head and wondering why I wouldn't just watch/listen to/read the original. Make no mistake, "The House of the Devil" may imitate some of the movies it was clearly inspired by, but it is no imitation. This is the real deal. Scary, funny, clever, surprising – just the kind of thing when you're looking for something to watch after the kids have gone to sleep. Oh, and by the way: it actually cost less than $1 million to make.

Video

Picture is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Although the movie has an old style feel to it, picture quality reflects today's technology with a solid transfer, deep blacks, rich colors and fine grain.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Both English and Spanish subtitles are included to support the audio.

Extras

The film is accompanied by two feature-length commentary tracks: one with Ti West and Jocelin Donahue and the other with Ti West, producers and crew.

Other extras include a new trailer, obviously made after the film's limited theatrical release (it contains quotes from other reviewers), three deleted scenes totaling seven minutes including both sides of a phone call between Sam and Megan about her getting the apartment and a scene with mother in the attic. A five minute EPK which includes brief interviews with the cast and director intercut with scenes from the movie. And a 14 minute collection of behind-the-scenes footage assembled by Graham Reznick.

Closing Thoughts

If there were actually such a thing as cinematic justice, "The House of the Devil" would have gotten the attention (and box office run) that instead went to "Paranormal Activity." I hated that other indie horror film and found it not scary, clever or particularly well-made. In other words, everything that "The House of the Devil" is not.

For a different take on the film, please check out our Blu-Ray review by Ranjan Pruthee.