The Plot
Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is a cash-strapped college student in the early '80s who grabs a "babysitter wanted" flyer on campus one day. When she calls, the man of the house, Mr. Ullman (Tom Noonan), offers her $100 to babysit that night because he and his wife (Mary Woronov) have some appointment vaguely related to the impending lunar eclipse. Sam's friend Megan (Greta Gerwig) drops her off at the Ullman house, where Mr. Ullman -- a gangly, exceedingly polite man with whispy gray hair and a black suit, like Phantasm's Tall Man by way of Mr. Rogers -- greets her.Mr. Ullman confesses to Sam that he isn't hiring her to care for his child, but rather for his elderly mother-in-law, who he insists will stay upstairs sleeping in bed all night long. She's hesitant, but he sweetens the pot to $400, a price she can't resist. After a slightly unsettling encounter with his Addams Family wife, Sam is left alone (more or less) in the cold, dark mansion for the night.
The young "babysitter" busies herself by watching TV, listening to music, ordering pizza and exploring the large house. As the night progresses, though, she becomes increasingly creeped out by various sights, sounds and clues that hint that the Ullmans aren't exactly on the up-and-up. In truth, the family has plans for Sam, sinister plans to make this a babysitting gig she'll never forget.
The End Result
Apart from its visual style, the most conspicuous characteristic that the film boasts is its deliberate pacing -- again, something of a throwback to the '70s. A good 30 minutes of the film is dedicated to Samantha biding her time in the house without any significant "horror activity," and the entire film is really just a build-up to the final 15 minutes, when the Ullmans' nefarious plot comes to light. The slow pace shouldn't come as a surprise to those who've seen West's previous films (The Roost, Trigger Man), though, both of which feature extended stretches of silent action -- or inaction.
West's minimalistic approach is refreshing in an age of extreme filmmaking where every other horror movie seems to justify its graphic content as "old school" edginess. By contrast, The House of the Devil ironically captures the vintage horror feel perfectly with only one moment of over-the-top gore. (Indeed, edgy "old school" films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Last House on the Left and Halloween featured relatively little blood 'n guts.)
Modern moviegoers weaned on horror pics that follow a studio-mandated number of "jump-scares" per hour might find The House of the Devil dull, but although little horror-wise happens for the first 70 minutes or so, it's still an engrossing, unsettling experience in which anticipation builds, unreleased, to a nerve-wracking level.
Of course, the higher the suspense builds, the more pressure there is to present a climax worthy of the tension, and, as with West's other films, The House of the Devil simply doesn't deliver. It's still a worthwhile watch, but the revelatory moments near the film's end lack the intensity, depth and execution needed to generate the "wow" moment worthy of the delicious build-up. As it is, the climax features a been-there-done-that scenario with mediocre makeup effects, uncharacteristically hammy performances and bumbling villains who inspire unintentional laughs rather than fear. I literally guffawed when one of them has an eye gouged and yells, "Ow! My eye! My eye!"
West's intentionally slow pace is designed to emphasize the moments of horror when they eventually occur, but while the anticipatory build-up drew me into this story, the horror elements at the end of the film actually jolted me out of it. Judging from this and his previous work, West has a definite talent for creating mood but less of an ability (or a willingness?) to shoot action sequences. I didn't need The House of the Devil to lead me to some stomach-turning, gory Martyrs-like climax, but I did need something whose impact was at least in the ballpark of the events leading up to it.
That said, Donahue, who occupies the screen alone for a good chunk of the film, is mesmerizing as Samantha, portraying a doe-eyed innocence that doesn't preclude her from being a feisty and atypically cautious horror heroine who doesn't venture off into the creepy woods to investigate every little sound (Refreshingly, she arms herself early on.). Script limitations, however, prevent veteran actors Noonan and Woronov from flexing their skills, and A.J. Bowen, so great in The Signal, has precious little screen time (Dee Wallace has an even smaller role.). Still, the cast as a whole is strong and helps maintain the movie's sense of unease when there's no particular action on screen.
