The House of the Devil
The House of the Devil

The House of the Devil

2009Movie95 minEnglish

A young college student who’s struggling financially takes a strange babysitting job which coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.

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Insights

IMDb6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes91%
Metacritic74/100
Google Users84%
Director: Ti WestGenres: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Plot Summary

A financially struggling college student takes a job as a babysitter for the summer. She quickly discovers her employers have sinister intentions, involving her in a terrifying Satanic ritual. She must fight for her survival as the night unfolds and the true horror of her situation becomes apparent.

Critical Reception

The House of the Devil was widely praised by critics for its masterful build-up of suspense, its retro aesthetic reminiscent of 1980s horror films, and its effective blend of psychological tension and genuine scares. Audiences also appreciated its slow-burn approach and its homage to classic horror tropes.

What Reviewers Say

  • Praised for its deliberate pacing and intense atmosphere.
  • Lauded for its authentic 1980s horror aesthetic and suspenseful narrative.
  • Applauded for its clever subversion of horror clichés and genuine scares.

Google audience: Google users frequently highlight the film's effective suspense-building and its successful evocation of classic 80s horror. Many appreciate the slow-burn approach, finding the tension and eventual payoff highly satisfying, although some mention the deliberate pacing might not appeal to everyone.

Fun Fact

The film was shot on 16mm film to further enhance its authentic 1980s aesthetic, and director Ti West deliberately avoided using modern filmmaking techniques or digital effects.

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My Review

TMDB Reviews

4 reviews
Agustttt

Agustttt

The pacing is AWFUL, scenes drag out that have no plot relevance. Other than that, it's a solid movie. It with a lot of fat trimming it could be a thousand times better. The movie takes place in the 1980s and the film used to do so reall...
Nathan

Nathan

After watching _X_ and _Pearl_, I was very excited to dive deeper into Ti West's filmography, unfortunately for me this one does not live up to the hype. This movie has a very old school feel to it, giving me flashbacks to the original _Hal...
John Chard

John Chard

This one night changes everything for me. Ti West seems destined to be one of those horror film directors who forever will polarise opinions. For those of us who love the slow burn approach and admire his evident adoration of retro horro...
Adam CJ

Adam CJ

By far, the SLOWEST horror film I've ever watched! Really don't waste the 95 mins it'll take to watch and be stupidly disappointed (stupidly, because you'll feel like an idiot for getting to the end of the film and realising you were being ...