Review: The House of the Devil

We read a lot about this film on Bloody-disgusting.com, and were very interested. We both enjoy old school 70's and 80's horror movies, so we thought we'd give this a try. It got great reviews by the people on the website, and was spoken very highly of by some of our peers.

Quick Spoiler Free Summary
A beautiful young woman named Samantha, looking to make a little extra money while at college, accepts a job as a baby sitter. Upon arriving at the house, she learns things are not what she expected. After an uneventful evening, things go incredibly wrong. The mystery of why she is there, is beginning to unfold. Soon Samantha finds her self fighting off the evil which has tormented her.

Review

Plot- 3.5/5
This film didn't have the greatest plot, however it served its purpose. There weren't any instances that deviated from the central story. There were no plot holes present, and everything made sense. There was a steady flow to the plot, keeping it very easy to follow.

Acting- 4/5
Jocelin Donahue does a tremendous job portraying the character of Samantha. Donahue's performance was spot on for an 80's horror heroine. It was also good to see genre veterans Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov. They did a great job at playing the mysterious elderly couple that has brought Samantha into this hellish nightmare.

Special Effects- 3.5/5
The movie was not intended to be a splatter-fest. Although there wasn't a lot of gore in the movie, the parts where there was gore were done pretty well. There was one scene where the character gets her face shot off, that was to our complete surprise and pleasure. They went all out and made it look like her face was actually separated from her head. A big plus for us was the forgoing of CGI graphics. They kept it old school with the natural effects, and did a great job.

Fear- 3/5
Once again, to the casual horror fan this movie may have done enough to cause uneasiness. The director uses a technique called a "slow burn," which is basically using the first 76-82% of the movie to build suspense, leading to the ultimate climax. The fear comes more from the suspense than actual "jump-out" scares.

In Conclusion- 3.5/5
We were really impressed at the atmosphere of the film. It really felt like we were watching a horror movie from the 1980's. Even the credits looked like they were lifted from an old school horror flick. One scene that really stuck out to us both, was one where Samantha danced around the house while listening to her walkman (see video below). When it comes down to it, this was an enjoyable romp through vintage horror; which we'd like to see more often.

Joeclin Donahue doing the most adorable dance we have ever seen.