The House of the Devil [Blu-ray]

Director: Ti West Ti West

Overview

A coed struggling to pay her rent ends up taking the wrong part-time job in writer-director Ti West's old-school 1980s-set horror flick, The House of the Devil. Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is a sweet-natured and retiring young woman, unlike her rambunctious, loud, and self-assured best buddy, Megan (mumblecore stalwart Greta Gerwig). After moving into a new apartment, Samantha is desperate for a way to make a few more bucks. When Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan) comes on campus looking for a babysitter, Samantha jumps at the opportunity. Once she convinces Megan to give her a ride to the creepy old Ulman house, Samantha learns that the job is not quite what was advertised. Ulman and his wife (Mary Woronov) don't even have a child. He tells Samantha that she just has to stay in the house with his elderly mother-in-law while he and the missus go out to celebrate the lunar eclipse. When she balks at the change of plans, he offers her more money. As the night goes on, it becomes clear that Samantha is a much bigger part of the Ulmans' plans for the evening than she would ever want to be. West established his genre credentials with low-budget cult favorites The Roost (which also starred Noonan) and Trigger Man. The House of the Devil also stars A.J. Bowen and Dee Wallace. The movie had its world premiere in the Midnight section of the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/02/2010
UPC:	0030306180991
Original Release:	2009
Rating:	R
Source:	MPI HOME VIDEO
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:35:00
Sales rank:	22,073

Special Features

Commentary with Ti West and Jocelin Donahue; Commentary with Ti West, Producers and Crew; Behind the Scenes; Deleted Scenes; Interviews with Cast and Crew ; Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jocelin Donahue	Samatha
Greta Gerwig	Megan
Mary Woronov	Mrs. Ulman
Tom Noonan	Mr. Ulman
AJ Bowen	Victor
Dee Wallace	Landlady
Danielle Noe	Mother
Heather Robb	Heather
John Speredakos	News Anchor
Mary McCann	Woman Anchor,Elaine Cross
Brenda Cooney	Nurse
Darryl Nau	Random Guy
Lena Dunham	911 Operator
Graham Reznick	Local DJ
Nicholas Bienstock	Dead Husband
Kamen Velkovsky	Demon
Jeff Grace	Composer

Technical Credits

Ti West

Ti West	Director,Screenwriter
Josh Braun	Producer
Roger Kass	Producer,Producer
Larry Fessenden	Producer
Peter Phok	Producer,Executive Producer
Malik B. Ali	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Greg Newman	Executive Producer
Lisa Fields	Casting
Tony Vincent	Stunts
Derek Curl	Producer
John C. Loughlin	Special Effects
Shaun Brennan	Sound Effects
Eric Gitelson	Sound Effects
Jack Hutson	Sound Effects
Graham Reznick	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The House of the Devil is a wonderfully witty and creepy throwback horror movie. Writer-director-editor Ti West sets just the right tone, with the movie's fashions, soundtrack, and freeze-frame-and-zoom-laden style generating an amusing frisson of recognition. West pays homage to the horror classics of the 1970s and '80s, casting a couple of cult icons (Mary Woronov and Tom Noonan) as oddball antagonists, while taking his slow burn of a story and his heroine's plight with commendable seriousness. Greta Gerwig demonstrates range in a funny feathered-hair performance. Relative newcomer Jocelin Donahue is given a heavy burden in the movie, because if we didn't identify with and care about Samantha, it could have been a chore to sit through. She comes through with a deceptively nuanced and engaging performance. The tension is on a low boil for much of the movie. One hears complaints in certain quarters about the pace of Ti West's film, and there's no doubt that as real scares go, there's a lot more running time devoted to the setup than to the payoff. But that's West's style, and it works here. He takes a very deliberate approach. As in horror classics like Rosemary's Baby and Last House on the Left, the filmmaker allows us to spend some time with these characters. He builds up a bit of mystery before showing us their unpleasant fate. This, along with West's obvious visual finesse, makes the film a much richer experience than most contemporary horror films. If you don't get a kick out of watching doomed babysitter Samantha put on that portable cassette player and dance around that creepy house to the strains of the Fixx's "One Thing Leads to Another," you might need a course in Horror Appreciation 101.