Spending the Night at the House of the Devil

There was a time when horror movies were fun. They were full of dark scenes and built suspense and the directors remembered some standards set by the greats of the horror genre in years past. Think about the movie "Halloween." I am talking about the original filmed by John Carpenter and not the Rob Zombie rehash. In your mind, is the movie filled with fountains of blood jetting from hapless, mostly-naked teenagers? In your memory, does the carnage start from the first scene and continue in an unending rampage until the very last scene? If that is the case, you're dead wrong.

Sure, the movie opens with a bloody scene of a young Michael Meyers offing his sister, but after that things settle down. Michael is actually in the end credits as "The Shape." That is what he is for most of the movie. He is a strange humanoid shaped that hides behind bushes, or pops up in the backyard mostly obscured by laundry. He is a shape in a car. Lori Strode spends much of the movie not even seeing him. Then, when the killing does start, Michael actually strangles most of his victims and the guy he uses the knife on does not spill a drop of blood on the floor. All of the movie is building in suspense and tension until Michael finally strikes and only then are you allowed to scream or jump and, even then, it is mostly to relieve the tension.

Hitchcock knew this. You may think that the infamous shower scene in "Psycho" is a bloody mess because you remember the traces of dark substance dripping at the feet of Janet Leigh and twirling down the drain. In fact, for that entire scene there are only two split-second shots where the knife appears to pierce flesh. The rest is all in your mind. Hitchcock knew how to build suspense. He knew that if he placed the thought in your mind that the briefcase the guy carried had a bomb in it and then he built the suspense, the explosion was not the suspenseful part, but the release of that tension.

Somewhere along the lines horror movie directors and writers, and maybe their fans, forgot a lot of this. Movies where countless teenagers are strapped to tables or hung upside down and brutally tortured to death have become the norm in the horror genre. No longer do we build suspense. No, the carnage needs to start as soon as possible and to hell with getting to know the characters. People want viscera instead of plot.

Thankfully, there are a few directors out there who remember. One of those is Ti West who recently directed, and has now released, the delightfully fun "House of the Devil." West remembers the movies of the late '70s and early '80s and he has created a movie set in that time and with obvious relish and love for the movies and how they were made then. The movie looks, feels and, if it had a smell, it would smell like the horror movies of the '80s that you might remember. It does not parody them as Wes Craven did in his "Scream" movies, no. He pays homage to them and the movie is a wonderful bit of horror movie fun that remembers a time when that's what they were supposed to be.

The plot is simple, as it should be, and it follows the early slasher/horror movie formula beautifully. First, take a very attractive co-ed trying to earn some money to pay for a new apartment. Throw in a mysterious man who has posted flyers around campus looking for a babysitter. Then have the house where the babysitting is supposed to take place be a very creepy large house set far away from everyone and then have the baby turn out to be a mysterious old woman who is heard but never seen. Throw in the creepy man and woman who also live in the house, a lunar eclipse, some great shadows and creepy music, mix and serve. What follows is fun and has some wonderful, genuine, and well-earned jump points.

Jocelin Donahue is the very attractive co-ed. You know it's the '80s because of the jeans she wears, the giant Walkman she listens to, and the hairstyles of her and her friends. Tom Noonan is an actor you may not know by name but you will know the moment you see him and he is the creepy man at the house. Tom Noonan should be in every horror movie, I feel. The strange woman who also lives in the house is played by Mary Woronov.

All of them appear to be having a good time in this movie. More importantly, the tension is allowed to build. This story does not start with someone being pierced through the eye with an ice pick. No, this story builds its tension. What is happening upstairs? Slowly, deliberately, we are let in on what is going on in the house. We know before Samantha (Donanhue) does. There are at least two very good points where things happen that may cause you to jump. One of them is truly horrific, and the other is a very well-done "gotcha" surprise. You know, the kind of surprise where something happens that turns out to be a cat, or a phone ringing, or just a doorbell.

The big secret turns out to be rather silly, but it also provides an interesting look into horror. Death, you see, is not really always the worst thing that can happen to someone. There are much more horrific things in the universe to be afraid of. Samantha learns this the hard way.

The movie is very well done. Even the credits and the way they look will make you wonder if this isn't some long forgotten gem from, say, 1978. Donahue is great in this movie as the seemingly hapless, but surprisingly resourceful, Samantha. I hope she gets to make more movies and I hope she gets to make them soon.

So, grab the popcorn. Snuggle up with someone you love on a very dark night, and the darkness is coming sooner as winter approaches. This movie is in theaters and also available on OnDemand. If you love horror and the way horror used to be, as I do, then I think you'll have a blast watching "House of the Devil."