The House of the Devil

"Talk on the phone. Finish your homework. Watch TV. Die."

2009 1h 35m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 888

HorrorMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Talk on the phone. Finish your homework. Watch TV. Die.”

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Cast

Jocelin Donahue
Samantha
Tom Noonan
Mr. Ulman
Mary Woronov
Mrs. Ulman
Greta Gerwig
Megan
AJ Bowen
Victor Ulman
Dee Wallace
Landlady
Heather Robb
Heather
Darryl Nau
Random Guy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ti West
Writers: Ti West
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ti West, shot by Eliot Rockett. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jeff Grace. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ti West shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Jocelin Donahue and Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Talk on the phone. Finish your homework. Watch TV. Die.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1172994 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ti West directs. Eliot Rockett behind the camera. Jeff Grace scores. Ti West cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 17 years ago.
2Directed by Ti West, shot by Eliot Rockett. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Jeff Grace. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Ti West shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Jocelin Donahue and Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Talk on the phone. Finish your homework. Watch TV. Die.".
7IMDB entry: tt1172994 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 13 themes, including "ritual", "pentagram", "cult", "pizza".

The technical file

Cinematography: Eliot Rockett
Original score: Jeff Grace
Editing: Ti West
Production design: Jade Healy
Costume design: Robin Fitzgerald
Makeup / hair: Danielle Noe
VFX supervisor: John C. Loughlin
Sound: Tom Efinger
Stunt coordinator: Anthony Vincent
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The House of the Devil (2009)

Also by

Ti West

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

ACJ2013-06-23
★ 1/10
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 taken for one the whole time!). This film's writer/Director/producer(s) were clearly so besotted with false nostalgia for horror films of the 80s, that they misguidedly picked the worst flaws of the worst films of that era and replicated them here, believing themselves to be making something 'authentic' and true to that time. What they actually made would've been called crap then as much as it should be now! 90 mins of creeping around with no plausible characters, situations or even anything resembling actual suspense; then 5 mins of "whooaaah, look: blood and satanic ritual! Isn't that scary?!" Answer: NO, IT BLOODY WELL ISN'T! Now give me back the last 95 mins, you fools!
John Chard2015-10-26
★ 7/10
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 horror, then he hits the mark. Reference The House of the Devil and latterly The Innkeepers. If those two things don't strike a chord with you then it's very likely that The House of the Devil will drive you nuts - but not in a good way. Plot is simple, Jocelin Donahue plays student Samantha Hughes, who has found the ideal apartment to live in, but needs funds to pay the deposit. Sooooo, answering a flyer advertising for a babysitter, she winds up at some spooky house out in the sticks, where the job isn't exactly what was as expected, and, well the night isn't as expected either... It's her own fault really, if you ring the bell at a spooky isolated house and Tom Noonan answers the door, well then you should know better than not to run away! But I digress. West's film taps into the satanic panic that gripped certain parts of the states in the 70s and 80s, set in the early 80s the film is a vibrant homage to that era, with a real sense of time and place pulsing away as Samantha is set up for a night of god knows what. The house is a splendid old creaker and within it Samantha always looks to be one cat's whisker away from being in peril. West doesn't go for continuous boo-jump scares, he lets us and Samantha use our imaginations to unnerve all parties. The screw is slowly turned until hell comes to the party, moving things swiftly to a frenetic finale that closes with a final denouement that old nick himself would approve of. Dee Wallace Stone does a cameo to add more to the retro flavours, while Noonan and Donahue are superb. It's a film that is patient and asks you for your patience, so those of that ilk, and retro horror hounds too, will love it. Others, not so! 7/10
Nathan2022-11-25
★ 5/10
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 Halloween and Friday the 13th with its film quality, atmosphere, and audio effects/music. I really enjoyed this aspect, and it left me feeling somewhat nostalgic. These feelings did not carry over to the rest of the film. I thought the plot was fine, although the main characters incredibly stupid decisions were the catalyst for the entire story. This is fine in slashers or an action horror film as the kills are what you are there for, but with this it felt cheap and left me unsatisfied. The movie lingers on scenes all too often, resulting in a very slow pace. I understand these long-drawn-out sequences were supposed to build tension, but it was not effective, and left be bored. I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did and unfortunately the best I can give this is an average rating. Score: 51% | Verdict: Average