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31 days of horrorHorror

The House Of The Devil (2009): the return of 80s Satanic panic

22 October, 2015 — by Matt Owen0

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Remember the 1980s? They were well skill weren’t they? With your hightop trainers and body warmer you were probably pretty cool as you skateboarded down to the awesome new multi-screen cinema that opened in your town, hoping you could scope out some well wicked flicks and maybe score with some bodacious babes along the way.

So, you pay your £1.50 entrance fee and find that Tim Burton’s Batman is playing on seven screens, and Back to the Future 2 is on the remaining six, woah! Totally heinous dude! How’s a hardcore gorehound like you going to get his grue-filled kicks when every decent horror movie has been banned by Maggie ‘Milk Snatcher’ Thatcher?!

Well if you were resourceful, you popped down to your local video store/ice cream van, slipped them a tenner and got a dodgy third-hand VHS copy of Evil Dead, and possibly some crap German porn as a bonus. Or you could take the more circuitous route followed by director Ti West; Wait 25 years, then score some ancient filming equipment and film your very own hoary 80s scarefest, with seriously scary results.

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That House of the Devil works at all is testament to the resilience of the themes it explores, using the 80s ‘satanic panic’ epidemic as a backdrop, the film may rely on clichés, but it ignores the crutch of irony completely, instead delivering a sharp shocker that will grumble away in the back of your head, replete with jouissant ending for true 80s compatibility.

Plot-wise we’re on familiar if skewed ground, following all-American teen Sophie Hughes (an excellent, fluff-permed Jocalyne Donahue) as she follows up the offer of a babysitting gig at a c-c-c-creeeepy old mansion.

"oh yes, as you can see, I'm perfectly normal and definitely not a mental Satanist or owt like that"

From here on in it’s stock-horror character stupidity all the way, Sophie agreeing to stay on even after the oddball couple who own the place admit they don’t have kids, just a largely unseen elderly relative parked in the attic, and acquiring clues to a darker secret as strange happenings go bump in the night around her.

Fortunately West keeps a firm hand on the tiller, never letting things slip into parody. The whole thing comes off as a superbly thought out pastiche that shows both glowing affection for B-level 80s crud alongside a brave decision to follow in the footsteps of 70s classics like Rosemary’s Baby.

Slow-burn dread with the occasional shocker squirrelled away, House of the Devil offers a genuine return to a genre that Hollywood remakes had all but forgotten how to do. This is taught and fun, the ideal date horror movie.

For more spine-chilling thrills to watch over Halloween, check out our complete 31 days of horror movies list.

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