It’s 1981 and when cash-strapped student Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is offered the suspiciously high sum of $400 for a babysitting job, she really should listen to the voice of reason that tells her it’s too good to be true – especially since that voice of reason doesn’t just come from inside her, but from the mouth of an actual person, her best friend Megan – improbably played by future Barbie director Greta Gerwig. But poverty, desperation and the desire to make a good impression can do funny things to the mind and so even though her client Mr. Ullman – played by the original Tooth Fairy Killer, Tom Noonan – confesses to her that she’s not strictly babysitting at all, since there’s no baby, she still agrees to the gig. She’s actually set to look after Ullman’s reclusive and unwell mother, and he assures Samantha that the job’ll be no bother at all. And so before long, Mr. Ullman’s gone and Samantha’s almost all by herself in the house, and because it’s the 1980s she has to make her own fun, making telephone calls, ordering terrible pizza and memorably dancing around to The Fixx’s “One Thing Leads to Another”.
And that’s about all that happens for more than half of the film. Of course, there is plenty of Satanism and gore to come, because the opening to the film clues us in on that front, and also because director Ti West also gave us X, Pearl, MaXXXine and Cabin Fever 2. To many, the film’s slow-burn approach will prove frustrating, but when watched in ideal circumstances – alone in the dark with the sound up loud, mobile phone and other distractions switched off – it reveals itself as a masterpiece in pacing and subtle tension. West’s more recent X trilogy extensively showed off his mastery of the filmmaking techniques of times gone by, but plainly that skill has always been with him. The House of the Devil nails the actual look, sound and feel of the haunted-house, slasher, and Satanism movies of the mid-late 1970s, even down to the fact that, yes, that 1970s feel continued well into 1981 – witness Terror Train or Friday the 13th, say – unlike the received wisdom of hokier productions like The Goldbergs or Stranger Things, where every costume, line and music cue must scream 1980s.
And this utter tastefulness comes down to more than the hairdressing, although that hairdressing is severely excellent. It’s in camera angles, editing choices and even casting: Jocelin Donahue is the kind of big-eyed brunette who flourished in the 70s – think Margot Kidder or Talia Shire. She’s the heart of the film, and she’d have to be, since for the bulk of it she’s carrying every scene. Samantha emerges as perhaps the most likeable “final girl” in the genre, and this comes down to acting choices so subtle they amount to genius. We learn that Samantha is something of a germophobe; it’s a small detail, but Donahue makes us buy it, using her knuckles rather than her fingers to dial a public payphone. The House of the Devil is a short film and, in many ways, a small film, but on every level the love and the craftsmanship that went into it elevates it to one of the best of its type.
Among the special features, there are two commentaries: the first, with director West and star Jocelin Donahue, features some interesting tidbits regarding the process of sourcing vintage Coke cups, paper money and chocolate bars, but overall tends to run into the common commentary problem of feeling just like two people almost narrating the film. Unsurprisingly, more technical detail is provided in the second commentary, with West, producer Peter Phok, sound designer Graham Reznick and producer, horror director and character actor Larry Fessenden. Then there are the interviews: “The Right Vibe” features West, a small dog in his lap, discussing the circumstances of the film’s origins and production. The actors Jocelin Donahue and AJ Bowen give interviews in “Satanic Panic” and “Slowing Down is Death”, respectively. Producer Peter Phok, likewise, gives the interview “A Level of Ambition”, while “It All Feels Appropriate” gives us a short but fairly technical discussion with cinematographer Eliot Rockett. The best of these interviews is “Hiding the Seams”, in which composer Jeff Grace discusses his score, and also aspects of sound design. Finally, the sound designer himself, Graham Reznick, is interviewed in “Writing Through Sound”. We also get two short making-ofs – one archival, one new – as well as a trailer and some inessential, but undeniably entertaining deleted scenes that are probably the highlight of an underwhelming set of extras. Still, it’s worth the price of entry just to give this sometimes overlooked modern classic its due – in gorgeous high definition.