House of the Devil (film-r)
DustedDon
830 Posts
An excellent little horror-genre film with an early 80's feel and deliberate Polanski like pacing. The young director Ti West is sure to do some big things in the near future. Anyone seen this? It's streaming on NetFlix now....
Comments
On the other hand, avoid like the plague the director's CABIN FEVER 2 (which he disowned after extensive reshoots and re-edits). Truly one of the worst films I've sat through, and that's saying a lot.
I will definitely check for more films from dude.
house of the devil is destined to be a classic.
I dunno guys. I wasn't feeling this movie at all. Did we see the same movie?
I can't even think of one moment I liked from this movie. The villains were weak, the premise was lame. IMO, you can't have suspense when there isn't any emotional investment in the protagonist.
I couldn't recommend this shit to anybody.
- spidey
Aside from using music from the 80's, being set in the 80's, having people dress like they were in the 80's, celluloid comparable to that used in the 80's, some 80's audio tricks, etc.
Or was it the thematic similarity to many 80's horror movies (i.e. overt references to Satanic Panic) or the adaptation of many tropes of 80's horror (i.e. the goofy friend, the babysitter all alone, etc.) or maybe it was the framing, the direction, the story development and so on...
The idea of "good vs. evil" is so heavily rooted in the psyche of the vast majority of Western moviegoers that there really is very little so-called emotional investment required to make a successful horror movie. Most people can walk into a movie like House of the Devil and immediately identify the protagonist, and identify with them. The necessary amount of affect has been inured into the audience.
Horror is largely rooted in the visceral, so attempts at "developing" characters are largely beside the point. That's not to say that there's no benefit to be gained from character development if you're aiming to make a "great movie" (or whatever), but it's largely irrelevant if you're aiming to make a successful horror. Half-baked attempts at character development have been the problem with a large number of horror movies of recent years because it derails the visceral aspects in favor of unnecessary "emotional" aspects.
That's not to say it was perfect by any means, but it was still one of the best of recent years.
I'll agree with you on that, but I still feel that understanding that logic doesn't mean that good character development shouldn't be strived for by any film maker. I'm not a director or anything, but I love movies and how they effectively convey the language of storytelling.
As an Homage to 80's horror, i guess it was cute, but as a film I don't feel it stands up at all. My point is even If it actually was a film shot in the 80's it wouldn't have been a very good one. Like, don't get me wrong even Weird Al even does some pretty decent parody work, but to me it still feels very camp, and unauthentic. Too many gimmicks taking me away from the actual story.
- spidey
how was there not emotional investment in the main character? we are with her from the start of the film learning about her school pressures and money problems. not sure what else you need to empathize with her.
this was a simple, effective and well crafted film not dependent on a dumb plot device, f/x or gore (until the end) it creates a clausterphobic, paranoid and ominous atmosphere that only a few directors are able to do (Polanski, DePalma, Ferrera).
all the 80's revisionist stuff aside, although not perfect, HOTD is a very strong genre peice.