Ti West is a name known to many indie horror films as he brought the film The Roost and Trigger Man to screen as well as the belated Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. Championed by producer and director Larry Fessenden West is fast becoming a name in the horror community of which The House of the Devil is his best film.
Although I was no fan of The Roost there is no denying that the film was not your typical horror film and the same can be said of West’s latest. HOTD details a college student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) in the ‘80s who reluctantly takes a babysitting job because she desperately needs the money to get her own house instead of living in campus housing. Despite the fact that tonight is the night of a full lunar eclipse, Samantha takes the job because she’s desperate for the money. She soon realizes her folly as her employers have a nefarious plan to sacrifice her for some Satanic ritual.
The film unfolds at a leisure pace with very little horrific happening until the climax but that’s the thing that sets this film apart from other horror films of late. West (who also wrote the screenplay) spends his time crafting believable characters who find themselves in a desperate situation. You can tell that Fessenden has had an effect on him as Fessenden is well known for his slow burning horror films. By following in Fessenden’s example, West crafts his best film while still telling a story about Satanic ritualization in a realistic manor instead of relying on the conventions of the B-movies that came before it. If West continues on this road he’ll become one of the premiere horror directors of his generation.
CITY GARDEN - "The Old Woman & The Park"
On the set of the short film "A Gift"
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