The House of the Devil

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The House of the Devil

R

Released Oct 30, 2009

1h 35m

Horror

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Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

101 Reviews

63%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Desperate to make some money so she can move into a new apartment, college student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) takes a mysterious babysitting job. When she arrives at the house, Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan) mentions a full lunar eclipse and explains there is no child, but that Samantha will be watching his mother instead. After exploring the sinister-seeming house, Samantha soon comes to realize that her employers are hiding a horrifying secret and have plans to use her, dead or alive.

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Critics Consensus

Though its underlying themes are familiar, House of the Devil effectively sheds the loud and gory cliches of contemporary horror to deliver a tense, slowly building throwback to the fright flicks of decades past.

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Jen Yamato

Movies.com

In this era of torture porn and slasher pics, House of the Devil is a shining example of how to build atmosphere and tension the old-fashioned way.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 10, 2012

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Perri Nemiroff

CinemaBlend

Recreates the feeling of 80s horror; less CGI, more imagination and a whole lot of corn syrup.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 14, 2010

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Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

The pay-off is a little far-fetched, but by then we have had our emotional workout.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 22, 2010

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Kat Hughes

THN

Ti West’s early career winner, The House of the Devil, is a chilling tale of the occult, taking its time to work up an incredible amount of tension, with a final act that is definitely well worth your patience.

Rated: 4-5

May 31, 2025

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Zofia Wijaszka

Nerdspin

This terrifying, culty horror film is a highly underrated gem and it masterfully evokes the 80s’ atmosphere through the storyline, costume, and set design.

Rated: A

Mar 15, 2024

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Ti West has a clear grasp of the guiding principle for many classic horror films – the anticipation can be just as satisfying as the payoff.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 21, 2022

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Tripp P

Painfully slow buildup the first 2/3 of the movie. Honestly, would’ve been better if they had made a mini film out of the last 20 minutes.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/30/25

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Marc L

Bad acting, worse script, major plot holes, and a terrible ending. At the end, you won’t know why you watched it or why someone green-lighted it. Worse yet, not much of what happens is explained. If I had written the script, I would have done a couple of rewrites and fixed the problems.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/27/25

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Dustin S

Habitual shark jumper Ti West pulls a Ti West. Great soundtracks and goes off the rails into stupidity. Where have we seen this before? On his IMDB page. Figure it out, bud.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/22/25

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Stephen C

Success in 1 hour and 35 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Some Bloody Violence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/14/25

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Garry A

This s%$t is as boring as hell. Only one brief scene is interesting in the first hour. What a waste of time.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/03/25

Full Review

Stoner J

It’s a good movie, and just over an hour and a half, but West really should have cut 20 minutes at least of the protagonist aimlessly walking around town and the house to absolutely no effect, it walls have been a leaner, better movie for sure. But the last 15 minutes are awesome

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/25/25

Full Review

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Ti West

Director

Jocelin Donahue

Samantha

Tom Noonan

Mr. Ulman

Mary Woronov

Mrs. Ulman

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The House of the Devil: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Desperate to make some money so she can move into a new apartment, college student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) takes a mysterious babysitting job. When she arrives at the house, Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan) mentions a full lunar eclipse and explains there is no child, but that Samantha will be watching his mother instead. After exploring the sinister-seeming house, Samantha soon comes to realize that her employers are hiding a horrifying secret and have plans to use her, dead or alive.

Director: Ti West
Producer: Josh Braun, Roger Kass, Peter Phok, Larry Fessenden
Screenwriter: Ti West
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: RingTheJing Entertainment, Glass Eye Pix, Constructovision , MPI Media Group
Rating: R (Some Bloody Violence)
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 30, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 22, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $100.7K
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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