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%

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101 Reviews

63%

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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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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

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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

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Walter W

Long before the genius of his horror trilogy "X", "Pearl" and "MaXXXine" came "The House of the Devil" in 2009 from director Ti West. Set in the early 1980's, (the Volvo is the give away) a financially struggling college student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue "Insidious: Chapter 2") takes a strange babysitting job at a super creepy mansion in the middle of BF Idaho that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbour a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger while she babysits "Mother". Personally red flags and alarm bells were going off for me from the get go. I mean who pays a sitter $400 for one nights work and Tom Noonan as "Mr Ullman"adds "it's mostly painless" into the sell. Director Jordan Peele would have been yelling "Get Out"! Watch out for: Greta Gerwig (writer, director "Barbie") as the BF "Megan" in one of this films most horrific scenes. This critically acclaimed horror film is worth hunting down on "Brollie".

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/22/25

Full Review

Craig B

The House of the Devil is certainly a slow burn. It gradually ratchets up the tension to a pretty crazy and violent last 15 minutes. Worth a watch, especially given it's only a touch over 90 minutes long... and there are plenty worse horror films out there.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/12/25

Full Review

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Ti West

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Jocelin Donahue

Samantha

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Mr. Ulman

Mary Woronov

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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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