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Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"
A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
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VirusWithShoes
11/27/09

In reply to Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"
I watched this last night, alone, with headphones on and absolutely loved it. It's incredibly evocative in parts, and reminds me of John Carpenter at his early best.

Jocelin Donahue made a lot of a character who didn't have much to say. Absolutely adorable in her mittens and scarf, not to mention the scenes where she's just "looking around" - which does sound inane, but if you see it you'll know what I mean. A mention should also be made of the score - sparse, wonderfully down in the mix during some periods, and full-bodied when it needed to be.

I'll agree about the final act - it did seem a bit rushed, especially with the slow-burn torment of the previous two, but I'm willing to forgive that.

Favourite parts for me; the feeling of isolation - on campus, in the hallways, in the house. The Walkman. The titles - gaudy yellow on a freeze-frame. The awful 80's dance moves. Tom Noonan. Seeing Dee Wallace again. The "Rosemary's Baby" feel. Jocelin Donahue channeling Margot Kidder/Karen Allen. Bad pizza.

One of the few movies released this year I'll actually watch again.

And thanks, Annalee - I probably wouldn't have heard of this if it wasn't for you.
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SeanGone
11/26/09

In reply to Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"
i just watched this the other day and was entertained for the duration. a sleeper great movie for sure.
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Annalee Newitz promoted this comment SeanGone was starred SeanGone was unstarred

rabiera
11/26/09

In reply to Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"
Hmmm . . . your review makes the movie seem like as much an homage to Val Lewton as anything from the 80's.
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Annalee Newitz promoted this comment rabiera was starred rabiera was unstarred

Wayne Talbot
11/26/09

In reply to Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"
Saw this back in October at the Horrorthon in Dublin, Great movie. Tom Noonan for the win
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Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Wayne Talbot was starred Wayne Talbot was unstarred

brainbite
11/26/09

In reply to Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"
I saw that snore feast at a festival. Nice 80s-looks but nothing happens at all in the whole movie!
Real movies from the 80s actually delivered something scary in the end, and were not just showing off that their actors wear walkmans instead of ipods.
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Annalee Newitz approved this comment brainbite was starred brainbite was unstarred

jabber
11/26/09

@brainbite: I agree. I saw this on VOD and nearly 70 minutes (of a 90 minute movie) nothing really happens. I understand setting up the mood and all but for 70 minutes? I don't recall 80's horror movie, even low budget ones, taking that long for a set up. Maybe I've watched too many of these movies but with 20 minutes remaining I pretty much knew how it was going to end.
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Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Edited by jabber at 11/26/09 7:58 PM jabber was starred jabber was unstarred

DuckofDeath
11/26/09

In reply to Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"
Just saw this movie recently, and I am proud to say that such a great horror movie was partial shot at the College of which I attend. Oh and Annalee, Central Conn State U is mostly devoid of people even during Spring and Fall sessions, sadly.
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Annalee Newitz promoted this comment DuckofDeath was starred DuckofDeath was unstarred

0kami
11/26/09

@DuckofDeath: This was at Central Conn!!!!????
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0kami was starred 0kami was unstarred

Allen_Richards
11/26/09

In reply to Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"
You're review echos what a number of mainstream critics have been saying for the last 2 or 3 weeks, and I'm a bit surprised at all the positive word of mouth considering I don't think I was able to make it through 5 minutes of West's earlier film, THE ROOST. Check out Ebert's review if you haven't already, he has a great discription of Noonan's character.

If anything, maybe all the positive press will get West's CABIN FEVER sequel released.
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Allen_Richards was starred Allen_Richards was unstarred

SeanGone
11/26/09

@Allen_Richards: CABIN FEVER! seriously one of my favorite movies, and most people i show it to stare at it like the tv has a dick growing out of the screen.
'He's a professor of being a dog man.'
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Annalee Newitz promoted this comment SeanGone was starred SeanGone was unstarred

Allen_Richards
11/27/09

@SeanGone: CF is probably the one Roth film that I completely enjoy. But I have to believe there's a reason the studio is just sitting on West's sequel.
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Allen_Richards was starred Allen_Richards was unstarred

Chip Skylark of Space
08/07/09

In reply to A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
How bad does it have to be, to not be found in the IMDB?
I'm a man of simple tastes- I like to look these things up so I can make better and snarkier fun of them, only to come up empty!
What is this world coming to? These simple folks are almost no better then GI JOE, and those boys not sending the movie out to reviewers...
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AveryGuerra promoted this comment

AveryGuerra
08/07/09

@SteverMan:
Hell, who needs the "IMDB" or critics anyways? Bring on the the queso!!
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AveryGuerra was starred AveryGuerra was unstarred

stereobot
08/07/09

In reply to A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
Annalee, you need to not write your articles under the influence of vicodin or whatever other opiate you are on.
That "film" wasn't even z-grade, it was worse than most high school freshman A/V projects I have seen.
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stereobot was starred stereobot was unstarred

AveryGuerra
08/08/09

@stereobot: Whatever it is she's taking she needs to start sharing and passing it out to some of the members here to help them to appreciate such fine cinema.
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Edited by AveryGuerra at 08/08/09 12:39 AM AveryGuerra was starred AveryGuerra was unstarred

evildead1971
08/07/09

In reply to A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
reminds me of a troma flick
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evildead1971 was starred evildead1971 was unstarred

alphanumeric1971
08/06/09

In reply to A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
Dear god that was horrifiying, and not in the way they intended either.
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alphanumeric1971 was starred alphanumeric1971 was unstarred

ejs2000
08/06/09

In reply to A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
My favorite part was when she first started jumping up and down in the water and there's clearly someone just offscreen splashing water into the frame. The magic of cinema!
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evildead1971 promoted this comment ejs2000 was starred ejs2000 was unstarred

evildead1971
08/07/09

@ejs2000: i got a fever and the only cure is more splashing
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evildead1971 was starred evildead1971 was unstarred

KryptonZero
08/06/09

In reply to A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
I live in MN and work in Rochester. In Rochester they have the largest population of Lao immigrants outside of Laos AND a lake called Goose Lake. Still waiting for a giant goose to step on the Asians.....
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KryptonZero was starred KryptonZero was unstarred

NerD: Blattella
08/06/09

In reply to A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
There should be an academy award for best use of a potato chip bag.

It was the third man in the scene.
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NerD: Blattella was starred NerD: Blattella was unstarred

ninjajazza
08/06/09

@NerD!!! - R.O.A.C.H.: it'd have to go to this scene from Death Note though.
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NerD!!! - R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment ninjajazza was starred ninjajazza was unstarred

NerD: Blattella
08/06/09

@ninjajazza: Oh, wow. Who would have thought a potato chip bag could hold so many secrets.
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NerD: Blattella was starred NerD: Blattella was unstarred

Roklimber
08/06/09

In reply to A New Giant Monster Eats Minnesota's Finest Citizens
Here's the part I don't get... in all these movies, how come there is someone with a camera right there with the victim and he/she (the camera person) survives to tell the story? Why is it always the other person and never the person with the camera? It's always like that, even in big movies like Jaws or Anaconda.
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Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred

AveryGuerra
08/06/09

@Roklimber:
Well any good giant monster knows that cameras are hell to get out of being stuck between their teeth.
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AveryGuerra was starred AveryGuerra was unstarred

Aidan_
08/06/09

@Roklimber: Are you suggesting that the perspective of the camera is the perspective of a character in the narrative?
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Aidan_ was starred Aidan_ was unstarred

CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard)
08/06/09

@Roklimber: Its actually a second monster using the camera. Very egotistical these buggers. They love to film themselves eating humans then selling the tapes down on the monster black market. Bit like Paris Hilton...but with tentacles..and better looking!
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Awesome 1980s Retro Satanism in "House of the Devil"

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