The House of the Devil
Magnet Releasing | Release Date: October 30, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
It is a fine little old-school thriller. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
There's wit but never a wink in this smartly shot production, which pays homage to the 1980s without fetishizing the era. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
If nothing else, Ti West’s retro “Satan rules!” thriller The House Of The Devil gets the look and tone of early-’80s horror schlock exactly right. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith Uhlich
West is far more adept at and interested in sustaining an unrelentingly ominous mood than in executing the genre-required spook shocks. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesAndy Klein
The buildup is undeniably effective; for most of the movie, it provides the same kind of thrills as "Paranormal Activity," if somewhat less brilliantly. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A clever picture, and something of a novelty -- it's not going to change the face or direction of horror filmmaking in any drastic way. But it's fun to watch something that's so obviously made with love. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Mr. West shows a real gift for the genre, particularly in his ability to generate dread with pinpricks rather than bludgeoning shocks, something even veterans twice his age have difficulty achieving. After years of vivisectionist splatter, here is a horror movie with real shivers. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The film may provide an introduction for some audience members to the Hitchcockian definition of suspense: It's the anticipation, not the happening, that's the fun. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
This isn't just a good throwback satanic thriller - it looks as if it was made during the era of satanist paranoia. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
An almost fetishistic re-creation of a horror-suspense movie from around 1978. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter Debruge
Call it the best '80s babysitter-in-peril movie never made. The House of the Devil delivers about as much as one could reasonably hope from the not-quite-alone-in-the-house category, with the bonus of authentically re-creating the low-budget look and feel of that era's classic horror entries. Read full review
70
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
Pumping the audience with inhale-exhale zooms and out-of-the-way close-ups, director Ti West's ratcheting of suspense in this alone-in-an-empty-house tale is proficient, if not psychologically piercing, in the best "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" fashion. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
In keeping with his models, West is concerned with not suspense exactly but the ritual withholding and ultimate lavishing of bloody chaos. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
Writer and director Ti West accesses all the hot buttons for fans of the genre in a manner that doesn't make fun of it (and its followers) in a "Scary Movie" way, but instead treats it with the appropriate amount of respect. (Key word: appropriate.) Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
By far the freakiest and most unnerving shocker in theatres this season. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The result can be palpably unnerving. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Although the payoff is creepy, it takes a little too long to arrive -- and when it does, it's about as worn-out as the movie's title. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
This is the perfect illustration of the banality of most scare movies. Read full review
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