The House Of The Devil (2009) ***

Much like his 2013 effort The Sacrament (my review here), which I revisited recently and which inspired this Take 2, I felt the same about Ti West's 2009 super slow burner The House Of The Devil on a rewatch as I did the first time. His films never quite get there for me; he always falls just shy of making something truly special. 

I love the buildup in HOTD—West does a commendable job of emulating late 70s/early 80s slashers, but then he all but squanders it with the shaky cam-ridden finale. Jocelin Donahue plays a great Laurie Strode type, Greta Gerwig is a perfect stand-in for basically any P.J. Soles role, Tom Noonan's quiet menace is *chef's kiss*, and I love the songs used (including the obviously intentional rip-off of The Cars’ “Moving In Stereo” that plays over the opening titles), but I just don't like the film's payoff. Still, HOTD is a solid little horror flick that gets a lot of things right.

You can find my Ti West Feature Films Ranked list here.