THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (2009)
Limited Edition Blu-ray
Label: Second Sight Films
Region Code: B
Rating: Cert. 18
Duration: 95 Minutes 12 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Ti West
Cast: Jocelin Donahue, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig, AJ Bowen, Tom Noonan
The House of the Devil (2009), directed by Ti West (Maxxxine), is a well-executed throwback to the terror titles of the 80s, set in 1983 we meets cash-strapped college student Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue, Doctor Sleep), who after enduring being locked out of her dorm room overnight so her inconsiderate roommate can get laid, is desperate to find her own apartment. She finds a promising prospect via a sympathetic landlady (Dee Wallace, The Howling), but is desperate for money to pay the first month's rent and security deposit. To that end she spots an ad for a mysterious babysitting job on a campus job board and convinces her best friend Megan (Greta Gerwig, Baghead) to drive her out to the remote Victorian house. Arriving at the creepy house in the middle-of-nowhere she discovers her new employer Mr. Ullman (Tom Noonan, Manhunter) and his wife (Mary Woronov, Sugar Cookies) were less than truthful about the particulars of the babysitting gig, it's not for their kid, but for his elderly mother-in-law. Samantha rightfully has second thoughts about it, but when he offers to double her wage for the inconvenience and even throws in extras cash to order pizza on their dime, she agrees to stay. However, Mr. Ullman says her fried Megan cannot stay, and while Megan is wary of all of this she agrees to leave with intentions of picking up her friend after midnight.
The Ullman's leave for their night, to witness the evening's lunar eclipse which is alluded to throughout the film, and Samantha is left alone in the house with the elderly woman who is kept away in her third floor bedroom. As Samantha settles into the house for the night she begins exploring it, as babysitters are want to do, putting on her Sony Walkman headphones and dancing round the house to The Fixx's "One Things Leads To Another". As she explores the place she finds pictures that would seem to indicate that this is not actually the Ullman's home, that perhaps something sinister is afoot, and despite taking several phone calls attempting to reach her friend Megan and a former boyfriend, even dialing 911 at one point before hanging up, but she instead chooses to explore the strange sounds coming from the upper floor of the home with a butcher's knife she grabs from he kitchen. This leads to a surreal and pretty ferocious satanic hysteria as she realizes why she was really hired by the Ullman's this very night.
The House of the Devil, as with a good number of Ti West's flicks, is a very measured and purposefully paced slow-burn, the early scenes introducing Samantha are drawn out, establishing her as a likable good girl whose looking for independence, and has financial instability, which makes her suspectable to making some poor decisions in regard to the suspicious activities of the Mr. and Mrs. Ullman, and the predicament she now finds herself in. It's a painstakingly crafted retro-pastiche of a flick, well thought-out, executed with precision, stylistically it's hitting all the right notes for the era beginning with the freeze-frame title card. The early 80's fashion and decor feels lived and accurate, as the 80s were my decade, it's when I went from single to double-digits, and as someone who lived it and was a pop-culture fan I just appreciated the authenticity of it. Also, the flick is super well cast, of course Noonan and Woronov are terrific as the creepy satanists, but also Jocelin Donahue and Greta Gerwig. That slow opening allows us to spend time with both, I love the scene of the two gals gabbing over pizza and cokes, both with retro feathered hairstyles, they're both charming, and it really makes you root for both of them, and it's a bit of a shock when Greta's character exits rather unceremoniously and ultra-violently.
I will be getting into more spoilery territory here, so be warned reading ahead. I feel like the satanic panic-ness of it all is well-established, even at the time it was first released I was well-aware that there were satanic cult shenanigans afoot with this one, and knowing that did not and does not hinder my enjoyment of it. The first bit of violence comes rather unexpectedly, and it holds up. Megan alarmed that her friend is alone in a house with people who have lied to her decides to be a good friends, and while appearing to leave, pulls off on the side of the road nearby, perhaps to keep an eye her friend, She rolls down the window to have a smoke and is startled by the arrival of a stranger who strikes up a brief conversation before whipping out a handgun and blowing a hole in her face, like literally hollowing out her skull with a geyser of blood exploding onto the windshield Pulp Fiction style. Tis stranger then proceeds to get into the car, snatch the still lit cigarette from her hand and nonchalantly smoke it while disposing of the car. This same person later arrives at the house when Samantha orders pizza for delivery, using a phone number left by the Ullman's, so we know that he is in cahoots with the creepy older couple. It's while investigating the strange noises in the house that Samantha becomes woozy, suffering from the effects of the apparently drugged pizza, which she noticed tasted off at a certain point, passing out in the hallway floor and waking up to a Satanic panic nightmare, chained to the attic floor in the middle of a pentagram during the fullness of the lunar eclipse, surrounded by the Ullman's in cultist robes, and the pizza guy - who turns out to be their adult son Victor (A.J. Bowen, You're Next), and the "Mother", a witchy looking ghoul who cuts open her own wrist and draws satanic symbols on Samantha with her own blood, before pooling it into a goat's head skull and making Samantha drink her blood, ewww. I won't over-spoil the frenzied finale but it smacks of both Witchery and Rosemary's Baby, bringing this slice of satanic hysteria to a proper tone-perfect close, the tension building slow-burn paying off with a proper and bloody boil-over.
Audio/Video: The House of the Devil (2009) arrives in Blu-ray from Second Sight Films in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. Shot on 16mm film stock the mages has a thick layer grain, with textures that emulate the specific look of '80s horror flicks and TV movies. The HD transfer offers accurate color reproduction of director Ti West's intentions, it has that very early 80s specificity to that is total cinematic catnip for me. I could not find any verbiage about this being a new scan of the elements, so I think it's safe to assume this is the same HD master used for the 2008 Blu-ray, which checks out when comparing it to the 2009 Blu-ray from Dark Sky Films, there's a screenshot comparison at the bottom of the review. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. The track is clen and well-balanced, the taut sound design, dialogue and score sound terrific. The Jeff Grace score offers so wonderfully creepy piano and strings, and a main title by Mike Armstrong that sounds like The Cars jamming with John Carpenter on an creepy, alternate instrumental mix of "Moving in Stereo".
As this was shot on film I am slightly disappointed that we did not get a 4K UHD release, but second Sight go a long way towards placating me with loads of new and archival extras. They carryover most the extras from the previous Dark Sky Films Blu-ray, these include an Audio commentary with writer–director Ti West & actress Jocelin Donahue, plus a second Audio commentary with writer-director Ti West, producers Larry Fessenden & Peter Phok and sound designer Graham Reznick. Also licensed were the20-min In The House of the Devil, the 7-min Deleted Scenes, and a 2-min Trailer. The only thing not licensed is the 13-min Behind-the-Scenes, but I think that is represented on the second Sight release by a longer behind-the-scenes featurette that I believe incorporates that footage.
New and exclusive extras start off with the 19-min The Right Vibe - a new interview with director Ti West, 17-min Satanic Panic - a new interview with actor Jocelin Donahue, the 24-min This Night Changes Everything: The Making of The House of the Devil, 26-min Slowing Down is Death - a new interview with actor AJ Bowen; 24-min A Level of Ambition - a new interview with producer Peter Phok, 28-min An Enduring Title - a new interview with Larry Fessenden, 14-min It All Feels Appropriate - a new interview with Director of Photography Eliot Rockett, 16-min Hiding the Seams - a new interview with composer Jeff Grace, and 25-min Writing Through Sound - a new interview with sound designer Graham Reznick. These are all terrific interviews, able to speak about the film in the contact of Wests larger filmography and the actors expanded careers, plenty of time has transpired and allows them to talk more insightful and honest recollections, discussing the casting process, West's vision for the film, and what it's like to collaborate with West. I quite enjoyed the conversation with Fessenden who speaks a lot about Glass Eye Pix, his first meeting West, and making his West's first film The Roost with him, and how Noonan ended-up in that film.
The single-disc Blu-ray release arrives in an oversized charcoal grey keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring new artwork by Nick Charge which appears very much to homage the theatrical artwork but also somehow makes it feel even more '80s. The keepcase is housed inside a Side-Loading Rigid Slipcase with more Nick Charge art, plus we get a 70-Page Illustrated Book with new essays by Martyn Conterio, Ariel Powers-Schaub, Jerome Reuter and Julieann Stipidis plus Behind the Scenes gallery, and cast and crew credits, and a selection of behind-the-scenes pictures.
Getting into the booklet and the writing 'There's a Lot of Weirdos Out There' Satanic Panic in Suburbia by Jerome Reuter reflects on the era of Satanic hysteria and the influences that West channels here. Desperate For Money and Destined for Danger by Ariel Schaub compares the 2009 recession to the early 80's post-recession, the importance of living spaces in the film, and money as a motivator in the face of obvious threats, and how financial instability can cloud judgment What Awaits the Babysitter by Julieann Stipidis explores the urban legend of the babysitter in film, Curiosity Killed the Babysitter: The House of the Devil as Bluebeards Castle by Martyn Conterio, examines the film through the lens of the French tale of Blue Beard. This Limited Edition set also includes Six Collectors' Art Cards with more tasty Nick Charge artworks.
Special Features:
• Archival Audio Commentary with writer–director Ti West & actress Jocelin Donahue
• Archival Audio Commentary with writer-director Ti West, producers Larry Fessenden & Peter Phok and sound designer Graham Reznick
• NEW! The Right Vibe: Interview with director Ti West (19:00)
• NEW! Satanic Panic: Interview with actor Jocelin Donahue (17:17)
• NEW! Slowing Down is Death: Interview with actor AJ Bowen (25:40)
• NEW! A Level of Ambition: Interview with producer Peter Phok (23:44)
• NEW! An Enduring Title: Interview with Larry Fessenden (27:48)
• NEW! It All Feels Appropriate: Interview with Director of Photography Eliot Rockett (13:32)
• NEW! Hiding the Seams: Interview with composer Jeff Grace (15:35)
• NEW! Writing Through Sound: Interview with sound designer Graham Reznick (24:42)
• This Night Changes Everything: Archival Making of The House of the Devil (24:16)
• Archival In The House of the Devil (20:23)
• Deleted Scenes (6:41)
• Trailer (2:07)
Limited Edition Contents
• Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Nick Charge
• 70-page book with new essays by Martyn Conterio, Ariel Powers-Schaub, Jerome Reuter and Julieann Stipidis plus Behind the Scenes gallery.
• Six collectors' art cards
Screenshots from the Second Sight Films Blu-ray:
Screenshot Comparison:
Top: Dark Sky Films Blu-ray (2009):
Bottom: Second Sight Films Blu-ray (2025)
Buy it direct from Second Sight!
Limited Edition Blu-ray: https://bit.ly/HouseoftheDevilLtd
Standard Edition Blu-ray: https://bit.ly/HouseoftheDevilBlu