73
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThere's wit but never a wink in this smartly shot production, which pays homage to the 1980s without fetishizing the era.
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayIf 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.
- 80Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichWest is far more adept at and interested in sustaining an unrelentingly ominous mood than in executing the genre-required spook shocks.
- The buildup is undeniably effective; for most of the movie, it provides the same kind of thrills as "Paranormal Activity," if somewhat less brilliantly.
- 80SalonStephanie ZacharekSalonStephanie ZacharekA 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.
- 80The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisMr. 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.
- 70VarietyVarietyCall 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.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoicePumping 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.
- 63USA TodayClaudia PuigUSA TodayClaudia PuigThe result can be palpably unnerving.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThis is the perfect illustration of the banality of most scare movies.