Louise went out last night, so I turned off all the lights and watched a scary film. As you do.
House of the Devil was filmed in 2009 by director Ti West, but it looks and feels exactly like a horror move from the late 70s or early 80s, from the grainy 16mm film stock to the yellow titles, and the long slow build up to a fast-cut grand guignol finale. Being a horror fan who finds most modern day horrors too glossy and lacking any suspense or atmosphere, this was a real treat.
The period detail was excellent too - from the heroine making calls on a rotary dial phone attached to the wall, through to the clunky walkman that she slipped cassettes into to listen to the track below, one of only three retro tunes featured in the soundtrack (the other two being One Thing Leads To Another by The Fixx and One Of Our Submarines by Thomas Dolby). None of these were big hits, certainly not in the UK anyway, but they were well chosen nevertheless.
For 90 minutes, I was transported back to my teenage bedroom, late on a Friday and Saturday night, when I would choose the scariest movie I could find on the four available channels to keep me going till midnight...
Sounds like a good way to spend an evening to me. That Greg Kihn tune is great.
ReplyDeleteOn the rare occasions my mum and dad went out until late when I was a teenager, I loved having the living room telly to myself (no tellies in bedrooms in the '70s) and always found some horror film to get immersed in. So tame compared with the ones of today but loved being scared by them. Will have to look out for that one.
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