Ti West's 2009 horror movie The House of the Devil proves why West is a filmmaker to watch and has a shocking ending that is interesting to think about. The movie stars Jocelin Donahue and Greta Gerwig as good friends Samantha Hughes and Megan. As Samantha ends up in a wild situation, the movie goes in a direction that is impossible to predict.
The cast of The House of the Devil helps it stand out from other horror movies. Jocelin Donahue is known for starring in horror movies ranging from Doctor Sleep to Holidays and I Trapped The Devil. It's also fun to watch The House of the Devil to see Greta Gerwig in a scary film since she has acted in lighter fare and also written and directed several dramas including Little Women, Lady Bird, and the highly-anticipated Barbie. The surprising ending of The House of the Devil is another reason to check the movie out.
What Is The House Of The Devil About?
In The House of the Devil, Samantha Hughes gets a job babysitting for Mr. Ulman (Tom Noomnan), who explains that she will actually be looking after his mother-in-law. When she says yes, Victor (A.J. Bowen) kills her best friend Megan, which is the first sign that something is horribly wrong here. The House of the Devil is one of the best horror movies about babysitters and turns the typical plot on its head. Samantha is the perfect horror movie final girl. She's innocent enough to get herself into a scary situation but smart enough to try to figure out a way out.
After eating a slice of pizza and passing out from a substance that was put inside of it, Samantha finds herself at the center of an evil ritual. There is a pentagon on the floor of the house and the villain "Mother" (Danielle Noe) begins a gross and terrifying process. Mother puts her blood into the skull of a goat and makes Samantha drink it. Mother isn't considered one of the most iconic witches in a movie. She is suitably creepy, though, and Samantha can tell that it will be tough to escape these dangerous characters.
2022 proved original horror movies do well since there were so many box office successes, from The Black Phone to Nope. Ti West's The House of the Devil is an entirely unique, original, and creative movie.
What Are Ti West's Other Horror Movies?
After 2009's The House of the Devil, Ti West wrote and directed the 2011 horror movie The Innkeepers. Luke (Pat Healy) and Claire (Sara Paxton) are co-workers at a creepy old inn that is supposed to be haunted. It's one of the most underrated horror movies of the 2010s and has a perfectly unnerving atmosphere that speaks to Ti West's talents.
More recently, Ti West is known for his X trilogy which includes the 2022 horror movie X, the perfect prequel Pearl, and the upcoming MaXXXine. Mia Goth delivers a stunning performance as both aspiring actress Maxine and the wild, intense, and unforgettable killer Pearl. X and Pearl proved that West has a unique and creative voice that can't be ignored, and horror fans look forward to what he does next.
How Does The House Of The Devil End?
At the end of The House of the Devil, Samantha learns that Megan has died when she sees her dead body. She doesn't have time to grieve the loss, but it's clear that this is something that will affect her as she looks back on this horrible and dark experience. She attacks Mother and almost gets away, which is a smartly paced scene. Mr. Ulman runs after her and says that she has to be part of this ritual. After Samantha pulls a gun on her own head, audiences see a TV reporter talking about a lunar eclipse, which took place the evening of the ritual.
The House of the Devil ends with Samantha waking up in a hospital bed and learning that she is now pregnant. This happened against her will during the ritual, which is terrible. This scene has hints of the horror classic Rosemary's Baby, which has a shocking ending of its own.
Ti West's films are as wildly different as Kevin Smith's horror movies. West does a great job of taking classic horror tropes like final girls, creepy houses, witches, and serial killers and crafting brand-new tales about them. The House of the Devil could be a fairly regular movie about a babysitter in a haunted house. But, instead, West made sure that he told a story that went in a direction no one though it would go in. The result was an exciting film that no horror fan should miss.