Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The House of the Devil’

Written by Scott Edwards

When going to college you are left without any sort of income and most of the time, there is not much help that your parents can give you since they are paying for your schooling. Most college students are able to find a way to make some extra money to pay for additional expenses by getting a job, but with all of the schoolwork you have, you do not want to double down on your responsibilities. Finding quick work is hard, but if you are able to pick up a babysitting job or something like that, it works out better since not all of your time will be monopolized by having to do actual work when not being able to hit the books.

Samantha is looking to move off of campus since her roommate has taken over the room and is bringing boys over all the time. Needing to get away, she finds a house off campus to rent, that will give her room and more importantly, quiet so she can study. Needing to find a way to pay for this opportunity, Samantha sees that there is a babysitting job posted on the job board that she might be able to take advantage of. Calling the number, she gets the person's answering machine, but when she walks away from the phone, it starts to ring.

Talking to the man on the other end, Samantha is offered the job since it is of great importance to him. Telling her to meet him by the front hall on campus, she sits and waits, but nobody comes to talk to her. Knowing that she has been blown off, she starts to try to find another way to make money, but getting a message that the man called back, she is willing to give it another chance. Having her friend, Megan drive her out to the house, Samantha is told to get out of the job several times, but she will not listen since she needs the money. Arriving at the house, she is told that the job is not taking care of a kid, but the man’s mother. Knowing this is out of the ordinary, the man offers her four hundred dollars to do the job since it is very important to him and he cannot miss the eclipse that will be taking place tonight.

Samantha wants to leave, but the money is too good to pass up so she agrees. Getting a couple of extra bucks for dinner, she is on her own in the large house and looking for something to keep her entertained. Calling Megan, she is surprised that there is no answer on the other end and starts to wonder what has happened to her friend. As the night progresses, Samantha starts to explore the house and finds a strange group of photos in the closet that show the man and his wife standing alongside a much older car than what they had in their driveway. Thinking this is odd, Samantha starts to snoop a little bit more around the house and starts to see that there is something stranger happening and that this is not a normal babysitting job, and once the eclipse starts to take place, she will have to battle for her life in order to leave the house.

When the movie starts, you do not know what to expect in the way of how the story will play out. I am a big believer that if the story is strong, even in a horror movie, the movie will not disappoint and that is what happened in this one, since it did not disappoint at all. Knowing as much as your main character is fun since you will not be able to yell at them to do or not to do something as their impending doom is right in front of them. Being shot in more of a campy manor does not hurt as well as this movie was made in 2009, and it had more of a classic 80s. You get your blood, your scares and a bearded stranger that is an important part of the movie since he is the only one that can tell you what is really going on. Stay Scared.

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