Movies
Kill of the Week: Gunshot to the Face in ‘The House of the Devil’
Every week, we spotlight a kill that we just can’t get enough of. This is Kill of the Week.
Countless horror movies released in the past decade have tried to emulate the style and feel of horror movies from the past, whether they’ve aimed to evoke the spirit of a certain film, a certain era or a certain sub-genre. Very few, if any, have captured an intended spirit more than Ti West’s The House of the Devil, a 2009 film that managed to feel like it was ripped straight out of the ’70s.
Set in the early ’80s, The House of the Devil was shot on 16mm, giving it a retro aesthetic that makes it feel like a “satanic panic” movie you would’ve rented on VHS from your local video store back in the day – in fact, the film did actually get a limited edition VHS release!
Nearly every aspect of the film, from the cinematography right down to the wardrobe and the soundtrack (special shout-out to the retro Coke cups) totally nails that ’70s/’80s vibe; The House of the Devil truly is a picture perfect throwback to gems like Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen and even my personal favorite horror movie, Black Christmas.
True to Ti West’s “slow burn” style, The House of the Devil is more than anything an exercise in drawn-out suspense, but there’s one moment that shatters that quiet and foreboding calm with such shocking violence that I’ve never forgotten it these past eight years. And it’s because the movie is otherwise so subdued that this week’s Kill of the Week was so genuinely shocking.
Around the 35-minute mark, a reluctant Megan (Greta Gerwig) drops her friend/main character Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) off at the creepy Ulman house, where Sam has accepted the worst babysitting gig of all time. As she’s driving away, Megan is stopped by Victor Ulman, played by A.J. Bowen. At first, Victor seems like a nice enough guy, helping Megan light her cigarette. But as soon as he realizes she’s not the babysitter, well, that’s when things take a turn for the worse.
To say this particular kill was unexpected the first time I saw The House of the Devil would be an understatement. It happens so suddenly, and is executed so brutally, that I’d have to crown it one of the most truly shocking horror movie death scenes of all time.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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