History Film / TheHouseOfTheDevil

In the 1980s, college student Samantha Hughes (Donahue) rents a small apartment but finds herself struggling to come up with the first month's rent. Out of desperation, she takes a babysitting job that will coincide with a full lunar eclipse, even after several strange interactions with the man who placed the ad.

The film is notable for its convincing {{retraux}} evocation of old '70s and '80s horror movies, mainly from the {{slasher|Movie}} and HauntedHouse subgenres. This was achieved with elements including the use of filming equipment from the times such as [=16mm=] film, the emulation of then-standard filming techniques (like the preference of camera zooms over dolly-ins), stylized opening and closing credits, and dramatized claims of its story being based on true events à la ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'' and ''Film/TheAmityvilleHorror1979''.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Megan was only trying to help Samantha by ripping down all the posters to ensure she got the babysitter gig, [[spoiler:which resulted in Megan's death, Samantha's attempted suicide, and a night from...literal hell.]]

* NothingButHits: Three 80s singles are listened to by characters. "One Thing Leads To Another" by The Fixx is well-remembered enough to show up on many 80s hits compilations. On the other hand, "One of Our Submarines" by Music/ThomasDolby and "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)" by The Greg Kihn Band are a bit more obscure. All three of these songs were released within a few years of each other and would place the film around 1983 or so. And then the soundtrack also uses much more recent music by Gods of Fire, which is just influenced by 80s metal enough to not stick out too much.

* SatanicPanic: Being a GenreThrowback to 70s and 80s horror, the movie opens with a caption about the prevalence of Satanic cults being hidden everywhere in America, [[spoiler:and proceeds to tell a story about one that targets a young babysitter]].

** Victor Ulman's introduction, with his hand suddenly appearing in Megan's window. [[BoomHeadshot What he does shortly after]] is an even bigger one.

* TheAntichrist: [[spoiler:Implied to be the endgoal of the cult.]]

* ArcWords: At multiple points, Samantha tries to get her head straight by telling herself to "get a grip."

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:When Samantha understandably responds [[BigNo less than warmly]] to Mr. Ulman breaking the news that carrying the Antichrist is her destiny, he drops to his knees and calmly tells her to shoot him if she wants, as he is "just a messenger" and doesn't see the end of his life as that consequential in the grander scheme of the cult.]]
* FacialHorror: [[spoiler:Megan's face is completely blown off by Victor's gunshot; we see a very, very [[BloodyHorror bloody]] glimpse of what's left in the moment, but the camera dwells on it when her body reappears in the Ulmans' house as Samantha tries to make her escape.]]

* NothingButHits: Three 80's singles are listened to by characters. "One Thing Leads To Another" by The Fixx is well-remembered enough to show up on many 80's hits compilations. On the other hand, "One Of Our Submarines" by Music/ThomasDolby and "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)" by The Greg Kihn Band are a bit more obscure. All three of these songs were released within a few years of each other and would place the film around 1983 or so. And then the soundtrack also uses much more recent music by Gods Of Fire, which is just influenced by 80's metal enough to not stick out too much.

* AffablyEvil: From beginning to end, Mr. Ulman never stops being civil and personable to Samantha, [[spoiler:even though he leads the cult that abducts her]]. He tries as best as he can to ease her into the truth of what she's really been called to do, both in terms of the babysitting job [[spoiler:and the ultimate Satanic ritual, openly invites her to shoot him after she learns the truth, and shows genuine horror when she turns the gun on herself instead]].

* DeathByPragmatism: [[spoiler:Megan knows something is off with the Ulman family, repeatedly urging Samantha to leave when they arrive at their house, getting angry at her for wanting to stay after it's clear that they've misled her, and leaving shortly aftr. Unfortunately, Megan doesn't make it farther than her car when she meets Victor and gives him an answer he doesn't like.]]

The film is notable for its convincing {{retraux}} evocation of old '70s and '80s horror movies, mainly from the {{slasher|Movie}} and HauntedHouse subgenres. This was achieved in part through the use of filming equipment from the times such as [=16mm=] film, as well as the emulation of then-standard filming techniques (like the preference of camera zooms over dolly-ins), stylized opening and closing credits, and dramatized claims of its story being based on true events à la ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'' and ''Film/TheAmityvilleHorror1979''.

The film is notable for its convincing {{retraux}} evocation of old '70s and '80s horror movies, mainly from the {{slasher|Movie}} and HauntedHouse subgenres. This was achieved in part through the use of filming equipment from the times, such as [=16mm=] film, as well as the emulation of then-standard filming techniques, including camera zooms as opposed to dolly-ins, stylized opening and closing credits, and dramatized claims of its story being based on true events à la ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'' and ''Film/TheAmityvilleHorror1979''.

* DeathByPragmatism: [[spoiler:Megan knows something is off with the Ulman family and, angry at Samantha for wanting to stay, immediately books it out the front door. Unfortunately, she doesn't make it farther than her car when she meets Victor and [[BoomHeadshot gives him an answer he doesn't like.]]]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Thanks to the Satanic ritual, Samantha is impregnated with (presumably) TheAntichrist. During her final showdown with Mr. Ulman, she shoots herself in the head to prevent the birth from happening. However, [[BungledSuicide it doesn't kill her]], and by the end of the film, she is comatose and still pregnant.]]

'''This is a film with a plot containing major twists, and it cannot be guaranteed that looking at the tropes below won't spoil the film just by which ones are listed. With that being said, watch out for spoilers.'''

The film is notable for its convincing {{retraux}} evocation of old '70s and '80s horror movies, mainly from the {{slasher|Movie}} and HauntedHouse subgenres. This was achieved in part through deliberate emulation of filming equipment and techniques that were common during those decades, including being shot on [=16mm=] film, utilizing camera zooms instead of dolly-ins, stylized opening and closing credits, and dramatized claims of its story being based on true events à la ''Film/TheAmityvilleHorror1979'' and ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'', through its central focus on SatanicPanic.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The fate of [[spoiler:Mr. Ulman]] and what exactly happened between [[spoiler:Samantha shooting herself and the final scene in the hospital]] is never elaborated on, though [[spoiler:he likely died from getting stabbed in the stomach. He was shown leaking copious amount of blood.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: A dead child is shown amongst the bodies in the ritual room.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:When Samantha understandably responds [[BigNo less than warmly]] to Mr. Ulman breaking the news that carrying the Antichrist is her destiny, he drops to his knees and calmly tells her to shoot him if she wants, as he is "just a messenger who carries out his words" and thus doesn't see the end of his life as that consequential in the grander scheme of the cult.]]

** [[spoiler:Samantha's hallucinations of the priestess's face. Twice.]]

* AffablyEvil: Mr. Ulman. From beginning to end, he never stops being civil and personable.

* BeardOfEvil: Victor Ulman has a beard and is part of his family's cult.
* BigBad: Mr. Ulman is leading the cult.

* NothingIsScarier: Most of the film embodies this, not showing much of the threat imposed until the end, and spending much of the time in the Ulmans' house just following Samantha as she walks around, not finding anything explicitly scary but maintaining a level of tension.

* SlippingAMickey: [[spoiler:Victor Ulman poses as a pizza delivery worker in order to dupe Samantha into eating drugged pizza.]]
* StylisticSuck: The film was shot on 16mm film and was made intentionally to look like an old movie. Expect lots of grain and murky colors.

* WhamLine:
** "Are you... [[spoiler:are you not the babysitter?]]"
** "Don't worry. You're gonna be just fine. [[spoiler:Both of you.]]"