Paranormal Activity is so last week. The latest inexpensive horror flick to catch audiences attention is Ti West’s ’80s throwback The House of the Devil. Starring Jocelin Donahue as the babysitter in peril, The House of the Devil has already scored with the critics and will open in New York, Los Angeles and Austin on Oct. 30. But since it was purchased through Magnolia Pictures’ and their genre arm Magnet, it’s also one of the movies you can see now through the company’s Ultra VOD, an exclusive 30-day video-on-demand window BEFORE it opens in theaters.
The movie premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April and was scooped up by Magnolia in June. Says the company’s acquisition head Tom Quinn, “The House of the Devil is the American indie that’s so hard to find. It has guts and gore and reaches back to what horror films used to be.” Quinn won’t reveal any numbers on the film’s VOD performance, only to say that it’s doing really well. The company spent all year looking for a horror film to open on Halloween and were quite pleased when they found West’s film. Quinn isn’t even considering the kind of numbers Paranormal has been chalking up lately at the box office. “I don’t live in that world,” he says. Success on this kind of limited release film is more in the $1 million range, similar to such micro indie hits like the cult classic Bubba Ho-Tep, which went on to earn $1.2 million in theaters, or George Romero’s Diary of the Dead which neared $1 million last year. And still those numbers are really hard to reach for movies like House of the Devil that have a limited marketing budget. Yet, with all the attention on Paranormal, audiences might be more in the mood to discover an under-the-radar horror flick. Check out the trailer yourself. Will you see it on VOD? Wait for the theatrical release? Or both?
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I loved “Paranormal Activity” so I really want to check this movie out.
I love scary movies.
PA was ok, not amazing as everyone seems to think but this looks like it has so much more potential. I’m there.
Love the old-school horror vibe in the trailer so I’m looking forward to this. I thought Paranormal Activity was okay but definitely way overrated.
But I’m still glad that there are actual alternatives to the atrocious Saw franchise for a change this Halloween. If only Trick R Treat got a theatrical release as well.
I’ve seen it and it’s freaking awesome. It’s an hour and fifteen minutes of build-up and dread – then fifteen minutes of insanity. Horror directors should watch it in Horror Director School.
I saw House of the Devil (at home) a couple weeks ago when I couldn’t score a ticket for Paranormal Activity. It was such a complete throwback to 80s horror. If you movies like Amityville Horror, Burnt Offerings, or maybe even the Fog you might like this slow-burning/crazy ending film. Every single detail from the titles, to the music, to the actors had an authentic 80s flair. It definitely won’t be appreciated by a wide an audience as Paranormal Activity.
amazing film. had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t actually an 80’s horror flick. saw it on VOD and will see it in NY on the 30th!
Saw this. Not good. The only thing original or creative was that it was made to look like it was actually made in the 70s or 80s. Some suspense but the ending was dumb, predictable, B-level late-night cable horror crap.