Thoughts on House of the Devil

-Why, Mr. West, did you neglect Greta Gerwig so? We all know she's awesome, why reduce her to second-act slaughter (this is too soon for spoiler tag)?

-I love all the little touches to give a retro vibe: 16mm film, the zoom-ins instead of crane shots, walkmans, feathered horrors, freeze-frame yellow-font opening credits and end-credits-over-last-still, and they don't beat you over the head with it, either. The only quintessential eighties chick is a bit part near the beginning, as hero Samantha (Jocelin Donahue, who looks like she should be a seventies actress)'s slutty and flighty roommate.

-I also love the slow and deliberate pacing, leading to a quick and (somewhat) shocking climax, and a punch-t-the-nuts ending. Also very eighties. No ironic mocking of the conventions of the satanic panic films, played gloriously straight.

-Did you know these were promoted by critics-only distribution of VHS tapes? Where can I get one!?

-In unrelated news, I just got a shitload of McSweeney's swag. Yay.