Recently released on DVD: "The House of the Devil"

Grade: B+

The Saw VI-loving moviegoing crowd isn’t going to have much use for The House of the Devil, a horror movie that rations its violence, torture or mayhem as if there were a shortage. The main character appears to spend more time ordering pizza than finding herself in actual peril.

This is art house horror, heavily influenced by the scary movies made before Halloween changed the genre. The body count is low, there are no homicidal clowns, none of the main characters get naked and no one has to choose whether to hack his own arm off in order to avoid being drawn and quartered. Young filmmaker Ti West was clearly working with a budget that was closer to your kitchen remodel than the typical Hollywood horror sequel.

So what’s the point? Mood. Plot. Interesting concepts in the script. West even sets his film in the early 1980s, divorcing The House of the Devil even further from tired modern cliches. This isn’t just a good throwback satanic thriller — it looks as if it was made during the era of satanist paranoia.

Jocelin Donahue is Samantha, a college student who is looking to escape her rude dorm roommate. She finds the perfect place, but needs the first month’s rent fast. Along comes a high-paying "babysitting" opportunity for a strange family that lives in a creepy Victorian on the outskirts of town.

And that’s about 80 percent of the movie. There’s a payoff in The House of the Devil, if you have the patience. Some of the scenes seem draggy, but the characters are complex, and their motivations are explained.

Donahue is a strong and convincing presence throughout the movie. Dee Wallace comes and goes faster than you can eat a bag of Reese’s Pieces, but veteran character actor Tom Noonan is excellent as a the head of the bizarre household, which seems a little too excited about the upcoming lunar eclipse. He’s a better investment than computer-generated imagery, which this movie seems to be devoid of entirely.

The music is also outstanding, combining Jeff Grace’s sinister score with a handful of lesser-celebrated songs from the era. After hearing Alphaville in every other movie soundtrack, it’s nice to see the Fixx and Greg Kihn get some love.