MovieChat Forums > The House of the Devil (2009) Discussion > The Ti West flaw

The Ti West flaw

posted 9 years ago by bloopville
15 replies | jump to latest

I have only watched House of the Devil and the Innkeepers, but the thing that bothers me most also seems to annoy many other people.

First, here is what Ti West gets right:

1. Reliance on story over effects.
2. Human agency seems to have some ability to affect events. If you stab a human, they stay dead, and don't have a long post stabbing period of superhuman strength.
3. Long shots as opposed to all quick edits and jump scenes.
4. Seemingly intelligent protagonists (until they commit the fatal Ti West flaw)

The Ti West Flaw:

When in danger, the protagonist runs to a tactically inferior place that is also cultural and psychologically the most fearful, countering human behavior. In other words, instead of Getting Out of the Freakin' House, where there are multiple avenues of escape and the opportunity to avoid architecturally based horrors, the protagonists retreat to attics and cellars, where we all know evil things are strongest. Once the heroine does this, I lose all sympathy for her.

[–] SamFulmer 9 years ago

i don't think that applies much to the house of the devil since she tries to get out of the house after she frees herself in the cellar. afterwards, she slips in the puddle of megan's blood and is chased up the stairs, so i understand that she didn't have a chance to get out right away.

with the innkeepers, i understand your qualm. yeah, the ghost is calling for claire impersonating the psychic's voice, but her co-worker JUST said that he'll be right back WITH the psychic who is in one of the hotel rooms, not in the cellar. she might not get into the cellar herself (after all, she is being spooked by the old guy's ghost and falls down the flight of stairs), but she still shouldn't gone near it.

If you start sitting around the campfire, telling scary stories -- change our names!

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

Seemingly intelligent protagonists

Sam: Oh you lied about who I have to babysit and you seem to lie about how much money you're willing to get?

Nooooothing wrong with that.

Wouldn't exactly call her intelligent. The villains weren't any better.

I think Ti's fatal flaw is the pacing (there's a thin line between suspense and just plain boring), over-reliance on stupidity to get the plot moving and weak endings.

[–] spyingeye 9 years ago

Haven't we all done stupid things to get by financially? Against all better judgment? ;) I am sure there are a couple of people here (me included) who were shy of cash during their college years and did some questionable things for a quick quid.

Might not be very intelligent, but quite relatable.

What? Why?

[–] SamFulmer 9 years ago

preaching to the mosque!

If you start sitting around the campfire, telling scary stories -- change our names!

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

I didn't accept questionable jobs from satanists, so no, I can't relate to that, maybe you can.

[–] spyingeye 9 years ago

L O L Well, yes I can. I already wrote that.

I don't think Samantha thought she did either. To her, they've turned out to be Satanists after she woke up from being drugged. So, her actions before did ring true (not wanting to rely on a friend financially because you are too proud [also, you want to be more independent and don't want to burden them], a lot of money is being offered for a short span of worktime so you tell yourself that you will pull through no matter what).

So, who knows. Maybe the people I have worked with were Satanists. But I'm a man, so I don't think they considered me valuable to carry the Antichrist.

What? Why?

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

They lied to her and she didn't find it suspicious. To be fair, the cultists were complete idiots as well.

[–] spyingeye 9 years ago

Of course she was suspicious throughout, but curiousity and money got the best of her.

What? Why?

[–] Banana_Flavoured_Pants 9 years ago

The stupid thing wasn't just that he offered more cash, rather that he did it after telling her he could only pay for one sitter.

[–] svalinanikola 9 years ago

Yeah, the movie relies on stupidity to move the plot.

[–] snes4u 9 years ago

bloopville,

You must live a sheltered life. People, when under immense stress (or danger), can do remarkable things -paranormal things. Have you ever seen a man so scared that he could not speak? Ever seen a grown man, a trained soldier, drop his rifle in the face of something he could easily kill with that very rifle, and take off running? Have you ever seen a group of men so scared that they run directly into a wall? It happens all the time. It is happening right now.

Right now.

Right now.

[–] yusef-ghanima 9 years ago

i'm glad i'm not you, i haven't done or seen the things you're talking about.

i mostly will not be able to answer your reply, since marissa mayer hacked my email, no notification

[–] james-mac 8 years ago

My thoughts are that Ti West is a very good director. He knows how to use the camera, how to build suspense, create atmosphere and how to tell the story he wants to tell. His flaw He can also create interesting characters where you feel they have some depth to them, he can write believable dialogue as well. However for me there are so many loose ends that take away from the impact of the conclusion in both The Innkeepers and The Devil's House.
I think he could go from making good movies, to great movies if he would collaborate with a co-writer or at least subject his scripts to a solid editor who can flag these loose ends and pull things into something that is going to have a real emotional punch at the end.

[–] WingMaker 7 years ago

Judging from [The House of the Devil (2009), Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009), The Innkeepers (2011), In a Valley of Violence (2016)] i believe the flaw is a weak third act and his strongest point to be atmosphere which he masters brilliantly as far as i'm concerned.

As for Sam in The House of the Devil (2009), I was always under the impression that she was drugged from the Pizza and that her escape was far fetched to a great degree.

English is not my native language.
Want to know who did 911? visit http://www.911missinglinks.com/

[–] TheBeardedWonder 7 years ago

Exactly right my friend, on both accounts (about West and the pizza). His visual style is actually pretty damn good. The shots and general atmosphere via the visuals are well done, and are great mimics of the 70s/80s. The writing is where he loses a lot of points though. Characters are idiotic, paper thin, and unlikable. And as the other poster said, sometimes he crosses that line from 'suspense building up' to just plain 'OK clearly you needed to pad the runtime on this so we're getting lots of filler' type stuff.

A very small but vocal group act like he's the next big coming of horror here to save us all, when in reality the majority of people think his movies are mediocre. Some of his stuff is downright terrible honestly - innkeepers was trash. Sacrament wasn't that great either. I guess i'll leave out cabin fever 2 since he says he was taken off the project before it was done, but that one stunk too. This is the best movie he's ever done and it was just OK.

'Get yourself a real dog. Any dog under 50 lbs is a cat and cats are pointless' - Ron Swanson