20 Horror Movies From The 21st Century That Didn't Actually Suck

6. The House Of The Devil (2009)

Ti West is part of a growing group of brilliant young horror film-makers which includes Adam Wingard and Ben Wheatley and this, his 2009 retro horror is a brilliant example of what a bit of re-imagination can do. Student Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is hired by the towering Mr Ulman (Tom Noonan) to take a baby-sitting job.

Nothing too strange in that but, as the night goes on, and when Samantha is told she is actually 'babysitting' Mr Ulman's mother, the remote mansion becomes an increasingly terrifying place as she realises that Mr Ulman has probably murdered the actual owners of the house and is planning on including her in a violent satanic ritual to bring the Devil back into the world.

This film plays on the satanic panic of the 1980's and earlier Devil movies such as Rosemary's Baby and The Omen but still manages to feel fresh. It's helped that Tom Noonan, a much under-rated actor, is channelling his best Francis Dolarhyde as the evil protagonist. In a world that gives us such trash as The Devil's Due and the truly, truly appalling The Devil Inside, it's great to see a director work with such imagination and respect for an ailing genre.