House At The End Of The Street - Review

House at the End of the Street
(2012)
101 min.
Horror | Thriller
Rated: PG-13

Grade: C+
Director: Mark Tonderai
Writers: David Loucka (screenplay), Jonathan Mostow (story)
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue and Max Thieriot | See full cast and crew

Seeking a fresh start, newly divorced Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) and her daughter Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) find the house of their dreams in a small, upscale, rural town. But when startling and unexplainable events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is in the shadows of a chilling secret. Years earlier, in the house next door, a daughter killed her parents in their beds, and disappeared - leaving only a brother, Ryan (Max Thieriot), as the sole survivor. Against Sarah's wishes, Elissa begins a relationship with the reclusive Ryan - and the closer they get, the deeper they're all pulled into a mystery more dangerous than they ever imagined. -- (C) Relativity

House At The End Of The Street is not a great film and will not become a 'Horror Classic' but it is entertaining and a cut above the recent Horror offerings like Apparition and Possession. Critics have not been kind to it but better than half of those buying tickets have thus far given it a thumbs up. Perhaps it is due to the performances, I did like Max Ththeieriot's quirky interpretation of the 'everybody hates the weirdo neighbor' character.

The plot is formulaic Horror/Suspense drama including the angst ridden teenagers that look like they are late twentys/early thirtys defying parental advice that will lead to their peril, and of course, the requisite plot twists at the end. Make no mistake, House At The End Of The Street is no Silence of the Lambs or Psycho, although it does have some Psycho elements to it. So if you will just sit back with your popcorn and soda and enjoy it for what it is and you will probably have an enjoyable evening at the movies.


The theater was fairly full with 'date-nighters' when I saw it and there there were lots of gasps, screams and nervous giggles from the audience in all the right places.

There is a lot of buzz about Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games) and how her performance will disappoint her fans, others saying it is her performance that lifts House At The End Of The Street above the average schlocky Horror film. Personally, I don't get the fascination with Miss Lawrence. I find her annoying, bland looking and an average, ho-hum actor. I thought her an unlikely heroine in Hunger Games. Elizabeth Shue was, well...Elizabeth Shue, no big whoop. No one else stands out in a positive way, in fact, the Sheriff does stand out but not in a good way.

Cast

Jennifer Lawrence          Max Thieriot

Elissa                                    Ryan

Elisabeth Shue

Sarah