﻿ House at the End of the Street (2012) starring Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Elisabeth Shue, Gil Bellows directed by Mark Tonderai Movie Review

House at the End of the Street (2012)   3/53/53/53/53/5

Jennifer Lawrence in House at the End of the Street (2012)

The Creep Next Door

Having just got divorced Sarah Cassidy (Elisabeth Shue) and her teenage daughter Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) move to a new town where they are able to rent this fantastic property because 4 years earlier a young child, Carrie Anne Jacobson brutally murdered her parents in the house next door which has driven down the prices. The house is a bone of contention in the town as the grown ups would love to destroy it because of the way it has caused house prices to tumble whilst the teens hate Ryan Jacobson (Max Thieriot), Carrie Anne's brother who lives there doing the old place up. Elissa and Ryan end up getting friendly much to the concern of both Sarah and the rest of the town especially when Ryan's secrets come out.

And the nominations for best supporting performances go to the pair of jeans and the vest tops which Jennifer Lawrence wears through out "House at the End of the Street". Sorry if that sounds sexist but it is one of the things which keeps grabbing your attention and makes Lawrence look like the girl most guys would love to date. The thing is that if "House at the End of the Street" had been more interesting then maybe my eyes would not be continually drawn to how Lawrence and in truth Elisabeth Shue looks.


Now part of the trouble with "House at the End of the Street" is it starts with a bang as we witness the creepy looking Carrie Anne take a hammer to both her mum and dad. It immediately makes you think horror movie except after that it labours along for a bit as it builds the conflicted and sarcastic relationship between mum and daughter whilst also building up the relationship between Elissa and Ryan. But as this relationship building stuff is going on it tells you something which in the space of a few seconds forewarns you of what is most likely going to happen. And the sad thing is that after that single scene which basically explains a character it is a case of watching to see if this character turns out to be truly exciting and depraved. I know I am skirting around things with that sentence but I know there will be those, probably those attracted to watch this because of Jennifer Lawrence which won't have seen other similar movies and won't see it coming like others can.

Now if the obvious story progression isn't enough to grip you then there is the acting or should that be casting as I am sure there will be those who enjoy "House at the End of the Street" because of it being a Jennifer Lawrence movie whilst those closer to my age will probably enjoy it for Elisabeth Shue. The trouble is that whilst everyone delivers a performance the characters are as predictable as the story and don't do a great deal to draw you in beyond how attractive they look in jeans and a vest top.

What this all boils down to is that "House at the End of the Street" is an okay thriller with a touch of horror about it but not that different to what has been done before. But for those who watch because of Jennifer Lawrence then it will probably be much more impressive than those who watched because they thought it was a horror movie.