La Maison au bout de la rue

I went to see HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET last night and didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. The story is dull and predictable and the acting isn't rocksolid!Jennifer Lawrence played her role well though, she "blows" everyone away in this movie BUT, on the other hand, and I don't want to sound too negative, this flick wasn't a very hard nut for her to crack!

The story ;

Elissa (Lawrence) moves into a new home together with her mom Sarah(Elisabeth Shue) and finds out that the son of a murdered couple, who lived next door, still lives in the house where his parents were killed. The surrounding neigbours complain about him and tell Elissa that the boy is bad news! She wants to find out herself though and steps into his life...

It's a not a very bad movie but skip the theatre and wait for it on bluray/DVD.

This is an above average horror movie.

First the good points: The cast is A list - after all 2 Oscar winning actresses as daughter and mother - Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Shue (who hasn't aged much). Max Thieriot (now of Bates Motel) is their next door neighbour who lives in a house where his parents were murdered. The acting is good and there is some build up of sympathy with the characters in the story.

It's not supernatural so it's not too implausible. Doesn't have too many shock tactics. I'm kind of sick of the recent supernatural horrors with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz and the one with Katie Holmes and Bailee Madison. It's not too slasher like too. No violence that doesn't advance the plot.

It's got some faults: Firstly the closeup photography is a bit too close up. Can't see the whole face. A bit jerky too.

There is a twist of course which is not totally unpredictable.

Overall kind of enjoyed it.

In case you close your eyes every time Hollywood is mentioned, you might not know that Jennifer Lawrence was in The (hugely profitable) Hunger Games. She's currently Tinseltown's darling and, judging by this film, can sell anything.

The House at the End of the Street is about a teenage girl and her mother, who move into a house next to one where some murders were committed a while back. The teenage boy who witnessed said killings still lives there. Let the creepiness commence.

There is nothing 'supernatural' about this film, it's a sort of horror/thriller with teenage leads. And that's the most important part. Whereas Twilight was a vampire story for teens and The Hunger Games was a Battle Royale/Running Man for teens. The House at the End of the Street is a horror/thriller for teens. I'm sure plenty of 15+ people will enjoy it too, but I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that its primary fanbase will be around the 15 years of age mark.

I've seen a lot of these times of horror/thrillers. Perhaps that's my problem. I know every scare and twist going (and can therefore predict them a mile off). However, if I hadn't watched many of these sorts of films, I'm sure I would enjoy it much, much more. Basically, to seasoned and cynical cinema-goers such as myself, this film offers nothing new. It conforms to every cliché going, yet it was pretty damn successful, proving that Jennifer Lawrence is one hell of a box office draw. Fair play to it for finding an audience - I just don't think many people will get much out of this is (a) they have seen plenty of these type of films before and (b) if they're not in the 'Twilight generation.' Oh, and don't get me started on the actual NAME of the film. Even fans of the film must admit that whatever Hollywood writer picked it was having a really slack and lazy day. Seriously...

If watching HatEotS has taught me anything (taught me again, actually) is that many times a film's worst enemy could be the buzz around it. Had it not been for all the talk about it, I might have had lowered expectations and therefore a smaller sense of disappointment.

As the Horror freak that I am, I've always loved Psychological Thriller/Horror films with a sophisticated twist towards the end. This film makes an attempt on having such a twist, but personally, for me, it didn't work.

Let's start off with the good things: the acting was very good, especially by Max Thieriot as Ryan. The way he talked, the look in his eyes, everything was simply perfect for the role. Jennifer Lawrence wasn't bad either, but sadly the best part about her acting was her not being an eyesore, not at all. Great job also by Elisbabeth Shue as a teenagers's mother!

As for the story - I find it difficult to pinpoint my problem with it. The build up seemed sufficient and the twist was surprising enough, and kept up getting deeper and more evolved. Perhaps it's the difficulty to fully grasp and comprehend what had happened happened that took some of the excitement away. I was too busy figuring out one detail when the next hit. So perhaps other viewers will enjoy it more.

All in all, watching this has been a fun experience, though not overly. I can't say "don't watch it!", nor can I recommend it too enthusiastically. If you don't expect too much - you could be in for a treat.

People don't seem to like this one much, but I found it totally decent. It's probably better than it should be simply for the presence of Jennifer Lawrence - who is just smoking hot. Okay, she's a good actress, too, and gives a good performance. She won an Oscar last year for Silver Linings Playbook (much deserved, in my book). Her tank top from this film should have been nominated for an award. Okay, enough about how hot Lawrence is (very, is the answer). The story here is decent, if nothing special. Lawrence, moving into a new home, falls for the damaged teen down the street, Max Thieriot (also pretty good). His horrifying past (his parents were murdered by his insane sister) is well known to the small town they live in. He harbors a few other secrets, as well. This mostly wins for me because Lawrence comes off as a fairly smart horror heroine. The climactic sequence is really well done (shades of the climax of Wait Until Dark - would have been nice to see this in the theater, as I came really close to doing last year). Elisabeth Shue also co-stars as Lawrence's mom. She's still good looking and is a fine actress. I'd love to see her in a really good role at this point in her career.