La Maison au bout de la rue

The house at the end of the street is not a horror movie . It's more of a suspense film. Mother and Daughter move into a beautiful home after a bitter divorce. The mother is a doctor who works late hours the Daughter played by Jenifer Lawrence is still in high school. She's a singer with a lot of talent. Her mother played by Elizabeth Shue Wants her daughter to fit in. But after a particularly rough first day in which Elyssa is invited to one of the school's most popular students and one of it's richest . She discovers a dark side to the high society and does not like it. Meanwhile she has been watching the house at the end of the street. She was told there was a double murder there about 20 years ago and that no one lives there. Then one night she sees a light on in the house. And she becomes fascinated by the home's owner. The son of the people who died there. She hears how his sister went crazy one night and killed the parents and fled into the woods. Where she is to this day no one knows.

His name is Ryan and he has a few deep dark secrets of his own.

Not really a horror movie. and not a thriller. You might call this suspense lite. You know there is something wrong with Ryan but you don't know what. and when you get the big reveal you feel kind of cheated. There is a lot that's not explained. Or if it is it's not explained properly. The only reason I watched it was because of Jennifer Lawrence. and that's the best part of the film plus you hear her sing which is a good thing. Other then that not much to recommend.

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.

I was a little bit skeptical about watching this movie and I came very close to not watching it. But, because I had a spare couple of hours with nothing better to do, I decided to give it a whirl.

A lot of modern-day horror movies are made on a budget. The typical tell-tale signs which give them away is the use of poorly lit sets, very few filming locations and a very small cast of young and unknown actors. They like to follow the path of "The Blair Witch Project" and rely on heavy breathing to create the suspense. A pretty young lady starts to breathe heavily in the dark, something jumps out and gets her, right? Nowadays, this has become the norm and this is what we come to expect.

Well, I'm pleased to say that "House at the End of the Street" is different and unique in its own right. Why? Because its actually got a storyline and it keeps you thinking! Just when you think you've figured it all out there's another clever twist that comes along and makes you think "Gee, why didn't I think of that". This is a movie which is always one step ahead of you! Also, the actors in this movie actually act. Don't get me wrong, it's not on the same page as an Alfred Hitchcock movie, but it is, nonetheless, very refreshing.

"House at the End of the Street" turned out to be a little gem. I'm glad that I rented it.

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.

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...