At first glance, “House At The End of the Street” appears to be the typical thriller flick – the story of a young girl who moves to a small town and encounters something sinister in the house next door. Unfortunately, a second glance proves that the movie is not much more than it appears to be.
This installment of the classic thriller follows the story of Elissa Cassidy (Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games”), a music loving 17-year-old who falls for Ryan Jacobson (Max Thieriot, “Jumper), the older neighbor boy. While Elissa knows Ryan’s parents were murdered by his sister in the house he now inhabits, she does not know the whole story – at least, not yet. What’s more, nobody is quite sure what happened to his murderous sister, Carrie Ann, and some people believe she’s still alive and living in the woods.
With a predictable plot line, clichéd characters and a lack of suspense, the flick simply fell flat. The movie’s most despicable offense, however, was the absence of truly thrilling elements. In fact, there were few moments during the two hours that inspired legitimate fear, and even fewer moments merely startled the audience. A “scary” movie, at least, should be chock full of the cheap thrills audiences have all grown to know and love, yet to my disappointment, this one simply wasn’t.
Worse still is the predictable characterization used in the film. The plot features Elissa, who suffers from daddy issues, an alcoholic mom who doesn’t know how to be a parent, the jerky popular kid who has a reputation with the ladies and the sweet but tortured guy next door who reels Elissa in with his sensitivity. The characters are forgettable and leaves the audience bored.
Bad characterization aside, the acting was better than expected. Jennifer Lawrence is quite believable as a terrified teenager, especially when she ends up cornered in a dark, eerie basement. Furthermore, Max Thieriot appears innocent enough to make viewers like him and sad enough to make them feel sorry for him. The two also have great on-screen chemistry, lending credence to the underlying romantic subplot.
Overall, the acting was a pleasant surprise in a film with not much else to offer.
The film’s one other redeeming factor was the twist ending. That being said, by the time the audience became aware of what was actually going on, there was not enough time to develop a reaction before the movie was over.
Aside from the twist ending, some interesting cinematography and the decent acting, “House At The End of the Street” just does not bring anything new to the table. Sadly, audiences will spend the movie’s duration feeling they have seen it before. In all, it is too much like the countless horror films that have been released in recent years. “House at the End of the Street” is simply not worth the cost of a trip to the movies.
