Review: House at the End of the Street (2012)

I'm not a huge fan of horror films, but I do like to watch one every now and again. I'm not brave enough to see them at the cinema and so I have just one friend who will watch them with me at home. She was over last night and so we watched House at the End of the Street.  I really want to watch this a) so I can add to the review and b) because Jennifer Lawrence is in it BUT I wont watch horror films on my own, my Dad hates them and now my Flick Chicks buddy has seen it, therefore this is the grand total of my comments on this one ;-)

A few years ago, a tragic event took place in the house. The family's daughter murdered both her parents. Four years later, Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) and her mother Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) move in to the house next door. They learn that the son of the family next door still lives in his parents house, and nearly the whole neighbourhood have a extreme dislike of him due to the fact that he brings down everyone's property value.

I'm sure some of you will scoff at my fear of films like this but it's the suspense that gets me. The only way I can cope is to just talk quietly through the film and make fun of everyone. It's a great tactic of finding plot holes and goofs actually.

'Wasn't that room pitch black earlier? There aren't any windows.'

'Why won't anyone just grab that policeman's radio?'

'Who carries a supply of USB sticks with their own songs on?'

And so on!

Elissa ends up befriending the son next door Ryan (Max Thieriot), although her mother has already mentioned that Elissa likes to find the most damaged boy she can find, and 'turn them into a project'. That said, their relationship seems genuine and actually quite sweet. There was a moment which shouldn't have been funny but was actually hilarious, where the two of them were sat outside looking at a tree. Ryan told Elissa to look closely and she saw a face in the tree, but no amount of squinting could make us see it! Did anyone else?

As the story continues, we start to wonder if Ryan is actually as weird as everyone else seems to think he is. Without spoiling anything, his friendship with Elissa certainly turns sour.

I wasn't expecting a plot twist in House at the End of the Street at all, nor did I see this one coming, although you know me, I tend to be a little oblivious to everything film-wise. The final scene dragged out a little, and relied on cheap scare tactics (which worked on me) but other than that, I thought the ending was okay.



All in all, I thought this film wasn't that bad. The characters did stupid things and some parts made little sense, but an awful lot of horror films do that too. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be either. Grab a blanket, check the batteries in your torch and give it a try sometime.