Movie Review - House at the End of the Street

House at the End of the Street (2012)

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, and Max Thieriot

Directed by Mark Tonderai

It's a sure bet that this is the last teen horror flick recent Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence is going to be starring in for quite a while, but she gives a surprisingly solid turn (although she's not tasked with anything difficult to do) as Elissa, the new girl who's moved to a new town with her mom Sarah (Elisabeth Shue).  They got a great deal on a big house because the titular House at the End of the Street just a few yards from their home was the scene of a murder a few years ago.  Still, despite hearing that the girl who had murdered her parents is presumed dead but has yet to be found, Elissa and Sarah brush off the notion of anything bad happening.  When Elissa discovers that Ryan, the son of the murdered parents, still lives in the house, she strikes up a friendship with the shy, sheltered college student much to Sarah's chagrin.  With this being a horror film, let's just say things don't turn out like they do in a Nicholas Sparks movie.

House at the End of the Street doesn't reinvent the horror wheel by any means and its story is admittedly shaky and stretched quite thin even over its short running time.  However, thanks to Lawrence giving her character a little bit of spunk rather than just being the typical horror ingenue, the film rises above the other teen scare flicks the tiniest of margins.  I realize I'm bucking the trend here (as Rotten Tomatoes has this sitting at 11% Fresh) and I don't want to overstate this film's worth -- it's still not anything special -- but it held my interest mainly because of Lawrence.  It's also nice to see Elisabeth Shue return to the screen even though her role (much like all the roles here) isn't really developed beyond a stereotype.  Max Thieriot also doesn't embarrass himself in a role that easily could've veered into corniness (and kind of does at times) -- somehow he reins in the quirkiness required that I didn't find myself laughing at him.

I realize every good comment above is laced with some bad undertone and that's simply because I must recognize that House at the End of the Street isn't a great film, but if you're in the mood for cheesy teen horror, you could certainly do worse.  Jennifer Lawrence makes this more than tolerable.

The RyMickey Rating:  C