Cast:
Jennifer Lawrence: Elissa
Elizabeth Shue: Sarah
Max Thieriot: Ryan
Gil Bellows: Weaver the cop.
Rated: PG-13
Plot: Mother (Elizabeth Shue) and daughter (Jennifer Lawrence) move into a new town after a divorce. It just happens there was a murder in the house right across the woods from them a couple of years earlier. A thirteen year old girl killed her parents and then ran off. The town's people think she died, but their kids believe she lives in the woods. The one person that does still live in that house is the older brother Ryan (Max Thieriot). He was lucky to be away when the murders happened. Ryan is seen as the dark shadow over the town and people tend to stay away from him. Elissa befriends him and quickly builds a relationship with him, which her mother is not too thrilled about. Elissa and Ryan's romance blooms just as danger begins to grow.
My Opinion: To be honest I wasn't too thrilled to see this film and the only reason I saw it was because it was the next movie playing. I sat down in my broken seat ready to hate it, (the theatre was packed I had no choice but to sit there) but a few minutes in I found myself falling deep into the story. One of the biggest reasons is Max Thieriot. His lost puppy eyes makes you fall for him as soon as you see him. You just want to jump into the movie and rescue him. While watching the film I became a high school girl with a crush. Taking a moment to think of Max. Okay back to the review: I also liked the relationship between Elizabeth Shue and Jennifer Lawrence. It felt authentic and made me believe they really were mother and daughter. By the way, Elizabeth Shue looks amazing and I thought looked even better than Jennifer Lawrence. Now to the girl who played Carrie Ann, Ryan's younger sister, was a bit much and at times even reminded me of the girl from The Ring. It's that hair in the face look. Hello Hollywood it's been done to death. Lets find a new look maybe the hair slicked back. I'm just saying. Anyway, the twist in the end of the movie that I actually saw coming, ended the movie perfectly and even made story a little sad. Now this wasn't a really scary movie, but there were moments I had to dig my face into my husband's arm and even whispered to him "I'm so scared." Blame it on the scenes with pure silence. The House at the End of the Street proves that a movie does not have to have tons of people die gruesome deaths to be suspenseful; it just has to have a good story.
It's Rating Time
The Acting: 4 out of 5 stars: It would have gotten 5 stars if it wasn't for the minor characters. I found them boring and unimportant, even the girl who plays Elissa's friend.
The Filming: 3.5 out of 5 stars: The scenes were beautifully filmed, but there were some scenes that really did not need to be in the movie and just took up space.
Overall Rating: 3.9 stars
Bottom Line: Go see it with a date, but if you want to wait for it to be on DVD that's not a problem either. This movie was good, but it's not one of those must see now films.
~Maria
I really enjoyed this movie too. My only complaint is that the camera was in their faces way too much in the beginning. At one point I thought I was going to be sick. But I loved the plot and the crazy twist at the end.
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