House at the End of the Street
Movie Review by Lauren
Summary from IMDB: A mother and daughter move to a new town and find themselves living next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents. When the daughter befriends the surviving son, she learns the story is far from over.
Review: Going in to this movie, I expected to be scared…or at least creeped out…and while I’m not a huge horror movie fan, I was excited for it to be at least more entertaining than The Apparition. And it was. By far. I really loved this movie, to be honest. For one thing, I thought Jennifer Lawrence and Max Thieriot did a great job with their respective roles and that’s always a good start.
One of the things that I really appreciated about House at the End of the Street, and which makes it hard to review, is that I was constantly being surprised. I like movies that make you think, and “horror” or “scary” films that do that are awesome. I’d much rather have the psychological, constantly trying to figure things out type of scary film than ones that just rely on the blood and guts.
For me, I still found HATES to be a pretty freaky movie, and even moreso when you get further into the film and learn more about the situation involving Ryan (the surviving son/brother) and Carrie Ann (the sister that killed her parents).
I will admit that Elissa (Lawrence) was a bit too trusting but part of that is explained by her mom that tells her she always wants to fix people…and of course, it’s obvious that Elissa is used to being more of the grown up so she likes to go against her mom suddenly trying to be a parent in this new town. Besides that, though, Elissa is a good friend and she genuinely cares about Ryan (even though the rest of the town, for the most part, think he’s crazy and should go away).
Like I said above, what really made this movie for me (and I hope for other people) will be the fact that it keeps you on your toes. You think one thing is happening and then it suddenly switches, and then you learn new information and you have to reevaluate your opinion again. I love that! It kept me guessing and invested in the movie. One of the best parts was the very last scene because bam! More news is revealed that finally brings everything together!
And finally, I really enjoy that you can find empathy for the “villians” of the story. Maybe not the townspeople that are jerks just to be jerks, but once you see the film, I think you’ll understand what I mean about the “villian.” And that empathy makes it all the more interesting.
Oh yes, I much prefer horror films that rely on tension and psychological thrills rather than gore so that is excellent to hear. Very curious about this one now! I think I'm going to have to see it.
I love Jennifer Lawrence. I may rent this one.
I read the movie novelization of this over the weekend, and loved the strange twists the plot took when you least expected it. I definitely need to check out the actual movie! 🙂
Glad to see you enjoyed this one. I was thinking it to be over creepy too. I didn't want to see it as I'm not big on horror films anymore. 🙂 Thanks.
I love scary movies but so many times they're disappointing. So glad to get your review on this because I might go see it now, it sounds really good. Thanks! 🙂
While this sounds a bit too scary for me, I do like movies that keep you guessing the whole time!
Scary, scary, scary. Like you I always think a book is well written/a film well acted when you find yourself having some empathy with the villain.
Thanks for the review, I already wanted to see this but now I REALLY want to see it!