Monday, October 8, 2012

The House at the End of the Street

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
The House at the End of the Street
Released 9/21/12, now in theaters


The Halloween slate of horror movies starts a little early with House at the End of the Street.  The film stars Hunger Games alum, Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, Max Thieriot, and Gil Bellows.  Mark Tonderai takes directing honors.

Newly divorced Sarah Cassidy (Shue) and her daughter, Elissa (Lawrence) make an attempt at a fresh start in a rural, upscale town.  They live next door to a house with a dark history.  Years earlier, the parents in this house were brutally murdered in their beds by their young daughter.  The daughter, Carrie-Ann, ran into the woods after the murders and was never found.  The house’s only inhabitant in the present day is Carrie-Ann’s college aged brother, Ryan (Thierot), who was away from the home when his parents met their brutal end.  The community is wary and fearful of Ryan wondering why he would live in a house with such bad karma. The fact that the house drags down property values due to its history and because the young man will not sell it also doesn’t make him very popular.  His only supporter is Officer Weaver (Bellows) who assures Sarah that he has never had any type of problem with Ryan.  Much to Sarah’s dismay, however, Elissa begins a relationship with the neighboring recluse.  Everything seems to progress fine for Ryan and Elissa.  However, Ryan has a secret involving his sister that has been thought to be long dead.  And it might be the death of Elissa and Sarah before all is said and done. 

The House at the End of the Street is one of those movies that masquerades as a horror movie, but really is not quite that.  Think more psychological horror in the vein of Psycho or, more recently, Orphan.  However, while the two latter movies had moments of sheer terror, House isn’t particularly scary.  It has a great reveal to the madness behind the weird, but isn’t executed in classic horror style.  It leaves you with the feeling of…eh! That’s about all the emotion I can muster for it.  It’s not really memorable.  The film degenerates into a standard thriller in its final moments.

The House at the End of the Street is not an awful movie, but true horror connoisseurs will be a little disappointed by the lack of cringe-worthy moments.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

**3/4 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!

2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here. 

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