Oscar nominees Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Shue star in Mark Tonderai’s horror-thriller, “House at the End of the Street” – an unoriginal title that seems to borrow from “The Last House on the Left.” The director of “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (Jonathan Mostow) gets a credit for the story for the film, which is written by David Loucka (“Dream House”). The entire storyline seems to borrow its shock value from such films as “Psycho” and “Sleepaway Camp” – but with its own take on these formulas. The result is a ludicrous film that isn’t very worthwhile.
The story follows Elissa and Sarah Cassidy (Lawrence and Shue, respectively) as they move into a new home following a divorce. Their next door neighbor, Ryan Jacobson (Max Thieriot) lives in “the murder house” where his little sister killed their parents four years earlier – and has been missing ever since. The rest is a romance story between Elissa and Ryan, with “twists,” and Elissa running around in a dirty, white tank top.
The over-hyped “big” twist at the end of the film is an unnecessary add-on without impact that just causes more laughter from the audience. The film does keep the attention of its viewers, however it seems amateurish overall. With a meager, estimated $7 million budget – it won’t have trouble making a profit with a PG-13 rating plus “The Hunger Games” fare with Lawrence.
The film would make for an entertaining rental with friends, each with their own horror movie cliche checklist that may as well double as a drinking game.
“House at the End of the Street” is now playing in theaters everywhere.
