User reviews

I was a little bit skeptical about watching this movie and I came very close to not watching it. But, because I had a spare couple of hours with nothing better to do, I decided to give it a whirl.

A lot of modern-day horror movies are made on a budget. The typical tell-tale signs which give them away is the use of poorly lit sets, very few filming locations and a very small cast of young and unknown actors. They like to follow the path of "The Blair Witch Project" and rely on heavy breathing to create the suspense. A pretty young lady starts to breathe heavily in the dark, something jumps out and gets her, right? Nowadays, this has become the norm and this is what we come to expect.

Well, I'm pleased to say that "House at the End of the Street" is different and unique in its own right. Why? Because its actually got a storyline and it keeps you thinking! Just when you think you've figured it all out there's another clever twist that comes along and makes you think "Gee, why didn't I think of that". This is a movie which is always one step ahead of you! Also, the actors in this movie actually act. Don't get me wrong, it's not on the same page as an Alfred Hitchcock movie, but it is, nonetheless, very refreshing.

"House at the End of the Street" turned out to be a little gem. I'm glad that I rented it.

If watching HatEotS has taught me anything (taught me again, actually) is that many times a film's worst enemy could be the buzz around it. Had it not been for all the talk about it, I might have had lowered expectations and therefore a smaller sense of disappointment.

As the Horror freak that I am, I've always loved Psychological Thriller/Horror films with a sophisticated twist towards the end. This film makes an attempt on having such a twist, but personally, for me, it didn't work.

Let's start off with the good things: the acting was very good, especially by Max Thieriot as Ryan. The way he talked, the look in his eyes, everything was simply perfect for the role. Jennifer Lawrence wasn't bad either, but sadly the best part about her acting was her not being an eyesore, not at all. Great job also by Elisbabeth Shue as a teenagers's mother!

As for the story - I find it difficult to pinpoint my problem with it. The build up seemed sufficient and the twist was surprising enough, and kept up getting deeper and more evolved. Perhaps it's the difficulty to fully grasp and comprehend what had happened happened that took some of the excitement away. I was too busy figuring out one detail when the next hit. So perhaps other viewers will enjoy it more.

All in all, watching this has been a fun experience, though not overly. I can't say "don't watch it!", nor can I recommend it too enthusiastically. If you don't expect too much - you could be in for a treat.

This is an above average horror movie.

First the good points: The cast is A list - after all 2 Oscar winning actresses as daughter and mother - Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Shue (who hasn't aged much). Max Thieriot (now of Bates Motel) is their next door neighbour who lives in a house where his parents were murdered. The acting is good and there is some build up of sympathy with the characters in the story.

It's not supernatural so it's not too implausible. Doesn't have too many shock tactics. I'm kind of sick of the recent supernatural horrors with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz and the one with Katie Holmes and Bailee Madison. It's not too slasher like too. No violence that doesn't advance the plot.

It's got some faults: Firstly the closeup photography is a bit too close up. Can't see the whole face. A bit jerky too.

There is a twist of course which is not totally unpredictable.

Overall kind of enjoyed it.

If you've never seen a movie before then this is probably tolerable. Its always nice to see Elisabeth Shue. Jennifer Lawrence is definitely a leading lady of the future but this does no-one associated with it any favours.

Its just too clichéd, too predictable to be of any entertainment value.

In fairness I didn't totally hate it, but it wasn't involving. Its not a movie that you'll ever watch again or buy the DVD/ BR.

This is no fault of the cast but the script which means that you'll know how the movie ends before it is even half over.

Unless you're a rabid Lawrence fan then I wouldn't bother with this until there is a Netflix or DVD release.

This movie was a pleasant surprise to me because I thought it was going to be more of a "horror" movie...I wouldn't call it that, I'd call it a terrific suspense thriller with good twists here and there. I liked the casting and the storyline. The actors did a good job, esp. the young college student male lead. This is a story that could have actually happened, imo. The music was a big part of the movie, too. Good soundtrack that, while I was aware of it, it did not take away from the scenes but built up my anxiety! It was like another character. Definitely worth seeing for all the right reasons. Very entertaining and kept my attention throughout. All this without "blood & guts" galore - made me think of the old Alfred Hitchcock-type thrillers that depended more on the viewer's anticipation and imagination. Lastly, I thought I had the plot figured out, but I was surprised at how wrong I was. Smiled on my way out of the theater.

I went to see HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET last night and didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. The story is dull and predictable and the acting isn't rocksolid!Jennifer Lawrence played her role well though, she "blows" everyone away in this movie BUT, on the other hand, and I don't want to sound too negative, this flick wasn't a very hard nut for her to crack!

The story ;

Elissa (Lawrence) moves into a new home together with her mom Sarah(Elisabeth Shue) and finds out that the son of a murdered couple, who lived next door, still lives in the house where his parents were killed. The surrounding neigbours complain about him and tell Elissa that the boy is bad news! She wants to find out herself though and steps into his life...

It's a not a very bad movie but skip the theatre and wait for it on bluray/DVD.

The house at the end of the street is not a horror movie . It's more of a suspense film. Mother and Daughter move into a beautiful home after a bitter divorce. The mother is a doctor who works late hours the Daughter played by Jenifer Lawrence is still in high school. She's a singer with a lot of talent. Her mother played by Elizabeth Shue Wants her daughter to fit in. But after a particularly rough first day in which Elyssa is invited to one of the school's most popular students and one of it's richest . She discovers a dark side to the high society and does not like it. Meanwhile she has been watching the house at the end of the street. She was told there was a double murder there about 20 years ago and that no one lives there. Then one night she sees a light on in the house. And she becomes fascinated by the home's owner. The son of the people who died there. She hears how his sister went crazy one night and killed the parents and fled into the woods. Where she is to this day no one knows.

His name is Ryan and he has a few deep dark secrets of his own.

Not really a horror movie. and not a thriller. You might call this suspense lite. You know there is something wrong with Ryan but you don't know what. and when you get the big reveal you feel kind of cheated. There is a lot that's not explained. Or if it is it's not explained properly. The only reason I watched it was because of Jennifer Lawrence. and that's the best part of the film plus you hear her sing which is a good thing. Other then that not much to recommend.

People don't seem to like this one much, but I found it totally decent. It's probably better than it should be simply for the presence of Jennifer Lawrence - who is just smoking hot. Okay, she's a good actress, too, and gives a good performance. She won an Oscar last year for Silver Linings Playbook (much deserved, in my book). Her tank top from this film should have been nominated for an award. Okay, enough about how hot Lawrence is (very, is the answer). The story here is decent, if nothing special. Lawrence, moving into a new home, falls for the damaged teen down the street, Max Thieriot (also pretty good). His horrifying past (his parents were murdered by his insane sister) is well known to the small town they live in. He harbors a few other secrets, as well. This mostly wins for me because Lawrence comes off as a fairly smart horror heroine. The climactic sequence is really well done (shades of the climax of Wait Until Dark - would have been nice to see this in the theater, as I came really close to doing last year). Elisabeth Shue also co-stars as Lawrence's mom. She's still good looking and is a fine actress. I'd love to see her in a really good role at this point in her career.

When a teenager and her mother move to a little town, the girl finds out that an accident took place in the house at the end of the street. She ends up befriending the sole survivor of the accident.

This film has its fair share of chilling moments and Lawrence often elevates the sub-par material... Along with Shue, the dynamic of these two actresses makes the majority of the film enjoyable. The film even has some unpredictable twists that it will even have you actively rooting for the villain and against the victims at one point.

Although it's fairly routine, House at the End of the Street is what it is: a PG-13 scare-fest with more psychological terror than blood and guts, and should satisfy-not repulse-young genre fans and is smarter than most films of the genre, even with some fairly predictable plot turns.

In case you close your eyes every time Hollywood is mentioned, you might not know that Jennifer Lawrence was in The (hugely profitable) Hunger Games. She's currently Tinseltown's darling and, judging by this film, can sell anything.

The House at the End of the Street is about a teenage girl and her mother, who move into a house next to one where some murders were committed a while back. The teenage boy who witnessed said killings still lives there. Let the creepiness commence.

There is nothing 'supernatural' about this film, it's a sort of horror/thriller with teenage leads. And that's the most important part. Whereas Twilight was a vampire story for teens and The Hunger Games was a Battle Royale/Running Man for teens. The House at the End of the Street is a horror/thriller for teens. I'm sure plenty of 15+ people will enjoy it too, but I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that its primary fanbase will be around the 15 years of age mark.

I've seen a lot of these times of horror/thrillers. Perhaps that's my problem. I know every scare and twist going (and can therefore predict them a mile off). However, if I hadn't watched many of these sorts of films, I'm sure I would enjoy it much, much more. Basically, to seasoned and cynical cinema-goers such as myself, this film offers nothing new. It conforms to every cliché going, yet it was pretty damn successful, proving that Jennifer Lawrence is one hell of a box office draw. Fair play to it for finding an audience - I just don't think many people will get much out of this is (a) they have seen plenty of these type of films before and (b) if they're not in the 'Twilight generation.' Oh, and don't get me started on the actual NAME of the film. Even fans of the film must admit that whatever Hollywood writer picked it was having a really slack and lazy day. Seriously...

House at the End of the Street or HATES is a good film. But it is not a horror flick. It is a suspense thriller with twists and turns until you lose your mind thinking.

Let's talk about the movie. The acting is good. The jump scares are infrequent, but good and really scare me sometimes (one jump scare is really expected). The plot is I like, because it is really keeps me thinking. What I don't like is the 1 hour and 35 minutes long running time and it is very long.

But still, a great film even it is not listed at my list of greatest movies of 2012.

House at the End of the Street is blatantly aimed at the mainstream crowd and will probably scare the same thirteen year olds who were impatiently awaiting The Hunger Games film or even the next installment in the Twilight series. For the average consumer, hoping to be provided with memorable, spur-of-the-moment jolts, the film is a tired, uninspired stroll through the damsel in distress formula. I thought we were better than this.

Jennifer Lawrence, who woefully deserves better than this film, withheld by its own cardboard limitations, plays Ellissa, a teenager who has just moved into a rural home with her mother Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) on a block that holds many secrets. We are told the only reason they can afford this place is because a young girl named "Carrie-Ann" murdered her mother and father in the house and disappeared with no explanation. Now, the only one living in the home is the only survivor, the brother named Ryan (Max Thieriot), who Elissa begins to befriend much to her mother's dismay.

Need I explain more? It was just a week ago that I reviewed Victor Salva's Rosewood Lane, a rather mediocre horror film that centered around a talk radio psychiatrist who moves into the home where she grew up only to be stalked by the strange neighbor next door. The film had a real "Lifetime movie" vibe to go along with its rather dopey, simpleminded premise. It would've been a true heart-stopper to go through the events of the protagonist in that film in real life. Here, it's again, another endurance test at the audience's expense; how long can you watch something scary happen to someone you really do not care about? That's the tragedy with films like these; they never include substantial character development to make the journey with these characters more believable, sympathetically involving, or even interesting. You're stripped of any and all feeling watching these characters waltz around a premise of meager proportions.

So this Ryan kid begins to become a little oppressive in his neediness and the fact that he is taking care of what we believe is his sister, locked away in the basement cellar. It isn't long before he starts to taunt poor Elissa, in ways that lack genuine suspense and craft. Gritty atmosphere, long shots of dirty basements, and some overly obnoxious jump scenes exist in place of actual credible suspense. That's all you get. No blood, no terror, and no satisfaction. Just redundancy and lackluster PG-13-fare.

Jennifer Lawrence is immensely capable. It seems like yesterday we saw her in Winter's Bone, a quietly pleasant film about the unpleasant, and she did a wonderful job elevating the relatively underwhelming adventure film, The Hunger Games. Here, we can see how confined she is to dead-end clichés, cockamamie plot twists, and how embarrassed she is to have her named attached to uninspired genre schlock like this. Whether it's that, or the fact that the marketing campaign was reduced to "blink and you miss it" type ads, House at the End of the Street isn't the least bit satisfying or memorable.

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Elisabeth Shue, Gil Bellows, and Eva Link. Directed by: Mark Tonderai.