House at the End of the Street: A Good, Chilling Thriller That Offers Much More Than Expected

Director Mark Tonderai offers audiences something that other recent horror film directors in recent memory have been unable to provide: a solid, thrilling film.  While House is slow to climax and has a few rough edges, the second half of the film is both surprising and exhilarating, unleashing a series of twists (both expected and unexpected) that will keep observers on the edge of their seats.

Premise: After moving in next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents, a mother and daughter uncover a terrifying secret they never expected.  Result: Slow to get started but worth the ride once the film gets going.

This story begins typically, with a life changing event: Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) and her formerly estranged mother Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) move into an awesome house far away from the urban ghetto of a past life.  Elissa and Sarah are new to each other in reality, only united after Elissa’s father’s recent passing, and the growing pains are visible. Elissa is willful, an independent teen that never fails to remind everyone that she can take care of herself.

In this new town, the two stand out like clowns at a funeral, surrounded by hapless yuppies and trust fund brats like Tyler (Nolan Gerard Funk), a popular stud who wastes no time informing Elissa that he is horny (very smooooth!) But Elissa is not interested in Tyler; she is, however, quickly obsessed with Ryan (Max Thieriot), the boy literally next door that is living in the same home where his parents were murdered by his own sister, Carrie Anne, some years ago.  Despite the intense eeriness of this, she finds him adorable, with all his quirks and shy glances, and decides that she will love him, in spite of her mother’s profound horror.

But, of course, House is not some romantic comedy about teen angst and love in all the hilariously wrong places.  Instead, we are also introduced to Ryan’s secret: that is, his sister didn’t drown all those years ago after killing his parents; instead, he is keeping her locked down in his cellar, sedated and restrained to keep her from stalking the woods in search of new victims. While this aspect adds some anxiety to the first half of the film, audiences will unwittingly be playing the waiting game as Elissa befriends Jillian (Allie MacDonald), joins a band, seduces Ryan, and watches her mother and Sherriff Weaver (Gil Bellows) get on famously.

But just as it appears that Tonderai is leading observers down a path to nowhere, the film takes a sharp turn, delivering blow after blow and twist after twist.  The exhilaration and thrills mount as some truths are revealed about what really happened all those years back and what Carrie Ann really is.  Tonderai executes this with remarkable aplomb and manages to redeem the slow, drifting first half entirely.

Fortunately, both the story and the performances are believable, giving the film a credibility that has been lost in recent thrillers.  Lawrence constructs a character that we understand and recognize in so many teens today, lost and looking for that someone that sees the world through a similar lens.

Thieriot, for his part, plays this role a bit closer to the edge, walking a tight line between brilliance and chomping on a hearty serving of scenery.  But in the end, he pulls it off well enough to keep the film intact.

Shue is also quite good, delivering a woman with many flaws attempting to navigate the treacherous territory of surly teen girls.  And Bellows does well as the caring officer meant to protect the misunderstood boy and the pretty nurse that just moved into town with her daughter.

Overall, House is a good film.  While some of the twists that characterize the best parts of the film border on implausible, they are solid enough to shock and heighten the film’s natural anxiety.  In some ways, this film is better classified as a thriller than a horror film, but in the end, it is a good time either way.

Rating: 7 – A refreshing Champagne that a cute bartender comp’d you!