I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll just get straight to the point: “House at the End of the Street” is bad—really, really bad. And you should definitely go see it.
In case you haven’t heard of it, “House at the End of the Street” is a thriller about a mother and daughter moving to a new neighborhood, where the daughter gets involved with the seemingly harmless boy next door, who has quite the little secret. Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) and her daughter, Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence), have had a strained relationship in the past, but believe that this new town will be a fresh start for them. However, complications arise when Elissa meets Ryan (Max Theiriot), the cute, quiet neighbor who is ostracized from the rest of the community because of his haunted past. The neighborhood consists of huge houses with gossipy families and a national park for a backyard; which, of course, translates into intriguing rumors about that boy next door as well as miles of secluded forest to run through in the middle of the night with a deranged psychopath chomping at your heels.
If only this were the case, the movie could’ve passed itself off as simple, yet classic. Instead, the filmmakers try too hard to create an interesting storyline while shoving scene after scene of character development down your throat and folding in some random instances when a Caucasian equivalent of the creepy ghost-girl from “The Ring” races through the woods, knife in hand, like a lunatic cranked up on speed.
The film in and of itself is mainly comprised of awkward moments and horrible dialogue, with a pinch of suspense thrown in. The truth is, it’s absolutely horrible and, in fact, on par with some of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. And yet, there is something so delightful about its atrociousness that I find myself tempted to recommend it to everyone I know.
It’s one of those movies that you just love to hate. My roommates and I couldn’t stop talking about it from the moment we walked out of the theater. We spent the rest of the night reenacting our favorite moments (such as a ridiculously ill-timed outburst when Lawrence’s character first meets Theiriot’s) and quoting our favorite lines (“He’s worse than a dick—he’s a dick-hole”). Even though it is categorized as a thriller/horror, the awful script, accompanied by some terrible performances from the supporting actors and extras, gives it an almost comedic vibe.
So, if you’re looking for something fun to do on a Friday night and love peanut-gallery movies, “House at the End of the Street” is definitely worth trying. This movie had me laughing so hard that I was doubling over in my seat. My overall rating is half of a Matt Damon out of five.. Yes. It’s that bad. As one of my roommates so eloquently described it, “it was like watching two monkeys throw feces at each other.” Horrendous? Perhaps. But then, what’s not entertaining about that?
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