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.

I remember this film doing extremely well in the theatre so before I watched it on DVD I read some reviews and I was shocked at how bad ALL the reviews were. People were endlessly complaining about the movie and no shocker at all, I disagree with them. Actually I don't disagree with them, I agree with some of what they say about the film, I just didn't think it made a less than enjoyable experience. I love horror and I love thrillers and this is what makes for a turn your brain off thriller slasher flick with some decent twists and turns. I don't care how many pretentious reviewers claim they had it all figured out, you won't have it all figured out. Is the film mildly predictable? Yes absolutely but its hard for a horror film not to be. House At The End of The Street is an old school PG thriller similar to Scream in some aspects but it is very genre specific and follows the recipe to a T without changing many of the ingredients. But if you're okay with that and you like genre specific movies then you'll really enjoy this one. It keeps you on the edge of your seat with plenty of cringe worthy moments. It has a clear and concise climax and an edge of your seat ending.

It certainly doesn't hurt to have someone the calibre of Jennifer Lawrence at the helm of the movie. I'm not so sure that she should still be playing 17 year old girls but as an old school scream queen she fits the bill very nicely. Her character is as cut and dry as you can imagine. Teenager with a rebel streak who has a mother trying to do better by her. Moves to a new town and befriends the rebel boy...and she does everything that the 70's and 80's Scream queens taught us not to do...run up instead of down, out instead of in, away from the killer instead of towards him. None of this bothered me, because I enjoy chuckling at the campy quality of an old school thriller like this. Lawrence carries the film well and fits the bill perfectly. Elisabeth Shue is one of two performances that are genuinely bad in this movie. She personifies the campiness and the predictability by her facial expressions and character performance. She was just really annoying so much so that you understood how Lawrence's character felt towards her. The other really campy performance was by Gil Bellows as the Sheriff. Bellows screams camp nowadays and this role must have been huge for him getting away from the straight to video. He was only marginally better than Shue but they shared so many scenes together that it was double the camp. Max Thieriot does an excellent job as the quiet loner Ryan. He fits the throwback thriller role absolutely perfectly and the closing scene on him is memorable and fun. Thieriot and Lawrence have great chemistry making their character arc together even better.

I could list for you two dozen movies right now that House At The End Of The Street rips off blatantly and un-apologeticaly. It reeks of everything from Halloween to Psycho to Sleepaway Camp and how much did that ruin it for me? Well not even a little bit. I love those movies so why would it ruin House at The End of The Street for me. No matter how much something copies something else, its still new characters, some new concept and as long as its well executed then I'm there!! I think a more experienced director could have really fine tuned the details but Mark Tonderai still does a decent job and any other time he would be heralded for doing an homage to 80's thrillers so I will give him his herald. I thought it was very entertaining and well done. Campy at times? Yes absolutely and also predictable in some aspects but for a genre film it is exactly what one should expect and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a thriller. 8.5/10

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.