House at the End of the Street

Tonight I saw House at the End of the Street, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Shue.

Elissa (Lawrence) and her mother Sarah (Shue) are starting over. They appear to have a less-than-perfect relationship, but both are giving this new life a chance. Elissa has enrolled in school; Sarah has acquired a job at the local hospital and they've moved to the country into a beautiful rental house they can only afford because a brutal murder took place next door.

Though the event happened years ago, the property still carries the history of what happened and the town still shuns the one surviving member of the family, Ryan, who happens to be the same age as Elissa.

Ryan (Max Thieriot) seems to be a gentle, sweet guy, so Elissa soon befriends him instead of the neighbor boy that her mother favors.

What Elissa doesn't know is that his disturbed, violent sister did not drown as the community beleives—Ryan is caring for her in his basement.

He keeps this a secret as he and Elissa grow closer and Sarah tries her best to keep the two apart.

Everything after this point is a spoiler, so I won't go any further with the plot, but I will say that Lawrence does a predictably wonderful job as a tough girl with a soft heart put into terrifying situations because of her decisions.

On the same token, Shue is solid playing a mom that is probably not as smart as her girl, but loves her enough to overcome it.

The final sequences are filled with suspense and a few twists that make this better than the average bump-in-the-night horror film.

Just don't go downstairs if you don't already know what's there.

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