House at the End of the Street
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''House at the End of the Street'' is a 2012 American
psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...
film directed by
Mark Tonderai Mark Tonderai (born 1974) is a British-ZimbabweanPress Book House at the End of the Street, 2012 entrepreneur, director, writer, actor and former disc jockey. He is co-founder of the London-based production company Shona Productions with his wif ...
that stars
Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people i ...
. The film's plot revolves around a teenage girl, Elissa, who along with her newly divorced mother Sarah, moves to a new neighborhood only to discover that the house at the end of the street was the site of a gruesome double homicide committed by a thirteen-year-old girl named Carrie Anne who had disappeared without a trace four years prior. Elissa then starts a relationship with Carrie Anne's older brother Ryan, who lives in the same house, but nothing is as it appears to be. Although filming had been completed in 2010, the film was not released until 2012 by
Relativity Media Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures. The company was commerciall ...
. Despite a negative response from critics, the film was a moderate commercial success.


Plot

Newly divorced medical doctor Sarah Cassidy (
Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), '' Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), ''B ...
) and her 17-year-old daughter Elissa (
Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people i ...
) move to a small, upscale
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
. They are disturbed to discover the house they are moving into is on the same street as a house in which a family used to live until the parents were murdered. The story of the massacre is told to them by the neighbors. Four years prior, a girl named Carrie-Anne Jacobson killed her parents, then fled into the forest and was never seen again, leaving her brother Ryan (
Max Thieriot Maximillion Drake Thieriot (; born October 14, 1988) is an American actor and director. He made his acting debut in the 2004 adventure comedy film ''Catch That Kid''. Thieriot has since appeared in the action comedy '' The Pacifier'' (2005), the ...
) as the sole survivor. Ryan now lives alone and is hated by his neighbors; Bill Weaver (
Gil Bellows Gil Bellows (born June 28, 1967) is a Canadians, Canadian actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for the roles of Tommy Williams in the 1994 movie ''The Shawshank Redemption'', Billy Thomas in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox televi ...
), a local police officer, appears to be Ryan's only supporter. Their mother-daughter relationship becomes rocky and Elissa starts seeing Ryan against her mother's wishes, finding Ryan to be lonely but a sweet boy. Ryan confides in her that he accidentally injured Carrie-Anne by allowing her to fall from a swing when they were little; he was supposed to be watching her while their parents were getting high on drugs. The resulting
brain damage Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...
from the accident made her extremely aggressive, leading to their parents' murder. Ryan is revealed to have been secretly taking care of a seemingly now-grown Carrie-Anne (Eva Link) in a hidden room. Carrie-Anne manages to escape and approaches a young couple in a car while brandishing a kitchen knife. Ryan catches up to her before she can reach the couple but accidentally kills her while trying to hide her. In grief, he goes to a diner, where he meets a kind waitress named Peggy Johns (
Jordan Hayes Jordan Hayes (born June 14, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She played Dr. Sarah Jordan on Syfy's ''Helix''. She has also appeared in theatrical films, such as ''House at the End of the Street'', '' The F Word'' and ''Hidden 3D''. In addition, sh ...
). Later, some unruly high school boys pick a fight with Ryan and he flees, and Elissa drives to his house and extinguishes a fire the boys started. She finds tampons in the kitchen garbage and explores the house with suspicion until she finds the secret room and is attacked by Carrie-Anne, who is revealed to actually be Peggy. Ryan restrains "Carrie-Anne" while frantically screaming at Elissa to leave. Elissa finds blue contact lenses and Peggy Johns's wallet in the kitchen. Ryan has kidnapped the waitress and attempted to make her look like Carrie-Anne. Elissa tells Ryan she has to go home but Ryan hits her, knocking her unconscious. Elissa wakes to find herself tightly tied to a chair. Ryan reveals to her that Carrie Anne didn't kill their parents. In fact, she died during the accident on the swing set. It was Ryan who killed their parents, after suffering years of abuse because they blamed him for his younger sister's death. This leads to the final revelation: The "Carrie Annes" he has been keeping in the basement were kidnapped women who he made up to look just like his younger sister.  He explains that he wants Elissa, but that he needs Carrie-Anne and knows that he cannot have both. Officer Weaver goes to Ryan's house to look for Elissa, but Ryan stabs him to death. Elissa frees herself and tries to escape in Ryan's car, but Ryan knocks her out with
chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with chemical formula, formula Carbon, CHydrogen, HChlorine, Cl3 and a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to ...
and traps her in his car trunk with Peggy's body. Sarah arrives and is also stabbed by Ryan. Elissa struggles out of the car and ultimately shoots Ryan with Weaver's gun. When she approaches him, he suddenly wakes up and grabs her wrist. When Ryan attempts to stab Elissa with the knife, Sarah strikes him in the head with the hammer. Elissa and Sarah move out and Ryan is placed in a
psychiatric ward Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
. A flashback had depicted Young Ryan in girl's clothing about to blow out birthday candles. His mother calls him "Carrie-Anne" and when Ryan protested that his name is Ryan, she just slapped him violently. While doing a puzzle, Ryan begins to hear the voices of his deceased parents saying that he is Carrie-Anne.


Cast


Production

The film was originally announced in 2003 with
Jonathan Mostow Jonathan Mostow (born November 28, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed films such as ''Breakdown'', '' U-571'', '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', and '' Surrogates''. Early life Mostow was born ...
directing and Richard Kelly writing. The film went through
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...
for seven years until production was revived in 2010 with
Mark Tonderai Mark Tonderai (born 1974) is a British-ZimbabweanPress Book House at the End of the Street, 2012 entrepreneur, director, writer, actor and former disc jockey. He is co-founder of the London-based production company Shona Productions with his wif ...
directing and
David Loucka David Loucka is an American screenwriter, active in the comedy and horror genres. Writing credits *''Monsters'' (TV episode " Holly's House", 1988) *'' The Dream Team'' (1989) *'' Working Tra$h'' (TV 1990) *''Eddie'' (1996) *'' Borderline'' (200 ...
writing, instead. Principal photography and filming mostly took place in
Metcalfe, Ontario Metcalfe is a Population centre (Canada), population centre located in Osgoode Ward, in the rural south-end of the city of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Prior to amalgamation in 2001, the community was in Osgoode Township, Ontario, Osgoode Tow ...
and
Carp, Ontario Carp is a compact rural community in West Carleton-March Ward in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the northwestern portion of the municipality on the Carp River. It is about from downtown Ottawa. Prior to amalgamation in 2001, ...
from August 2, 2010, until September 3, 2010.


Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released in February 2012, but was moved to a September 2012 release. The film had its theatrical premiere in the United States on September 21, 2012, and was released in Canada on the same date. The film was not released theatrically in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
or
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and was released
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
on January 30, 2013, in Sweden and on August 28, 2013 in Spain.


Novelization

A tie-in
novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
of the movie was released on August 12, 2012, to accompany the movie by Little, Brown and Company.


Home Media

''House at the End of the Street'' was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...
on January 8, 2013. The unrated cut was also released on January 8, 2013. The extended edition increased the length of certain scenes in the final cut by a few seconds and the amount of violence, blood, and gore was increased by a small amount. The extended cut also included an additional twist, in which Bill Weaver was actually a close family friend of the Jacobsons and was aware of Carrie-Anne's fate, and he also knew about Ryan's abuse but did nothing to help him. On the day of Carrie-Anne's accident, he supplied John and Mary Jacobson with drugs and actually could have prevented Carrie-Anne's death if he had not sold them the drugs, as they had prevented John and Mary from heeding the cries of their only son, and he was then disowned as a close friend by John Jacobson.


Reception


Box office

The film debuted at number one at the US box office on its opening Friday and Saturday nights. In what was one of the tightest races in years for first place at the box-office weekend, the film finished the weekend at number two with $12.3 million, just less than a million behind ''
End of Watch ''End of Watch'' is a 2012 American action thriller film written and directed by David Ayer. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala, two Los Angeles Police Department officers who work in South Central Los An ...
'', which included takings from Thursday night through Monday morning, where that movie finished at number one, with $13.1 million. The film went on to gross over $44 million worldwide, from a budget of $6.9-10 million.


Critical reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 13% based on 66 reviews with an average rating of 3.72/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Poorly conceived, clumsily executed, and almost completely bereft of scares, ''House at the End of the Street'' strands its talented star in a film as bland as its title." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a score of 31 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


Awards


References


External links

* * {{mojo title, houseattheendofthestreet, House at the End of the Street 2012 films 2012 horror films 2012 horror thriller films 2010s psychological horror films 2012 psychological thriller films 2010s teen horror films American films about revenge American horror thriller films American psychological horror films American psychological thriller films American teen horror films Cross-dressing in American films FilmNation Entertainment films Films about dysfunctional families Films about murderers Films directed by Mark Tonderai Films shot in Ottawa 2010s English-language films 2010s American films