John Chard

Lawrence of Suburbia. A little better than its garbage reputation, as evidence by the support it got at the box office from its target audience, Mark Tonderai’s horror/thriller is safe genre film making. There’s no intelligence in the screenplay, no copious amounts of blood letting, the characters do dumb things and in truth it unfolds as a standard girl in peril movie. These things are what have led to it being savaged by critics, but backed by a trio of strong performances from Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue and Max Thieriot, boosted by a genuine narrative surprise and the fact that Tonderai is able to do the peril motifs with suspenseful impact, ensures House at the End of the Street is at least a decent enough time waster. 5/10