MOVIE REVIEW: SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

The shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large in the small town of Mill Valley for generations. It's in a mansion that young Sarah Bellows turns her tortured life and horrible secrets into a series of scary stories. These terrifying tales soon have a way of becoming all too real for a group of unsuspecting teens who stumble upon Sarah's spooky home.

Director: André Øvredal

Cast: Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussain

Release Date: August 9, 2019

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Rated PG-13 for terror/violence, disturbing images, thematic elements, language including racial epithets, and brief sexual references.

Runtime: 1 h 47 min

Review:

Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark is a solid entry level horror movie that may be a gateway for younger horror fans to explore the genre.  Norwegian director André Øvredal, who has been turning out solid horror films for a good while now, delivers an impressively stylish film.  It’s not ground breaking in any shape or form but his adaptation of the short stories are staged well enough to keep most people entertained even if the film start to film like a light version of IT as the plot unfolds.  The monsters are effectively creepy which makes for some solid moments of terror even though the film is very light on blood.  The cast of mostly unknowns does a great job of carrying the film with Zoe Colletti leaving a strong impression.  More seasoned horror aficionados may find the whole thing a bit quaint since the film feels like a throwback of sorts to the old horror films like Night of the Scarecrow or The Town that Dreaded Sundown.


B-

MOVIE REVIEW: HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET

A teenager (Jennifer Lawrence) and her mother (Elisabeth Shue) move to a new town and make a gruesome discovery about the house next door in this tale of terror from Hush director Mark Tonderai. Shortly after learning that the neighboring house was recently the scene of a horrific double homicide, the curious teen forges a tender friendship with the boy who cheated death (Max Thieriot) on that fateful night. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Mark Tonderai

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, Max Thieriot, Gil Bellows, Nolan Funk.

Release Date: Sep 21, 2012

Rated PG-13 for Intense sequences of violence and terror, thematic elements, language, some teen partying and brief drug material

Runtime: 1 hr. 41 min.

Genres: Suspense/Thriller

Review:

It helps to know that Jennifer Lawrence filmed House at the End of the Street before Winter’s Bone was released and her star began it’s impressive rise. Knowing that explains why she’d be involved in such a terrible production. House at the End of the Street misfires on pretty much every level, it’s terribly scripted, flatly acted and clumsily directed. Director Mark Tonderai is more concerned with unnecessary camera movement such as using shaky cam during standard conversations and capturing Lawrence’s assets via a series of borderline gratuitous shots throughout. Worse of all he moves the story along at a terribly awkward pace, never building any suspense and forgetting to deliver any actual scares. This is all topped of with a liberal dose of clichéd horror movie logic along with a nonsensical plot and motivations. It leaves you disinterested and waiting the ending which doesn’t come quick enough.

F