Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: A mother and daughter move into a house next door to where a young girl murdered her family and then disappeared.
Review: I have to say, the advertising campaign for this film is probably one of the most misleading I've seen in years. I can't believe they pitched this movie as a horror or even as a straight thriller. Unfortunately, the genre of the film itself is also confusing as it attempts to be a mystery/thriller but comes off more as a misguided romance with a tacked on thriller element mostly at the end (get it, the end...end of the street! Okay I'll stop). Let me address the so-called horror elements first: the opening shows the murder they keep talking about all film long, there are sparse hints as to what the brother of the alleged murderer, Ryan (hey, that's my name bitch!) is up to, and then of course the film amps up at the last 20 minutes or so. The rest of the film is a mix of mother/daughter drama and romance between the main girl, Elissa (played by the luscious Jennifer Lawrence), and the Ryan character; the mom is played by Elisabeth Shue who is still looking pretty hot as well. I was seriously wondering why were they building up so slowly, then I thought, why are they making Ryan seem so likable since we know he's going to be bad, then I finally wondered why didn't they just keep this as a romance film since it was starting to make me care about the characters getting together?! Basically, the story plays out similar to any chick flick: new girl is super hot but has no friends, befriends and falls in love with town outcast, antics ensue, and they live happily ever after with the girl tied to a chair waiting to be turned creepily into the guy's dead sister, Carrie Anne (the alleged murderer)...wait, what?! Okay, it's not as if the film brings this out of nowhere per se, but they really should have focused more on this being the core of the story rather than spending over an hour making Elissa and Ryan fall in love only for this to be the conclusion. And more annoying, they made me want them to get together damn it! Grr! I was actually quite surprised by the dynamics of Elissa and Ryan's relationship, the way it was presented, and even the atmosphere and music when Ryan was killing people. It's like the original writer had this tragic romance film in mind and they just decided to switch the genre at the last minute, but they kept too much of the original script intact or something. Anyway, Ryan was the real killer all along, Carrie Anne had accidentally been killed when they were kids, and Ryan was dressed up as Carrie Anne by the parents. Since then, Ryan has been kidnapping girls so that he always has a Carrie Anne in his life and so that he won't have to be her anymore...or something along those lines. I really don't know what to make of this mess except to say it's yet another mixed bag. I liked the acting, surprisingly the romance aspect was touching, and there are some decent ideas albeit wasted. I'd say maybe give this one a view, but know what you're getting into ahead of time and expect your final impression to be "why?"
Notable Moment: At the end when you realize Ryan was Carrie Anne. It felt like "Sleepaway Camp" all over again!
Final Rating: 6/10
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