The House at the End of the Street (2012)

The House at the End of the Street starts off as a very promising film. Jennifer Lawrence stars and is as fun to watch on screen as any actress right now. Her chemistry with Max Thieriot and Elizabeth Shue is fantastic, and all three portray very likeable characters. Unfortunately, most of the other characters in the movie are not likeable at all. The first two thirds of the movie are very taut and suspenseful. Unfortunately the suspense is not upheld once the climax is reached. The story devolves into a series of cliches and predictable actions. If the tone and quality of the first two acts of this film had been upheld throughout the whole movie, this movie would have been very, very, good. But this film, despite its good cast and high production value, falls into mediocrity.

Scares: 7/10
Overall: 6/10

Battle Royal (2000)

Battle Royal is a Japanese film about a class of highschool age students chosen at random to compete in a killing game until only one is left. Many people called the Hunger Games a rip-off of this movie, and while there are similarities between the plots, the tone is drastically different. This movie is incredibly dark, bloody and sad. The main characters are very likeable, and the villains are very, very, easy to hate, for the most part. Every single character is shown with enough human characteristics that it is not difficult to feel sympathy for the characters. It is clear that the only reason these children have become killers only because of their less than desirable circumstances. Overall this movie is very entertaining, thought provoking, and compelling, and I highly recommend it to fans of The Hunger Games

Scares: 6/10
Overall: 8/10