'House at the End of the Street': Elisabeth Shue on Jennifer Lawrence

Isn't it always the way? You get a killer deal on a sweet new home with a spacious backyard, and it turns out it's 'cause that backyard has a view of the house where two people were viciously murdered by their own daughter, who may still be at large in the woods. Still: Great lawn!

That's the launching point for The House at the End of the Street, a horror film out Sept. 21, starring Elisabeth Shue as a ne'er-do-well single mom and Jennifer Lawrence as her headstrong teenage daughter. In this exclusive clip from the film, the duo get their first look at the titular abode — check it out below, and then read on for why Shue says that house was also "really, really creepy" in real life.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me about your role.

ELISABETH SHUE: I'm a single mom, kind of like a rock-and-roll groupie type who fell in love with a rock-and-roll star. He's moved on, so the two of us are alone in the world, trying to have a fresh start. I think she's kind of immature. She's more of the child in the relationship. I've always enjoyed playing parts of mothers who are a little more immature than their kids. [Laughs] It's just more fun. I just love that dynamic.

In real life, it was very interesting meeting Jennifer for the first time, because she is incredibly grown up for her age. It was nice that the second I met her, I was like, "Oh, this dynamic is going to be perfect."

You shot in Ottawa, Canada, but was that home you were in a real house?

They did find a house, yeah, and interestingly enough, the house that was the house at the end of the street was so creepy. It really rivaled the creepiness of the house [as it exists in the film]. It felt like it had ghosts in it. It smelled strange. It was built in a way that was very rickety. It was really, really creepy. Nobody liked working there. [Laughs] So that was kind of cool, so whenever we were working near that house, it did feel as creepy as it was in the story.

What was it like working with Jennifer?

It was great working with her. She's really warm and generous. She also had a great sense of humor. I was thinking when I was hanging out with her one day, it would be great for her to find a great comedy. I don't think people would actually see her that way yet, obviously because of The Hunger Games is so serious. She has a really great, dry sense of humor. We definitely laughed a lot. She's a really great personality.

She's starting out at just about the same age that you did, right?

Yeah, I did commercials and stuff. She was lucky. I think she got out of that stage of her career. She's much more mature than I was, though. [Laughs] Much stronger, much more sure of herself. When I started out, I was very green, very unsure how to get my footing.

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Read more:

From the arena to suburbia: Jennifer Lawrence in 'The House at the End of the Street' trailer — VIDEO

Jennifer Lawrence moves in beside 'House at the End of the Street' — FIRST LOOK