Customer Reviews

The Girl Next Door [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR is a film based on Jack Ketchum's novel, which is based on true events. I've seen a lot of horror films in my time, and I have to say that the scariest ones are always the ones that hit close to home. When you read the newspaper, watch the news, you sometimes see and hear things that are almost unbelievable that humanity can sink into such aberrations. This film borders around the line between exploitation and voyeurism, but believe me, "The Girl Next Door is a realistic, disturbing and genuine journey into one girl's personal hell.

Synopsis derived from the dvd back cover:
In a quiet suburban town in the summer of 1958, two recently orphaned sisters are placed in the care of their mentally unstable Aunt Ruth (Blanche Baker). But Ruth's depraved sense of will soon lead to unspeakable acts of abuse and torture that involve her three young sons, the neighborhood kids, and one 12-year old boy whose life will be changed forever.

People may say that some stories don't need to be told and I agree with them. "The Girl Next door" is arguably something that should have been left on the shelf. However, those who deny such stories also naively deny the twisted reality of life sometimes. This film is sort of a "coming of age" piece with a very dark, edgy premise that plays like a morality drama. In viewing this film, the viewer has to get pass the disturbingly graphic images to be able to appreciate its subtext, otherwise one will think that it is an exploitation flick with minors involved. Being based on a true story, the viewer has to keep in mind that this case did happen, and may POSSIBLY happen again somewhere.

The viewer has to pay special attention to the film's themes in order to understand why director Gregory Wilson opted to make this disturbing film. "The Girl Next door" is a tale of unfulfilled love, the moral responsibilities of adults, helplessness of children, and for people to be sensitive to what's going on. All these themes revolve around the film's main premise; abuse and the violence against women. The film is an emotion-driven film, no, it doesn't play on the graphic images and torture as much as the tiresome Eli Roth torture flicks. The film-makers knew what they were doing when they shot this film. They paid extra attention to the needed emotions inherent when one experiences such an ordeal. Meg, a pretty, innocent young girl is the victim. She loses all that she holds dear to humiliation, abuse and torture. Meg's sister is a victim of her own helplessness and fear. David is a young boy is sort of a victim also. He loses his innocence and up to his days as an adult, (as shown in the film's beginning and the climax) he still wishes that he could have done something to save Meg. David is a victim of his own conscience. Even Ruth's three boys are victims in their own way. They are victims of Ruth's twisted upbringing and philosophies on life and women. What is truly almost unbelievable is that the neighborhood kids are insensitive to Meg's plight, in fact, they seem to enjoy it. People may argue that some kids don't know what abuse is, thank goodness, my parents brought me up to be able to identify such things. Also, in this situation, "birds of the same feather flock together..."

The true instigator of the children's ordeal is Aunt Ruth; played by Blanche Baker. The actress makes an outstanding performance. Baker's portrayal as the main antagonist is realistic, disturbing and creepy in her own way. I've read somewhere before that the most dangerous psychopaths are those who think they are noble and serving a just cause. Such is the case with Aunt Ruth. Aunt Ruth preaches her mad, twisted indignation to her children (and to David) with convincing fervor that I couldn't blame them into buying into what she's saying. Another intense human horror is revealed: children do try to emulate their elders.

Now, I haven't read the novel and I'm pretty sure the book will have more answers. The film isn't perfect, some characters aren't fleshed out and "happy" people will no doubt have a lot of difficulty connecting to its story line. Also, David's parents are a bit one-dimensional and felt like they were minor plot devices to emphasize David's tortured conscience. The film however, does a lot more things right than wrong. I rather thought that it was very ingenious for the screenplay to show David as an adult haunted with his past nightmare, and how he has never forgotten his childhood friend; Meg. That up to this day, he wants to do something good to another being even at the price of his own life.

"The Girl Next Door" is not a film for everyone. Controversial and disturbing to its core, the film will no doubt offend a lot of viewers but if you look at the subtle messages instead of the graphic scenes, viewers will learn to appreciate what the film's premise is all about. This film is an unrelenting look at human horror that will stay with the viewer for a long time to come. Forget monsters, vampires, demons and werewolves, the scariest thing may just be occurring right next door...

Recommended timidly. The film is of such disturbing nature that only the most timid recommendation may be given. [4 ½ stars]

Not knowing anything about the book I walked in to this expecting a fun and creepy horror film. What I got was easily one of the most unforgettable film experiences I've ever had. Gruesome and disturbing without ever being trashy. As a matter of fact, the most amazing thing about the film is how great the direction and performances are. The woman who plays Ruth creates one of the most frightening monsters in film history. Hats off to the rest of the cast and crew for making a film that's going to take me a while to shake off. I'm not gonna go into details of the story. All I'm saying is SEE IT. You won't be sorry you did.

I walked out of the theater numb and shaking. Very skillfully done, it was a horrifying look at severe child abuse with wonderful acting and full of tension. A third of the people in the theater where I saw this film at were crying or in tears as we left the building. Knowing it was based on a true story made it even more tragic. An emotional rollercoaster ride if you are brave enough to watch. You'll never forget it. Highly recommended.

Normally writing a review is quite simple; I discuss what I liked or disliked or what could have been better. I'll mention the acting, writing and directing and further get into my thoughts on the product. But for the first time I'm actually speechless. I really don't even know how to put this review together or where to even start. I've seen a lot of movies in my time, but I don't think a movie has ever made me feel the way The Girl Next Door did. As a fan of extreme cinema and exploitation flicks I've seen the most shocking of movies. But The Girl Next Door is probably the movie that most got to me. And while yes the movie has violence you don't see a lot of it, but knowing what is happening you don't have to see it.

This movie isn't entertaining and I can't say I enjoyed it. It's kinda hard to enjoy a movie like this. But The Girl Next Door is simply brilliant. This is what filmmaking is all about. This movie will shock you to your core. Anybody with a heart will find this movie deeply disturbing. What makes it even worse is this is inspired by a true story and from what I hear the true story is even more horrific. What makes matters worse is that it's a child who goes through these terrible events. Not that it's ok if it's an adult, but there is something worse when these terrible things are done to a child.

The Girl Next Door I have to say turned my stomach I actually felt sick watching the movie and I even got teary eyed, which is something that never happens to me. After the movie was over all I could do is stare at the screen with this terrible feeling. I was sort of numb and just well felt sick. This movie aims to disturb and it does big time. This movie will stay with you after you watch it.

The screenplay was written by Daniel Farrands and Philip Nutman and it was very well written and gets the job done. They wrote one hell of a script and hopefully people take notice. I wasn't sure what to make of Farrands I've never been impressed with his writing, but this movie proves the talent he has.

Director Gregory Wilson is a talent to watch for. His scenes are well paced and he made a movie to disturb the audience and he very much did that. Like I said this movie is probably the most bothered I have ever been. I felt sick and almost wanted to cry. At one point I almost shut it off. So for that I give Gregory Wilson a lot of credit. No film has ever made me feel like that.

The performances are very strong and Blythe Auffarth as Meg Loughlin is an actress with one hell of a future ahead of her. She was simply brilliant and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her. What happens to her character is disgusting I'm not even gonna describe the scenes since they are so powerful words cannot do it justice. Even though the actress at the time was about 19, her character is only 13-years old. And what happens to her character should never ever happen to a child.

Once the 40-mintue mark hits the movie becomes very disturbing and it never once lets up. The Girl Next Door is a brilliant piece of filmmaking and a movie you'll never forget. The Girl Next Door isn't really a horror flick it's more of a drama/thriller, but what happens here is more horrific than any horror movie I have ever seen so therefore I do see it as a horror movie.

I cover horror films for a living, and this film is firmly one of the top three indie films ive ever seen in any genre. Its a drama with extremely dark human horror elements, delivered amidst a tender story of childhood love and friendship. What happens to this innocent girl, played perfectly by Blythe Auffarth, will blow your mind and you wont ever forget this if you can sit through it. Its artful, like a good film would be but subtly goes places darker than anything ever depicted in a hollywood film. Severely moving and highly recommended.

Slice off a piece of Kids and Hostel. Tear off a chunk of Irreversible and Misery. Then if you mix in a heavy dose of Wonder Years, Stand By Me, and Salo, you might get a hint of The Girl Next Door. It really is one of the most disheartening, haunting, and inhumane depictions of overwhelming evil.
This movie is based on a true story of a teen girl who suffers unspeakable abuse in the basement of her house. There is much more to this story than just child torture though. It's also a period piece, a love story, a coming-of-age story. There are heavy themes of authority, choices, morality, secrets. Each scene is an essential patch woven into an absorbing tapestry. It won't give you a warm feeling inside.
The director Gregory Wilson does an amazing job working with these kids. There are some devastating, adult situations that I'm pretty sure some of the young cast wasn't actually present for. At least I hope not. Additionally, I was impressed with how much of the horror occurs off screen, the implied brutality will leave scorching images in your mind.
This film is pretty close to perfect, as far as disturbing cinema goes. The only slight problem I had was how nearly all the kids seemed to immediately transform from childhood playmates to sadistic little psychopaths. Hopefully no kids are this evil. Their wicked, overbearing aunt manipulated them pretty easily. There might have been some time constraints, but this extreme change happened rather quickly.
This doesn't take anything away from the staggering effects of this horrendous story. It's a sick diversion, a film that will submerge itself deep into your mind and fester there for long after. Proceed with caution.

Talk about being numb to your seat. Even though I've been warned I was still angered by it. I never cuss and fuss so much towards a film in my life. As a parent I was totally appalled of all the actions that took place towards the sisters. Just because your (Ruth) life ended up bad doesn't mean you can take it upon a child. She's lucky I didn't bump into her in the streets but fortunately enough she got what she deserves. In the beginning of this film, it revolves around David (played as an adult by William Atherton, the seminal 1980s), who after seeing a man hit by a car, recalls his youth and meeting Meg Loughlin (Blythe Auffarth), a 13 year old daughter of a gypsy left with her mother under the care of Ruth (Blanche Baker) and her sons. The young David (played by Daniel Manche) grows fond of his neighbors and Ruth, as she lets the boys drink beer, smoke cigarettes, and give them whatever they want. However, Ruth grows spiteful of Meg and her younger sister Susan (Madeline Taylor), crippled from polio. She starts with verbal abuse, and it soon turns into something more violent, as Ruth and her sons tie up Meg in the basement, and allow the neighborhood kids to torture her with cigarette burns, rape, and branding hot needles into her skin. David seems helpless, but slowly tries to find the courage to help her.

The film starts out like any coming of age film, where David meets his new neighbors and the first act shows David's induction into Ruth's house. The second act begins the torture, and the third act is David's belated reaction to do something about it. It is successful on the filmmakers to have me react so strongly every time Ruth and her sons appeared on screen, because I know that's what they are going for. However, I felt that the process they used felt more exploitative than most. It shows in a scene before Meg's torture, where Ruth punishes Susan by dropping her pants and spanking her with a toilet bowl cleaner. We only see a view from below the bed, where Susan lies, but to see her braces fall to the ground as each slap is heard just felt sickening. The slow torture of Meg was very unpleasant to watch, and just went to a level so far it became exploitative. I know this really happened, but it didn't need to go to that level to show the point they needed to make. The director did state that the kids weren't there for explicit scenes but they were all there for Meg's first scene at the basement.

Blythe Auffarth undeniably gave a brave performance as Meg, giving one of the most gut wrenching performances I've seen in a film. It is her suffering that sells the film and she succeeds admirably. Not every actress would do this role, and she should be applauded. Blanche Baker is such an evil (BEEP) as Ruth that she just made my stomach churn at her presence. Her sons were all played well as spoiled brats enjoying the evil acts they are doing, showing that children can prove to be as cruel as adults. These kids make Stewie from FAMILY GUY look like Opie Taylor. William Atherton is good as the adult David, but his scenes feel out of place and don't really provide any resolution. I've always liked Atherton as an actor, and I wish he had more to do. Some of the reviewers here along with my friends at Amazon had stated that "The Girl Next Door" is the most shocking for 07' and probably for the decade which I too agree upon. It's well directed, brilliantly acted (by some), and well written, but overall it's a film not made for the right reasons, and made to exploit your anger at the shocking elements of the film rather than bring this harrowing subject matter to the attention it deserves. They say the book is better then the movie, sorry I doubt I'll ever pick that up.

Why make a movie about the death of poor Sylvia Likens? It's a question this movie doesn't have a good answer for.

The 'true story' on which this movie is based has been described as the worst crime in Indiana history: a teenage girl tortured to death by her foster family over several agonising months. It's a story out of which nothing good can be brought - no righteous steps taken by anyone to redeem some hope for human nature, no proper justice served, not even any lessons to learn except that people are capable of horrific actions, which we all already know. The deceased has family still alive - who complained about AN AMERICAN CRIME, the other recent movie based on the murder, "No one ever even asked us about it. It's their gain, our pain." This happened to a real person: if you're going to take her story and make it into fiction, you'd better have a pretty good reason for it.

The makers of the movie haven't found a good enough reason. It's compentently done in terms of suspense, but for such a story you need more than competence to justify yourself. And the changes to fact its makers have chosen are tasteless at best, shameful at worst: while Sylvia Likens's death has been called a 'sexless sex crime' - she was frequently accused (probably falsely) of being promiscuous and kicked brutally in the crotch, but never raped - this movie throws in all sorts of added sexual spice for no reason. Uncalled for nudity and molestation abound; there are graphic moments that wouldn't look out of place in a sadomasochist skin flick - and would be a whole lot less distasteful performed by consenting adults making honest pornographic fantasy than by actors playing underage characters appropriating a real death. Sexual fascination is written as the main motivation of the vicious teens, but the camera shares too much of that fascination; when you get a rewritten, sexed-up version of a real horror, you have to wonder what the creators thought they were playing at. In the end, it feels prurient and sticky rather than brave or insightful.

At the same time, the background of the murderers is rewritten in a way that actually obscures any chance one might have of understanding how such a terrible thing could happen, which is as close to a justification for making the movie as you'll probably get. Where real-life murderous matriarch Gertrude Banizewski scraped along well below the poverty line in grim conditions, living a life where the false accusations thrown at poor Sylvia (eating more than her share, stealing, not keeping clean, being sexually disreputable) reflected the struggles and worries of her own life, fictional Auntie Ruth is a formerly wealthy beauty, venting the spite of an abandoned woman on her pretty young charge. The theme of projection, of murder as scapegoating, is there, but in a way that shows no interest in the actual circumstances. That would be fine if the writers were prepared to abandon the 'based on a true story' gimmick and move far enough into invention to show some respect for the dead, but THE GIRL NEXT DOOR tries to have it both ways: it claims 'true story' status and then shrugs off any interest in the actual truth. You shouldn't do that. Certainly not with a story this tragic.

We're looking at the story of a girl murdered in reality by a woman and a group of boys and girls - presented by a male director handling a script by two male screenwriters adapting a book by a male novelist: no women in any of the key creative roles. It's not entirely surprising, then, that what we get is much more a boys' story - but that's totally inappropriate for the material. A story about a girl killed under the orders of a woman cannot be told by people who have such difficulty conceiving of a plot that doesn't somehow put boys at the centre of it, who don't even seem to understand how to tell the story without being more interested in the male witnesses than the female participants.

So for all the film's slickness, there's an underlying ham-handedness in its approach to female characters that gets worse and worse. The excessive sexual fascination feels like a problem with the writers and director as much as with the protagonist: 'Meg', the victim, dies after rape and genital mutilation as if a girl can survive anything except the loss of her clitoris. Ruth, while well acted and fairly well scripted, is ultimately more of a fairytale wicked stepmother than a realistic character. But worst of all is the way it shifts the focus from decent grief for the girl to spurious forgiveness for the boy. Our young protagonist makes a few limp efforts to help Meg, none of them brilliantly committed, leaving Meg to absolve him as her dying act - 'It's what you do last that counts,' she says, shortly before dying of abuse he's spent weeks failing to tell anyone about. Meg is almost rescued by an implausibly concerned male cop, almost saved by a falsified young sympathiser, even though one of the horrors of Sylvia Likens's death is that the whole community did nothing, and it's perfectly possible that it was the absence of anyone protesting that allowed things to go so terribly far. In the end, the film can't bear to let go of a belief in male-as-rescuer, and settles on the idea of male as failed rescuer who still deserves credit.

Meg finally disappears from the movie as the now-adult hero walks through a beautiful landscape reflecting on what he's learned. He Never Was The Same After That Summer, clearly, and it feels like the movie thinks that this, rather than Meg's death, is the final point. What matters is not what happens to girls, but what boys feel about it.

In FROM HELL, Alan Moore speculates that the final motivation of Ripperology is to participate in the crime. This movie, with its added molestations and false would-be heroism, imposes sexual and rescuer fantasies on something real, participating to the point that it finally shoves the victim out of the way. It's not badly made, but the makers could have found a better use for their abilities than this sexed-up, classed-up, self-flattering misuse of a real death. I feel like I should apologise to the family for having watched it at all.

This film was probably one of the most disturbing films I've seen so far it was quite powerful and was a very intense and shocking drama/thriller film that was based on a horrific and true life story. The Girl Next Door was quite difficult to watch at times cause it was so realistic and I'm not talking about gore or anything like that but the way it was shot, it was brilliant with some very nice and bright scenes during the beginning where the kids are playing outside however during the second half the film becomes so dark and twisted not to mention sad and depressing that you'll feel sorry for this poor girl who gets tortured, this was definitely not a mainstream film so if you want something like that then forget it. The film was based on a true story that took place in the 50's and was also based on Jack Ketchum's book, the film is about a young teenage girl called Meg she lives together with her aunt Ruth, her younger sister and her aunt's two sons since her parents recently died in a car accident however this situation is not as easy as it looks since Ruth turns out to be an abusive and deranged woman that has a few problems she also has an intense hatred for young women, she starts punishing the two girls sometimes for no reason at all and starts insulting them in front of the kids but then things become increasingly worse. She soon ties up Meg in the basement where she tortures her together with her two sons and their friends in all kinds of unspeakable ways and this goes on for days until a young boy called David who was Meg's good friend before this terrible incident and who hasn't participated in the torture and beatings tries to find the strength to tell somebody of whats going on in the basement before its too late, by the end of the film I definitely felt like a nervous wreck and the ending was very sad and emotional. The Girl Next Door had some brutal scenes in it but it wasn't exploitive or look like a trashy horror flick in fact it was the opposite, it was a nicely made independent drama film that had some superb acting and a very engrossing plot that kept me interested through out the film and the director was very talented however I cannot recommend this film to people who are easily offended but if you have a strong stomach and like watching controversial and powerful drama films then you should definitely check this out.

WARNING, contains spoilers.

Who is worse; the abuser who uses their position of power to torture and maim innocent people, or the person who sits idly by and allows the abuse to continue?

How can I possibly review a movie like The Girl Next Door? I've been sitting in front of my computer screen for the last thirty minutes, knowing that I have to write something about this film but unable to do so. How can I write about the shocking nature of this film, about the brutality of human nature, the sickening imagery of a young and innocent girl forced to suffer and die to appease the demons of an insane woman? I know not the words needed to describe this film, but I will do my best none the less.

Let in 1958 in suburban America, The Girl Next Door tells the story of two newly orphaned girls, Meig and Susan (who is afflicted with polio and uses leg braces to walk) who are sent to live with their Aunt Ruth after their parents are killed in an accident. David, a young boy who lives in the house next door, takes an immediate liking to her and is thrilled to learn that he'll be able to see her every day. If one is unfamiliar with the themes of this film when they start watching it, you might mistake it at first for something along the lines of My Dog Skip, a coming of age story set in the 50's about a boy and his friends discovering all life has to offer. The contrast between the opening ten to twenty minutes and the rest of the film is probably the most powerful aspect of the film. The children go from stealing dirty magazines from their parents and thinking fondly about what it might be like to see a real woman, the next they are torturing and raping a young girl who has done nothing to deserve their hatred and scorn.

From the very beginning it is clear that Aunt Ruth has a strange dislike for these two girls. It begins simple enough with Ruth verbally abusing Meig and her sister for being too "lady like" and calling her a whore for making an oil painting for David, but quickly evolves into something far more sinister. David, as a close friend to Ruth's sons, has ample access to the house and witnesses first hand the brutality of Ruth when she hangs Meig by her arms from the ceiling and leaves her there to suffer all night.

There are many themes that are worth looking at in this film. One is the sense of helplessness that David feels when all the adults he knows have either turned a blind eye to the abuse, want only to mind their own business, or are active participants of the torture. David seems to be the only person in the film that knows exactly what is happening and knows it's wrong, and yet does nothing to stop it. I do not want to excuse his actions at all; after all how long can someone ignore the actions of evil without turning into a monster themselves? But it isn't hard to understand why he allowed the abuse to continue; in his mind there was nothing he could have done. For children, especially those of his age (thirteen) adults represent authority, to be respected and obeyed. But even when Ruth's actions become too much for him to ignore, his parents either ignore him or tell him to mind his own business, and the police don't take his warning seriously. Peer pressure also is a major factor in how David decides to act. His best friends not only know about what is going on, but enthusiastically take part in it as well. There are few things more disturbing then a group of young children, ages eight to fourteen, boys and girls, attentively watching the oldest amongst them rape and cut a defenseless girl while sipping on a bottle of root beer. Even the youngest amongst them would like nothing more then to cut Meig with a knife to mark her as the "whore" Ruth believes she is. These children are David's best friends, kids he's known forever and grew up with. How can he turn on them?

But as I said before, I don't want to excuse David's actions. If fact many times I found myself pleading with David to do something, anything, to make it stop. "You know what's right David" I'd find myself saying, "you have to do something, and you know it." Regardless of the peer pressure, regardless of his authority figures refusal to intervene, David is still the only person in the film with a sense of right wrong; it is his responsibility to do something.

This is not a film for everyone. Although most of the abuse is done off camera and is implied rather then shown, the graphic nature of this film is truly horrifying. I could barely finish this film, and I normally have a very strong stomach. Evil is hard to confront, most people would rather turn their backs and pretend it doesn't exist, so when it is presented in such clear and unmistakable terms, such as in this film, its devastating to its viewers. The Girl Next Door is not a snuff film; it is a dark and unforgiving look into the dark side of American suburbia. Watch at your own risk.

Replay value; low.