The Girl Next Door (2007)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Gregory Wilson

Writers (WGA):

Daniel Farrands (screenplay) &
Philip Nutman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

In this town murder became the neighborhood game

Plot:

Based on the Jack Ketchum novel of the same name, The Girl Next Door follows the unspeakable torture and abuses committed on a teenage girl in the care of her aunt...and the boys who witness and fail to report the crime. |

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Sadism | Disturbing | Adult Actress Playing A Minor Teenage Girl | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Blythe Auffarth	...	Meg Loughlin
Daniel Manche	...	David Moran
Blanche Baker	...	Ruth Chandler
Grant Show	...	Mr. Moran
Graham Patrick Martin	...	Willie Chandler Jr.
Benjamin Ross Kaplan	...	Donny Chandler
Austin Williams	...	Ralphie 'Woofer' Chandler
William Atherton	...	Adult David
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kevin Chamberlin	...	Officer Jennings
Dean Faulkenberry	...	Kenny
Gabrielle Howarth	...	Cheryl Robinson
Spenser Leigh	...	Denise Crocker
Catherine Mary Stewart	...	Mrs. Moran
Peter Stickles	...	EMT
Madeline Taylor	...	Susan Loughlin
Michael Zegen	...	Eddie

Also Known As:

Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sadistic torture and sexual abuse, nudity, language and strong sexual dialogue - all involving children.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Germany:18 | Australia:R (2009)

Filming Locations:

Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Modernciné

Trivia:

In the backyard tent scene where the boys are looking at the Playboy magazine, they refer to 1950's actress and pinup girl Carroll Baker, the real-life mother of actress Blanche Baker, who portrays Ruth Chandler in this movie.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Megan has her shorts taken off as she's hung up in the basement, and left in her panties, she's in hipster style panties with a "multi-colored" waistband, which if as in the scene, her panties are white, cotton, circa, 1960s, there would not have been a colored waistband. It would have been white. Rarely if ever were girls' panties other than white in those days.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Charlie Franklin: [on David's voice mail] Hey David, it's Charlie Franklin calling to say Happy Birthday. Sorry I couldn't get those tickets, man. I know you were counting on me, but my brother-in-law's in town. I'll give you a call next week, and maybe we can get together. Okay, have a good birthday. Take care.

Movie Connections:

Version of An American Crime (2007)

Unflinchingly real ... a genre-redefining classic

Directed by Gregory Wilson, and shot and produced by William Miller, Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door is a movie that few who've seen it will ever forget. Black-hole dark and beyond harrowing, it's nonetheless a carefully crafted work and also extraordinarily sensitive. In fact, if it's not strictly a horror film, then one can only conclude that it's the genre's loss. Jack Ketchum's novel, like much of his work, is based on compelling real-life events. In this instance the story draws upon a 1960s case of almost unspeakable child abuse—most of that abuse committed by other children under adult supervision. Ketchum, who is extremely proud of this film adaptation, speaks openly about production company Moderncine's initial pitch to him: "Let us make this movie before Hollywood does and ruins it." To bring The Girl Next Door to the screen, Moderncine enlisted some topnotch talent, including award-winning director Gregory Wilson, who here displays a tremendous talent working with actors, and veteran writers Philip Nutman and Daniel Farrands. Still, in a period when horror movies have repeatedly pushed, and even mangled, the envelope, this one derives most of its emotional shock not from graphic content but from the realistic and courageous presentation of a long-standing cultural taboo: on-screen violence to children. Unfortunately, it's all too easy for mainstream critics to shoot down this kind of movie by terming it "exploitative" when actually it's the opposite: a tragedy that immerses the audience in the misery of the real rather than promoting escapism with comfortable, and clichéd, lessons about violence and evil. After a successful theatrical run in New York early in the fall, The Girl Next Door is now available here on DVD. I urge you to see it. Like another powerful film released in 2007, Bug, it may hit too close to home to appeal to the typical horror fan. Indeed, it has a slightly different audience in mind: human beings.