The Girl Next Door tells the story of young Meg & Susie sent to live with their twisted, misogynistic aunt who uses her little cabal of local boys to humiliate, beat, rape and torture Meg. Based on the book by Jack Ketchum which is based on the true story of Sylvia Likens. The acts are unspeakable and go to show that real life often holds more horror than any fiction. Overall the direction is weak which is not too surprising as this is only Gregory Wilson's second film, the first being somewhat of a turd. The actors and actresses do well in spite of the poor direction with good (not great) performances by Daniel Manche, Graham Patrick Martin and Blanche Baker; Blythe Auffarth makes us feel sympathetic but most of her scenes involve her being blindfolded and gagged so she doesn't get as much to work with. The screenplay is well written and surprisingly is also by no name talent. As powerful as the subject is, I can't imagine what it would have been in the hands of a talented director, then again that would have involved a larger studio which would have undoubtedly been heavy handed with the plot and we would have ended up with some piece of trash like Captivity.
To dismiss The Girl Next Door as cheap exploitation is not fair to the film-makers who have managed to evoke genuine feeling, disgust and despair from the audience. Of all the characters in the film, little David was the most repugnant because of all the characters he understood that what was happening was wrong but begrudgingly went along until it was too late to prevent an atrocity. Nudity is sparse and mostly glancing or shadowed, none is gratuitous. Don't go in expecting gore either, the horror is in your mind and will haunt you long after the film ends. Many reviews warned of the last fifteen minutes but they are wrong, the last fifteen minutes are anticlimactic; it is the events right before the last fifteen minutes that left me squirming in my seat half turning my head, not wanting to see or even think about what was to happen.
To dismiss The Girl Next Door as cheap exploitation is not fair to the film-makers who have managed to evoke genuine feeling, disgust and despair from the audience. Of all the characters in the film, little David was the most repugnant because of all the characters he understood that what was happening was wrong but begrudgingly went along until it was too late to prevent an atrocity. Nudity is sparse and mostly glancing or shadowed, none is gratuitous. Don't go in expecting gore either, the horror is in your mind and will haunt you long after the film ends. Many reviews warned of the last fifteen minutes but they are wrong, the last fifteen minutes are anticlimactic; it is the events right before the last fifteen minutes that left me squirming in my seat half turning my head, not wanting to see or even think about what was to happen.