The Girl Next Door New movie Trailer 2007

As horror film fans we are all too familiar with various plotlines (or lack of) in the genre.  A lone female is left to her own devices, usually triumphant against the evil masculine predator.

Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door (2007) is not that traditional type of horror film.  Traditional horror with the antagonist as a mad scientist, monster or insane killer provides the viewer with a cushion from the reality of the viciousness onscreen.  The film is an adaption of Jack Ketchum’s 1989 novel of the same name.

Zombies?  Impossible
Vampires? Fun, but not real.
Psychos?  Scary, real scary, but remote.  Don’t make any bad decisions; walk alone in an alley, get into a stranger’s car.  You’ll be fine.

Now, what if you’re placed in the charge of a monster?  A human monster?

The Girl Next Door tells the harrowing story of a 14-year-old Meg  (Blythe Auffarth) and her disabled 9-year-old sister, Susan, (Madeline Taylor).  In the Summer of 1954, after their parents fatal car accident, the girl are placed in the care of their sadistic Aunt Ruth (Blanche Baker) and her three pubescent sons.  Meg is young, pretty artistic with a life full of hope and promise.  She is everything Ruth isn’t and jealousy sequesters Meg and Susan into a house of horrors.

Child abuse is the theme of the film.  After witnessing Susan’s brutal spanking by Ruth for a minor infraction.  Meg attempts to plan their escape by notifying the local beat cop; her story is met with disbelief.  Remember the narrative takes place in the 1950’s, where domestic abuses were ignored and corporal punishment were lessons in disipline for children.

When Ruth finds out the girl’s attempt, Meg is left to endure the most stomach churning offenses I’ve even seen on film.  She’s subjected to vicious mental, emotional, physical and sexual abuses including female castration.
Ruth’s evil also poisons the minds of her sons and other disenfranchised neighborhood teens who stand by watching and participating in Meg’s humiliation.

One neighborhood boy, David (Daniel Manche), who has a crush on Meg, is conflicted in his loyal to his newly abusive friends, his being taught to respect and listen to what elders tell you, and his own shameful titillation at seeing a nude, helpless female.  The character of David embodies society’s indifference to uncomfortable social realities.

The film’s subplot focuses on David’s internal conflict.  This keeps the viewer marginally separated from Meg’s abuse.  What could Meg be thinking while she’s tortured in a cold damp cellar for weeks with no one expected to rescue her?

The novel and film are based on the thru story of teenager Sylvia Likens, who in 1964 was tortured and killed by a woman who was paid to take care of her for three months.<P>

The viewer might find it difficult to watch the film without remembering a time where they might have chosen to turn away from an injustice, thought it better to not snitch.  Current events remind us of the evils inflicted on children.

If you’re a rational, empathic human being, The Girl Next Door will make you want ot get involved, jump right through the screen and become Meg’s and Susan’s savior, to stop “The Game.”


Available on NetFlix instant viewing!