The Girl Next Door (2007 film)
| The Girl Next Door | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Gregory Wilson |
| Produced by | William M. Miller Joseph B. Mauceri Daniel Farrands Philip Nutman |
| Written by | Novel: Jack Ketchum Screenplay Daniel Farrands Philip Nutman |
| Narrated by | William Atherton |
| Starring | Blanche Baker Daniel Manche Blythe Auffarth |
| Music by | Ryan Shore |
| Cinematography | William M. Miller |
| Editing by | M.J. Fiore |
| Distributed by | Starz! |
| Release date(s) | October 3, 2007 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Girl Next Door is a 2007 horror film adaptation of the 1989 novel of the same name by Jack Ketchum.[1] The film is loosely based on true events surrounding the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens by Gertrude Baniszewski during the summer of 1965.
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[edit] Plot
The film is set in 1958 and follows the story of two adolescent girls, Meg (Blythe Auffarth) and Susan (Madeline Taylor) who, upon losing their parents in an accident, are sent to live with their Aunt Ruth (Blanche Baker), a sadistic psychopath, and their three cousins, Willie (Graham Patrick Martin), Ralphie (Austin Williams) and Donny (Benjamin Ross Kaplan).
David, a young boy living in 1950's Indiana, is neighbor to the Chandlers. When Meg arrives, he is instantly infatuated, attracted by her innocence. Aunt Ruth allows the children of the neighborhood to travel freely in and out of her house, offering them beer and cigarettes. Meg quickly becomes a target to Ruth, who belittles her, making suggestions that she is a whore, and starves her. One day David arrives at the house to find Meg's cousins tickling her. She knocks Ralphie to the floor, wanting him to back off, and runs from the room. Ruth punishes Susan for Meg's actions, as Meg's cousins hold her back. Ruth then takes the ring that Meg wears around her neck, which belonged to her mother.
A few days later, Meg stops a policeman and tells him what happened. As punishment, Ruth, her children and their friends tie Meg in the cellar with her hands over her head. They play a bizarre game of "confession," and when Meg has nothing to confess, she is stripped naked. They gag her and leave her there. That night, the boys sneak back downstairs, giving her water. They agree to loosen her bindings, but only if she lets them touch her. She refuses, but David loosens them anyway.
A while later, Meg is untied but refuses to eat, claiming that her mouth is too dry from dehydration to swallow it without choking. Ruth again punishes Susan for Meg's disobedience. The kids of the town treat her like a play thing, beating, cutting and burning her. David tries to tell his parents, but can't. Police Officer Jennings (Kevin Chamberlin) eventually arrive at the house, having had their suspicions raised after a local boy talked to them. However, they leave finding nothing. David decides that it is time for Meg to escape, and unties her, promising her he will leave her money in the forest for her to run away with.
The next day, David descends into the cellar to find Meg tied to the bed, being raped by Willie. David tries to leave but Donny stops him. Donny steps forward, wanting to rape Meg as well, but Ruth does not want him to, considering it to be incest to have sex with her so soon after his brother. Ruth instead offers Eddie or David to take a turn with her. When David declines, Ruth heats a needle and carves a message on Meg's stomach, telling her that now she will never be able to be with a man. Ruth then decides that they should make Meg 'perfect' by giving her a clitorectomy, thus "destroying her desire for men forever." At this, David runs for the door, planning to escape and tell somebody. Several of the boys chase him, stopping him on the stairs. As one holds a knife to his neck, Ruth tells the boys to tie him up and say they'll "do something about him later" and one of the boys kicks him in the groin before turning their attention back to Meg. Bound on the floor, he can only watch helplessly as Meg is mutilated with a blowtorch.
The next morning David awakes still on the cellar floor. He frees himself from his bindings, and finds Susan sitting with an unconscious Meg. Susan tells David that Meg did not escape the night that he untied her because she was caught trying to take Susan with her. Although David's plan was to come back for Susan after Meg escaped, Susan had told Meg that Ruth has been touching her on a regular basis to the extent of making her bleed, so Meg didn't want to leave her behind. Susan then tearfully insists that Meg should have just gone without her and saved herself while she could, but David tells Susan everything was going to be alright.
David is afraid that Meg won't survive much longer without help, so he lights a fire in the cellar. As the smoke rises, Ruth enters the room and is beaten to death by David with Susan's crutch. Jennings arrives, taking Susan from the room and going for help. David retrieves Meg's mother's ring from Ruth, and gives it to her before she finally dies her body finally succumbing to its wounds.
As an adult, David reflects on how his past still haunts him to his present day, though as Meg taught him, "It's what you do last that really counts."
[edit] Cast
- Daniel Manche as David Moran
- Blythe Auffarth as Meg Loughlin
- Blanche Baker as Ruth Chandler
- Madeline Taylor as Susan Loughlin
- Benjamin Ross Kaplan as Donny Chandler
- Graham Patrick Martin as Willie Chandler, Jr.
- Austin Williams as Ralphie "Woofer" Chandler
- Kevin Chamberlin as Officer Jennings
- Dean Faulkenberry as Kenny
- Gabrielle Howarth as Cheryl Robinson
- Spenser Leigh as Denise Crocker
- Grant Show as Mr. Moran
- Catherine Mary Stewart as Mrs. Moran
- Peter Stickles as EMT
- Michael Zegen as Eddie
- William Atherton as Adult David Moran
- Jennifer Alexander as Girl at concession stand
- Jack Ketchum as Carnival worker
- Mark Margolis as Bum hit by car
[edit] Differences from the novel
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- During the branding scene in the novel, the children take turns putting a letter on Meg's body.
- During the rape scene in the novel, it is Donny who is raping Meg, not Willie Jr.
- At the end of the novel when David makes his stand, he beats the children that enter the basement with Susan's crutch, and he pushes Ruth down the stairs killing her. In the movie, he beats Ruth over the head, killing her.
- At the end of the novel, David gives Meg's mother's ring to Susan.
- An intimate scene of forgiveness takes place at the end of the film between David and Meg that is present in the book. Meg tells him, "It's what you do last that really counts."
[edit] Reception
Reviews from critics were generally positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently holds a 67% "Fresh" rating. In contrast, Metacritic assigns it a 29.
Stephen King said about the movie, "The first authentically shocking American film I've seen since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer over 20 years ago. If you are easily disturbed, you should not watch this movie. If, on the other hand, you are prepared for a long look into hell, suburban style, The Girl Next Door will not disappoint. This is the dark-side-of-the-moon version of Stand By Me."[2]
[edit] Soundtrack
The music was composed by Ryan Shore.
[edit] See also
An American Crime, which leans more in the direction of a documentary telling of the Likens story was scheduled for release at roughly the same time, but not released until a Showtime premiere in mid-2008.
