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The Girl Next Door (2007 film)
2007 film by Gregory M. Wilson From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door (also released as Jack Ketchum's Evil) is a 2007 American psychological horror-thriller film directed by Gregory M. Wilson and written by Daniel Farrands and Philip Nutman. It is based on Jack Ketchum's 1989 novel of the same name,[1] which was inspired by the 1965 torture and murder of Sylvia Likens.[1] The film is dedicated to Likens and dramatizes a fictionalized version of events through the perspective of a teenage boy who witnesses the escalating abuse of a girl held captive in a suburban household.
The cast includes Blanche Baker, Blythe Auffarth, William Atherton, and Grant Show. The film premiered at genre festivals in 2007 and was released direct-to-DVD in the United States. Known for its disturbing content and psychological intensity, The Girl Next Door has divided critics, with some praising its unflinching portrayal of cruelty and others criticizing its graphic violence. It has since gained a cult following and is frequently discussed in relation to true-crime-inspired horror.
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Plot
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In 2007, David Moran witnesses a man struck in a hit-and-run incident on a New York City street. As he rushes to assist the victim, he is flooded with memories of a traumatic summer in 1958, when, as a teenager, he met Meg Loughlin—his first crush—and her younger sister, Susan. The girls, recently orphaned in a car accident, are sent to live with their aunt, Ruth Chandler, and her three sons: Willie, Ralphie, and Donny.
Ruth allows her sons and their neighborhood friends, including David, to gather in her home, where she offers them beer and cigarettes and indulges their rowdy behavior. Privately, Ruth berates Meg, accusing her of promiscuity and punishing her with misogynistic lectures. After Meg strikes Ralphie for groping her, Ruth retaliates by spanking Susan while forcing Meg to watch. She later confiscates Meg's necklace—a keepsake from her late mother—as further punishment.
Meg reports the abuse to a local officer, Lyle Jennings, but he takes no action. In response, Ruth binds Meg in the basement and suspends her by the arms. The torture escalates over several days: Meg is beaten, burned, and starved, while Susan is also abused as punishment. Ruth encourages neighborhood children to participate, turning Meg's captivity into a spectacle of cruelty. David, increasingly disturbed, attempts to intervene but fails to alert any authority figures.
After Ruth brands Meg a liar, she instructs her son Willie to rape her in the basement. Ruth later carves a lewd message into Meg's stomach and burns her with a blowtorch. David loosens her restraints and urges her to escape, offering money hidden in the woods. Meg attempts to flee with Susan but is caught.
Returning to the Chandler house, David finds Meg unconscious and Susan by her side. Susan reveals that she once confided in Meg that Ruth had molested her, explaining Meg's refusal to escape alone. Determined to save them, David starts a fire in the basement. As Ruth tries to extinguish the flames, David bludgeons her to death with Susan's crutch. The remaining boys attempt to attack him but are stopped when Officer Jennings arrives and arrests them.
As Susan is taken away for her safety, David returns Meg's necklace. She uses her final moments to thank him and express her love before dying from her injuries. Back in the present, the adult David reflects on the events that shaped him, haunted by the past but holding onto Meg's final words: "It's what you do last that counts."
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Cast
- Daniel Manche as David Moran
- William Atherton as adult 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 Chandler
- Michael Nardella as Tony
- Kevin Chamberlin as Officer Lyle 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
- Michael Zegen as Eddie
Additionally, Mark Margolis appears in a brief role as the homeless man struck by a vehicle at the beginning of the film, while Peter Stickles portrays an EMT. Jack Ketchum, author of the novel on which the film is based, makes a cameo appearance as a carnival worker.
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Production
In a 2007 interview, lead actress Blythe Auffarth described the physical and emotional challenges of filming the abuse scenes, particularly those in which her character is suspended and blindfolded. "It's extremely humiliating, and it's a little bit scary being so without control," she stated. "It's scary being helpless, and it's humiliating hanging and dangling there, and it's even more petrifying to have your senses taken away from you."[2]
The film's original score was composed by Ryan Shore.
Reception
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The Girl Next Door received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, with praise for its performances and disturbing atmosphere but criticism aimed at its graphic violence and subject matter.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 67% based on 15 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10.[3] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 29 out of 100, based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[4]
The New York Times' Neil Genzlinger expressed strong disapproval, describing it as "the kind of movie that makes you wish you could rinse your brain in bleach to wash all traces of it from your memory.[5] Slant Magazine's Rob Humanick compared the film to "some demented cross between a Norman Rockwell painting and an Eli Roth film," highlighting the disturbing contrast between its suburban veneer and brutal violence.[6]
Despite the divided critical response, the film received notable praise from author Stephen King, who called it "the first authentically shocking American film I've seen since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) over 20 years ago." King added, "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 (1986)."[7]
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See also
- An American Crime: A film which leans more in the direction of a true crime portrayal of Likens's murder. This film was scheduled for release at roughly the same time, but was not released until a Showtime premiere on May 10, 2008.
References
External links
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