The Girl Next Door [DVD]

When a film claims to have "graphic scenes" it's normally enough to get me to watch it because I'm a bit weird like that. But due to the broad spectrum of what falls under the term 'graphic' and the fact that it is based on a true story generally made me sceptical.The slow beginning and introduction of the characters and the general feel of the film made me even more sceptical about how good this film was going to be and I kinda thought I could see where it was going. I almost even gave up on the film. But oh my Zeus i'm glad I didn't!After the slow beginning, things started to ramp up a bit and things get a little bit disturbing. And I thought it might stop there and white knights would save the day. But it didn't. It progresses and progresses and things get quite rapidly more twisted until the film comes to a conclusion.This film left a massive impression on me! It's very rare that i'm still thinking about a film the day after but this was one of the few. It even prompted me to look into the story of Sylvia Likens which the film is based on. And though this is by no means an accurate portrayal, if it was, the torture scenes would probably have got the film banned.

DVD arrived well before due date,and in good condition and played with no hitches on my DVD player.I watched the film ,some say it was a bit gruesome for them,I myself had read the book before the film and reading the book to me was well written and more gruesome,I'm a horror film and book buff and the book was suggested by someone on you tube first.Though other books were suggested ,if there are other films in same genre I will buy from this seller again

It's 1958 and David is fishing for crayfish when he's interrupted by Meg Loughlin, they seem to hit it off and she has a go at catching one herself. He asks about a large scar on her arm, and she tells him that she got it from an accident that killed her parents and permanently injured her younger sister. Before she leaves, she reveals that she is staying with her aunt and cousins, who are David's next door neighbours. Her aunt is Ruth Chandler, a single woman with many children, all boys. She chainsmokes and lets her boys and a few of the local kids drink beer and pretty much do as they like. Everything seems fine at first, and apart from the odd remark from Ruth to Meg, the two girls seem to have settled in rather nicely.When Meg refuses to burn tent worms from the trees in the garden, Ruth seems to think that Meg is too much of a lady to burn them, and feels personally offended of the insinuation that she isn't a lady. When we next see Meg, she asks David to buy her a burger as she hasn't been allowed to eat for the past two days. Meg tells David that this isn't a one off, and that Ruth and her children hate her. Not long after this, David sees Ruth yelling at Meg's defenseless younger sister, Susan. When David innocently tries to pretend that Meg has done Ruth a water painting, Ruth instantly realises that she did it for David, and practically accuses Meg of being easy.A day or two later, David walks into the Chandler house to discover Meg laughing as the boys are tickling her. When one of them grabs her breast, she instinctively strikes the boy, scratching his face. Within no time at all, Ruth comes storming upstairs and Meg runs out of the room, so Ruth decides to punish Susan instead. It is from this point that the abuse moves from mental to physical, with Meg being tied up in the basement and subjected to all types of torture from Ruth, her kids and some of the local children. As the film moves along, the abuse escalates.The acting and directing is very competent, some of the acting is a little average but the main characters all do very good jobs. Blythe Auffarth and Blanche Baker are by far the most convincing as Meg and Ruth, I felt sympathy for Meg and hatred towards Ruth. Daniel Manche was the better performer out of the young boys, as David is the one that had to show several emotions where as the other boys only had to show anger and hatred. There's a few recognisable faces in the film in small roles, William Atherton plays the adult David at the beginning and end of the film. Mark Margolis plays a homeless man who gets hit by a car near the beginning, and Catherine Mary Stewart who I knew from Night Of The Comet and Weekend At Bernie's plays David's mother.The film is loosely based on the real life murder of 16 year old Sylvia Likens, by Gertrude Baniszewski, her kids and several of the children from a neighbourhood in Indiana, 1965. This film changes many of the facts. Another film called An American Crime came out in the same year starring Ellen Page and Catherine Keener, that film uses the real names and is much more factually accurate, but does that make it a better film? Well, yes it does. It may be because I saw An American Crime twice before watching The Girl Next Door, but I found the acting, directing and overall feel of An American Crime to be more realistic and disturbing. I'd heard beforehand that everything that was hinted at in An American Crime was shown in this film, but to be honest I thought the level of torture and abuse shown was similar, but the elevated acting of Page, Keener, James Franco, Bradley Whitford and others made me feel much more than this film managed to make me feel. It helps that An American Crime sticks to the actual facts of what happened, the addition of the David character made this film a little weak. I know that times were much different in the '50s to what they are now, but I refuse to believe that David wouldn't have told his parents or the police what was going on. He isn't related to Ruth or the kids that are torturing Meg, and he seems to have feelings towards her. Every kid that was involved in An American Crime and real life all participated in the abuse and no matter how bad they began to felt, telling the law would have incriminated themselves or got their mother arrested.The DVD comes with a short featurette, lasting 5-10 minutes with a few of the people involved giving interviews. There's also a trailer for the film but nothing else, not even subtitles. The picture quality is very good, it has a TV movie look to it and it works well with it being set in the '50s. The Girl Next Door is a very decent film that mixes fact with fiction. It is disturbing to a degree, and I found it uncomfortable to sit through at times. If you like this sort of film, or are familiar with the facts of the Sylvia Likens case, then the film is definitely worth getting.Some people may think that the makers of films like these are exploiting real life atrocities for their own gain, and in a way they are. But I feel it's also important for stories like this to be told, as before seeing An American Crime I had never heard of Sylvia Likens and what happened to her. I still probably wouldn't have to this day, and the more people that take the time to read about what really happened can only be a good thing.

I am a horror fan and have seen everything out there gore-wise so I'm pretty much unshockable but this film is different. It's that rare movie that doesn't resort to gore to make you feel horror, instead it portrays a horrifying true life situation that escalates with an ever increasing sense of dread. In that sense it is not a horror film but a drama which horrifies. The performances of the two leads as Meg and David are very believable and you really feel the shock and helplessness as the drama unfolds. The rest of the young performers, mostly portraying the deranged Ruth's family, have a cold and disturbing sociopathy that works really well to repulse the viewer. I don't feel it is exploitative or disturbing that a film like this is made with child actors, you have to remember that movies are put together shot by shot and created by actors who know very well that what they are doing is not real particulalry when you're surrounded by 20 people with lights and cameras, eating sandwiches and drinking. The fact is when it's put together the effect it has on the viewer is nothing like the effect it has on the actors who had work hard to make it happen and like most kids had a blast. It's very well put together and the tension builds with such subtleties as the low rumbling that creeps into the soundtrack whenever Ruth's insideous actions begin, this helps the movie do everything it can to unsettle you. In fact the feeing of dread that slowly built in me during the course of it actaully had me moaning "No no no" at the realisation of what was about to happen in the film's most shocking scene. I feel I had to knock off one star because I felt the reasons behind Ruth's family disfunction and her sickness are never really explained and because by the end of it I just felt horribly depressed. Kudos to Daniel Manche as David who emoted really well the confusion of someone out of his depth and almost paralised to act and taking upon himself a responsibility that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Not an easy watch but outstanding if you want to see something that is challenging which will effect you deeply. Recommended films with a similar theme: "Mean Creek", "Twelve And Holding", and with older teens "Bully" all highly rated on Amazon.

Excellent film.Based on a true story .A must watch

Excellent,was in mint condition excellent seller will buy from again

Traitant d'un fait divers abominable, ce film apporte un éclairage cru sur la cruauté humaine. Les 2 actrices principales (la victime et la tortionnaire) sont époustouflantes.Je ne comprends pas que ce film ai eu si peu de succès.Par contre, âmes sensibles s'abstenir, c'est un des films les plus durs que j'ai pu voir de toute ma vie.

A very disturbing storyline, especially considering it is supposed to be a true story. Not for the faint hearted. The story flows well and even though it is a reconstruction of actual events, it is believable and shocking.

Ein muss für jeden Jack Film Fan. Nur leider nicht mehr wirklich in deutsch erhältlich.Aber habe ihn doch noch bekommen.

この映画の１番の人間失格は主人公？のガキですどうしようもないバカでイライラします女の子が色々やられているのを何度も見に行くその時なぜ母親と一緒に行かない？なぜ親が目を覚まさないからといって彼女の身に起きている事を話すのを諦める？なぜ父親と話しているのに彼女の事を伝えない？警察がすぐ近くにいるのになぜ助けてと叫ばない？女の子に自分で逃げるようカミソリを渡すのではなくなぜ自分が連れて逃げない？助けるチャンスは山ほどあった、子供だから出来なかったは通用しないレベルの超馬鹿駄目人間女の子が息を引き取る時に横に添い寝してる姿を見た時には憎悪と殺意が湧いてきたクソジャリが死ねばいいものをのうのうと生きやがって！！（激怒）このゴミ人間が死んでれば星５の映画でしたこのＢＤについては英語です、タイトル画面がないので字幕もありませんもちろん無修正ですがディスクを入れたら延々と再生し続けるとゆ～、呪い？のディスクかもしれません😱日本の再生機で観れます