Just when you think I’ve seen it all, reviewed it all, or at least stooped to the lowest form of entertainment, out comes this horror film that has a similar name to a 2004 comedy and knocks the hell out of my mind. The Girl Next Door is a portrayal of the worst type of crime that can be committed in modern times and is loosely based on a true story, making this more than just another slasher or torture film, it makes it unbearable at times.
The film takes us back 1958 and goes through some changes within a family gathering. A normal community is rocked by a bad situation where an aunt takes care of a couple of kids and slowly dives into abuse and chaos. The abuse gets worst and worst, starting off physical and ending up with a girl hung by her wrists in the basement, where a few neighborhood boys have their way as more torture happens.
I’ve heard and read the term “torture porn” and I hate that term, but if there were such a real term that would be used to describe this film. This movie doesn’t appear to be fake, it makes it look so real at times, that the loss of innocence is shocking and scary. To think that there are atrocities that happen in this manner and that there is a film that chronicles it in such an unnerving and real way, speaks volumes about the genre as a whole.
I had a hard time sitting through this one, but eventually was satisfied with the ending, which I won’t spoil for you. I found the film to be hard to watch, and will not watch it again, as it just doesn’t entertain like it should. There is just something wrong with the idea of torturing a young child, and this film really does break a lot of taboos in society. I don’t recommend The Girl Next Door, unless you’re a sick sick person.
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Read the Ketchum book, and it was so graphic and disturbing that there is no way it could transfer to film and not be NC-17. And from what I gather, the book wasn't as bad as the real life crime.
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