After the death of their parents young Meg and Susan go to stay with their aunt Ruth who turns out to be a sinister woman bent on torturing the poor girls while her sons and their friend join in. Based on a true story.
When it comes down to it I watch a lot of twisted bloody movies that really don't phase me in the least because I know they aren't feasible but this movie stood out and really grabbed me by the throat and squeezed. Why you ask? Because it's definitely possible, and child abuse is one thing that really disgusts me and makes me sick at my stomach so watching this movie really pissed me off and showed me that physical abuse doesn't always go from parents to their kids but sometimes in different regions of the family.
The movie is about a guy named David who's having a hard time coping with his every day life and when a homeless man gets hit by a car, right as he passes him on a street corner, he reflects on how his life changed since one summer of his childhood.
The movie takes us back to the summer of 1958 when young David's doing a little playing down by a creek when he is introduced to our poor little Meg. Seems Meg and her sister Susan moved in next door with their aunt Ruth and her kids because her parents were killed in a horrible wreck that ended up crippling her sister Susan and leaving her scarred. As David asks to see her scars she just laughs it off and runs away.
Back at Aunt Ruth's house her son Ralphie, AKA Woofer, is torturing a nightcrawler by tossing in into an ant bed. Anyways David walks up and asks for his brother Donnie, who's inside, so he goes in to find him. So after a little creepy basement snooping Donnie jumps out and scares David and they leave for the carnival in town where David runs into Meg. So they get on a ferris wheel and do a little cutesy flirting, as young kids do, and things seem great.
 
Next day everyone's over at Aunt Ruth's house, only this time the kids are drinking beers as Ruth talks about some pretty crass things and being rude to the girls. That's when things start to pick up. Come to find out Ruth doesn't feed the girls for days at a time and tortures Meg when she's bad, ultimately punishing Susan as well for Meg's “wrong doings”. Time goes on and she ends up getting her boys in on the torture, letting them strip her down naked and tying her up by her wrists overnight, raping her, burning and cutting her, a lot of really wicked stuff.
David is conflicted, he doesn't want them to hurt her but at the same time he's being threatened if he says anything so he keeps his mouth shut but comes in to assure her that everything will be ok and that he'll take care of her. The question is can he save her in time before something truly bad happens or is he way outnumbered and outfoxed by the family of twisted torture freaks?
When it comes down to it, in a movie about abuse nothing good comes out of it, so let me assure you there's no happy ending in this movie. Now if I tell you what happens that would spoil the ending but know that it's an ending you won't forget.
This movie is compelling, it really opens your eyes to the reality of abuse that goes unheard and unstopped. At times during the movie I found myself clinching a fist in disgust as the torture continued on Meg.
When you first turn the movie on you think your in a sappy drama movie but the pace changes in a totally opposite direction that will put you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.
The cast was solid, even the kids were great actors and actresses, though it kinda tripped me out seeing them staring at Meg's naked body and doing the sick things they end up doing to her but in the end I think everything ties together.
The Girl Next Door is definitely a movie that will make you turn your head in disgust but at the same time delivers a solid story that keeps your interest. This movie delivers a side of horror less touched, realism of a sick society. It's sad to think people can be this sick, not "horror movie loving" sick, "making life a horror movie" sick.
Not only do I recommend this movie I suggest you all watch it, I put it along side the serial killer inspired movies that twist the mind into the reality that is abuse on a child. If your not disgusted by the end of the movie and have total sympathy for poor Meg and her sister Susan then you need to open your eyes. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door
MOVIE YEAR: 2007
DIRECTOR: Gregory Wilson
WRITING CREDITS: Daniel Farrands, Philip Nutman
GENRE: Horror, Thriller
CAST: Blythe Auffarth, Daniel Manche, Blanche Baker
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 91 min
RATING: 9/10
Girl Next Door, The Website/IMDB Click here
Girl Next Door, The Trailer Click here
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