The Girl Next Door

The Girl Next Door

68% Liked It
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The Girl Next Door

Austin Williams, Benjamin Ross Kaplan, Blanche Baker, Blythe Auffarth, Daniel Manche

Based on the 1965 true story about Sylvia Likens was brutally tortured, raped and eventually murdered in the basement of a family member's Indiana home.

Id: 10888096

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Recent Reviews


  • December 25, 2008
    After all the hype, I couldn't help but be disappointed. But it's not all my fault. The film feels like a TV movie with f-bombs. Even the depravity feels somehow sterilized.

    The young lady playing Meg cannot be faulted, she was quite good given what little she had to work w...( read more)ith. And it was a hoot to see Blanche Baker again for the first time (for me anyways) since Sixteen Candles.

    I know the film/book was based on true events, and that knowledge helps the film to a point. Alas, it ultimately comes across more as an interesting curio rather than a compelling film. While I felt sorry for Meg, I never took her plight seriously.
  • October 29, 2008
    It made me cry. To think this happens all over and nothing is done to help those in need.
  • July 6, 2008
    A truly scary serious drama. Between the kids' acting and the timeless villainess of Ruth, this is a definite keeper. It's real, it's brutal, and it's well paced. There are a few plot holes, but that may have been lack of attention span on my part, in which case the detail was to...( read more)o subtle but some of the plot clumsiness is intentional (SPOILER: Who sent the main character that painting? is the biggest hole). I was also sickened by the forced sentimentality of the girl's death; it just ruined what could have been otherwise a hard and sickening scene. SPOILER OVER

    Overall, a great realistic depiction of derangement and child torture. The Ruth character is truly tops, and this movie needs to be seen just to experience her insanity.

    "So Fucked Up" highlight: any of Ruth's dialogue
  • April 22, 2008
    Not to be confused with the delightful rom-com of the same name this is an entirely different film. Sick, sadistic and mind numbingly horrific are just a few words to describe the acts that happen in this film but not the film itself. Gore hounds may be dissapointed by the decisi...( read more)on to keep the acts a little less graphic than say Saw or Hostel but it certainly makes for a harder hit. Based on a true story this amplifies the fact that crimes of this nature have always happened and evil really can lurk anywhere. A bit short and doesn't get to the root of certain issues, this is still a brave and brilliant film.
  • December 5, 2007
    Based on the 1965 true story about Sylvia Likens was brutally tortured, raped and eventually murdered in the basement of a family member's Indiana home. This is a real horror movie, This is not your Friday the 13th or Halloween laughable horror movie that leaves you chuckling an...( read more)d wonder how stupid people can be. This is a gut wrenching horror movie that will leave you breathless, with some scenes that are very hard to watch. The story revolves around two girls who have recently been orphaned and are sent to live with their aunt who has three young sons. She is a middle aged woman obsessed with feminine purity who sees the new arrivals as a potentially corrupting influence on the masculine world she presides over. The pacing is also remarkable- by the time Meg has been imprisoned in the basement and 'the game' has begun, we have become unwilling but necessary witnesses of a despicable crime, uncertain as to the precise point at which the line was irrevocably crossed. So many otherwise innocent children have come under Ruth's sway, observing and engaging in acts they would never normally countenance, and it doesn't even seem remarkable, merely plausible.
    The acting was great and I was glued to the movie from start to finish.
  • January 2, 2010
    based on a true story. Thats the scary part. I cant even imagine going through the torture that this girl went through.
  • January 2, 2010
    I have heard good things about this film.
    It's on my "to see" list.
  • December 28, 2009
    How can this kind of things happen????
  • December 24, 2009
    I would like to see this because it is supposed to be like An American Crime.
  • December 21, 2009
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    Based on the 1965 true story about Sylvia Likens was brutally tortured, raped and eventually murdered in the basement of a family member's Indiana home.
    Based on the Jack Ketchum's novel with the same title, which is based on the true s...( read more)tory of Sylvia Likens who was brutally tortured, raped and eventually murdered in the basement of a family member's home in Indian in 1965.
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    oh my god..how can anything like this happen? what kind of monster was Ruth? Oh my.... what an evil story.... I can't seriously believe that anyone can be so cruel towards a child.
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    Tag line:
    "In this town murder became the neighbourhood game"
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