The Girl Next Door Review

Written by: Hard2Kill   

I got a chance this past week to watch the movie adaptation of Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, I don't usually get to watch a whole movie in one sitting with a 9 month old crawling around the house but I got lucky on this one. I did not read any other reviews  of this film so if I say some of the same things sorry about that, I didn't want to be influenced by any other opinions as I wrote this.

I really enjoyed the book and often wondered how you could bring such a story to the screen considering the age of the characters and the subject matter.  The story of two girl that are forced to live with distant relatives after their parents die and what happens to them at the hands of  their aunt Ruth who is basically the ring leader and her three boys. I won't lay it all out for you because I think some of the impact of the film will be lost if I do. I thought it was interesting how the whole situation snowballs from an innocent game to very real torture. The kids did a great job making you care about thier characters and believe that they are capeable of such horrible things when left to their own devices or in this case egged on by an authority figure.  Some of the things that happen in this film are pretty disturbing so keep the young ones away from the t.v.

If you get this on DVD try and watch the special features because the respect and care that went into not only writing the screenplay but in it's execution by the director really makes me respect the final product even more. This is not just another torture movie trying to shock the masses, it has heart, and meaning behind it. I would definately reccommend this movie.