Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The Girl Next Door


Talk about a disturbing film. Movies like this don't generally freak me out, but for some reason this one turned my stomach in a knot. I think the main reason was because the girl being tortured was only 16 years old, and far from deserving the treatment she received. Not that anyone deserves that treatment. This was based on the murder and torture of Sylvia Likens by Indianapolis housewife Gertrude Baniszewski. There were some events that were changed here and there which is why I'd like to see the other movie An American Crime which is also based on the same story though I hear An American Crime is nowhere as brutal as The Girl Next Door. The things that happened to this poor girl are sad and sickening. It's hard for me to believe that we live in a world where people would do such things to an innocent girl. I think someone over at IMDB.com said it best when they posted "a great movie that I'll never watch again".

Stephen King Quote after seeing this film: "The first authentically shocking American film I've seen since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer over 20 years ago. If you are easily disturbed, you should not watch this movie. If, on the other hand, you are prepared for a long look into hell, suburban style, The Girl Next Door will not disappoint. This is the dark-side-of-the-moon version of Stand By Me."

On the disturbance scale it deserves a 10/10
Overall I'd rate it a 9/10

6 comments:

Repro said...

I didn't like it at all. As I said at Stormclad. There is another film that also came out in 2007. Based on the court transcripts of the case. "An American Crime"

I'm gonna check that out tomorrow.

Robert said...

What exactly didn't you like about it. Just curious to know why you didn't like it.

Repro said...

I didn't like the acting, but more the story. The way it was told. It was all just about one thing. Nothing happens except a girl being tortured. Kind of the same like the Jesus movie made by Mel Gibson. A 2 hour torture and it's over.

Say, Hostel, there is torture but there is also a bit of story around the torture.

This movie they spent no time telling the story of why the girls came to the home. Other than saying her parents were killed in a car accident or somethging. Which I don't think is the real story of what happened, anyway. I'm hoping the An American Crime movie tells it better. It did get nominated for 2 Golden Globes and is rated 7.4 at IMDB. This one is rated 7.1, although I rated it much worse.

Repro said...

Also they should of told the story of the Mother. What happened to her to put her in the mind frame that she was in. They needed to spend time on her back story and the two girls. Instead of spending 60 minutes watching a girl get tortured. They could have spent 20 minutes on that.
I think the director did a terrible job.

Robert said...

I have to agree with everything you said. Lately I'm a simple minded movie watcher...maybe I always have been.

Repro said...

I downloaded and watched the other movie about that event.
"An American Crime"

It had a back story. It spent time developing the characters.

I still didn't like it! LOL
I don't know why.

She made her shove a coke bottle up her snatch. (the real story)

The woman got life, but was released after 20 years. In 1985. She did not admit to doing any of it. Not until after she got out of prison. She got out in 1985. Died in 1990. She admitted what she had done, sometime in the last few years of her life.

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