The Girl Next Door

This had the feel of a made for TV movie from the 1980's. It starts slowly but you gradually get a sense of dread at what will happen next. Unfortunately even if you are prepared for what will happen it is still pretty shocking.

The acting is generally pretty low rate though the two main young actors Blythe Auffarth as Meg and Daniel Manche as David are both excellent.

This is not a film to enjoy unless you are some kind of sick sadist. It is grim and undeniably hard to watch and the fact it is based on a true story makes it even more shocking and it's a sad fact that things like this went on and still go on.

You may ask why make a film like this. Well in my mind if these things are swept under the carpet then nothing changes. If films like this make even one person speak up about the abuse they have suffered in silence then that's a good thing.

I didn't enjoy watching the film but it is well done and has an important message that you should never keep quiet when you know something is wrong.

I was presented with this movie on the Chiller station. I was expecting Freddy Kruger-like horror. This was not that type of movie and I am upset that it was on this station even though it is one of the most horrifying movies out there. And it's based on true facts. Throughout this movie my thoughts kept going to the book "A Child Called It"--also true. I'm writing this at 4 a.m. because after watching this show, I can't sleep. Although I wouldn't have picked this show to watch, now that I have seen it I realize the importance of our world not EVER forgetting that this can and does happen. People know about it but don't want to admit it or "pry". Even though, in 2009, we'd like to believe the neighbors, CPS or the police would step in, I fear that is not the truth. This is an important movie and shouldn't be relegated to cable stations as a sensationalist movie.

I consider myself a Horror freak. I'm pretty experienced with the genre, and I don't scare or shock easily. I've "survived" Martyrs, The Inside and Murder Set Pieces. This film squeezed my soul to the point of trauma.

The entire film is one long psychological torture, leaving the audience desperate, enraged, frustrated and helpless. It's been a while since I felt the urge to scream, pick up the computer screen and bash it to pieces. That was what I wanted to do to the characters of this film (except the one protagonist of course).

If you've ever thought a person could be cruel, abusive, and plain down right evil - The Girl Next Door will teach you that you haven't seen anything yet. There's barely any blood, and still - I have never, ever been more shocked and disturbed over a film. I'm a grown man, and I had to continuously remind myself that it was just a film and not real. Watching this makes you wanna curl inside yourself and cry like a child, or scream and go on a rampage.

This film is a proof that immense implication of violence always leaves a harder mark than graphic violence and gore. The script, the acting, the screenplay... all put together create a sick and traumatizing experience. The fact that this is based on a true story and real events - makes it even more shocking. Seriously, I need a hug right now.

I will never recommend this film to anyone, except people who have emotional problems, feel numb and unable to experience emotions. This film would make a dead body cry. One might be able to appreciate it as a film, but not enjoy it. I really hope there's a hell dark enough with sadistic enough eternal torture for those who committed the acts portrayed here.

First time I've rated a film 10.

Meg Loughlin's parents are dead, causing her and her sister to live with their aunt Ruth. Ruth is not like the other parents: she allows the neighborhood children to smoke and drink, and has an intense dislike for Meg -- for no real reason. After telling the police about mistreatment, Meg's punishment becomes more and more severe.

First, let me say that Blythe Auffarth (who plays Meg Loughlin) is an amazing actress. Some of the scenes in this film are truly awful -- not acted awful, mind you, but are just visually repellent. Most actresses would say no to the torture, rape and beatings contained in this film. And you cannot blame them. But Auffarth accepts the role and does an amazing job of being the normal "girl next door".

While watching this film, I told myself I had finally found the spiritual successor to "Last House on the Left" and my opinion remains the same. Like "Last House", this film is scary because of its realism. The events could actually happen to the victim, it's not just a psycho with an ax (which, while possible, is more fantasy than anything). Perhaps this film even trumps "Last House" in a way because the events really did happen, and actually happened worse than depicted here. The real girl, for example, also had to consume human waste, which is not shown here.

Making the film even more powerful is that we are shown the events from the point of view of the neighbor boy, who has a crush on Meg (despite being a few years younger). We watch them meet, become friends and then as events spin more and more out of control we see how completely helpless the boy is. While the boy is only mildly harmed in the film, it's an emotional roller coaster to be put in his shoes knowing everything that is happening and having nothing available to remedy it. The suffering he feels vicariously, we also feel vicariously. It's a pain train.

I cannot recommend this film for the squeamish. I was very uneasy watching it, making this film a member of a very exclusive list (with such others as "Kids"). Even those who enjoy seeing a film of slaughter (and sometimes I do) will be shocked in some way by this one. It's not your Jason or Freddy film, it's your sister or girlfriend really being kidnapped and there's nothing you can do about it. And yes, this really did happen and it can happen again.

I'd read that The Girl Next Door was harsh viewing, and was fully expecting a film that delivered a barrage of explicit on-screen violence. What I got wasn't nearly as graphic as I had imagined, but thanks to its 'based on a true story' subject matter and impeccable performances all round, the film proved to be as soul-crushing, demoralising, utterly nasty, and incredibly sad as can be.

Blythe Auffarth plays teenager Meg Loughlin, survivor of a terrible car crash that claimed the lives of her parents and which left her younger sister Susan (Madeline Taylor) seriously disabled. When the sisters are sent to live with their cousins in the country, they are subjected to mental and physical torture at the hands of their bitter and twisted Aunt Ruth (a thoroughly chilling performance from Blanche Baker), who encourages her sons and their friends to join in with the abuse. David (Daniel Manche), the boy next door who has befriended the older sister, is appalled by what he witnesses, but is unable to prevent poor Meg from being beaten, branded, raped and mutilated.

A totally harrowing experience designed to leave you feeling numb inside, this is far from what could be described as an enjoyable film, but as a study of just how corrupt and evil people can be to a fellow human being, there are few that are more effective. Kudos to all involved in making such a powerful ode to the sickness inherent in mankind.