La petite fille au bout du chemin

Wow, where has this little flick been? The Little Girl who Lives Down the Lane is an intriguing mystery, an intense character portrait and a dark, brooding thriller all rolled into one rather odd little package - and on a personal note, I liked it a lot! The film has gained some notoriety (although not as much as it would have if it was more seen) for the scene involving a thirteen year old Jodie Foster undressing - but that never offsets the point of the film, and besides that; it's hardly like the scene has just been thrown in to satisfy the perverts in the audience. Furthermore, the most shocking scene in the film involves a hamster with no naked teenage girl present! Anyway, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is about a young girl, living down a quiet lane with her poet father. Only nobody has ever this man, and it isn't long before nosey neighbours - such as the perverted Frank Hallet and his enquiring, power mad mother comes sniffing round, eager to upset her life. She's not quick to let them know the truth, however, and along with her boyfriend; a crippled young magician from the neighbourhood, she is forced to take steps to preserve her independence.

The most obvious theme running through the film stems from loneliness, and how being brought up on your own will ultimately leave you a different person to if things such as schools are allowed to take charge. This is interesting; as it preaches the idea of social conditioning makes up the person more than most like to admit. The film is often touted as being a horror, but this is incorrect. While the film does feature several macabre instances, and a foreboding and mysterious atmosphere that is present throughout the run time; there's very little in the way of actual horror. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is much more of a drama-come-mystery than a horror film. The film is probably most notable for it's lead performance. Jodie Foster had already impressed in 1976 with her role in Martin Scorsese's hit film, Taxi Driver - but here she is far better. Despite her young age, Foster commands the screen and despite being a child, her maturity and acting talent shine through to make this a more complete performance than most actresses manage in a lifetime.

On the whole, this film was once hard to come by; but with the new DVD currently doing the rounds, the film should be seen by everyone. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane fits snugly alongside the rest of the classics of the seventies, and the fact that it has only just resurfaced is one of cinema's biggest injustices. Highly recommended viewing!

Even though I have heard and read about this movie for over 20 years, I never actually saw it until the newly released widescreen DVD. THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE is one of the best written and well acted films I have ever seen!! Although you will most likely find this title in the "horror" section at your video store, it is a solid mystery / suspense story. I have to say I was so impressed with the intelligent screenplay that I never lost interest even for a minute. The fact that the film is rated PG should not let that sway you either. There are some dark, chilling moments and innuendo that would probably gain the film an R rating today. By the way this DVD is the European cut which has a few moments absent from most U.S. prints! Also the soundtrack contains some funky heavy bass driven music that totally reminded me of Goblin! One of my greatest pleasures in life is to discover or re-discover old movies through the magic of DVD. Thank you MGM for making this title available!

Went into this film expecting a horror flick, for that is one of its genres according to IMDb. "Horror" does not fit this movie. "Creepy", perhaps?

Anyway, wrong expectations can lead to disappointments. Luckily, this film was not. Solid picture with strong performances from Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen.

Great Suspense and Atmosphere. This movie instantly became one of my all-time favorites and is difficult to describe without giving too much away. More than most movies I can remember, reading too many comments about it's content beforehand can detract from the viewing experience (and a great one at that!) and ruin the suspense. I will try not to give too much about the film away beforehand.

First of all, I loved the production quality, atmosphere and locale. It would be a great movie to see on Halloween night for example, at least in my opinion. It really can be watched anytime however and will be just as great. The acting was high quality, all the way around but especially with Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen and the direction and score are excellent as well.

I had a problem with the plausibility of Jodie Foster's character behaving essentially as an adult. It was a little tough for me to buy into a 13 (or newly turned 14 year old) cooking gourmet meals, serving fine wines, listening to Chopin and generally acting much older than her chronological age.

Even taking into consideration the events in her life which apparently had shaped her personality, she seemed too mature for her age. If you put that concern aside however and accept it as a given premise of the movie you can sit back and enjoy the fun of trying to figure out what's going on.

And trying to figure out what's going on really *is* fun in this movie. Figuring out what's going on with her mysterious father is enough to keep you occupied in itself (if you think you've figured out what's going on with him you will find later that you probably haven't) and that's only one aspect of this complex scenario.

I hate when movies this good are not in general circulation any longer. Brian de Palma's "Sisters" and many other excellent movies also fall into this category. I can't figure out why studios can't figure out ways to continue to make them available to the public, after all...they went to the trouble to make them in the first place.

If you do get a chance to see "Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" however, jump at it. You aren't likely to be disappointed.

Rynn Jacobs is a lonely, but well equipped 13-year old girl who lives with her poet father, while keeping a dark secret in the cellar. Although whenever somebody dropped by she would tell him or her that her father was too busy to greet his or her guests, or that he was out of town. But her life in solitaire is interrupted when she gets a visit from her snoopy landlady and her perverted son who takes a real shinning to Rynn. This is when Rynn goes to any lengths to keep this lifestyle with the help from a local crippled boy Mario, to herself.

This noteworthy gem of small-scale, mystery-thriller incorporates a fascinating slow-drifting character study that has certain believability in its characterizations and manipulative suspense. The macabrely, lurid context of the film could have over-step the mark, but it keeps it mostly under-wrapped with it being more hinted, than aiming for anything really illustrative. But that in mind, it doesn't lose any of that unnerving effect that's spun out, because the confronting performances and crafty dialogues are extremely effective in underlining the disquieting horror that lurks within the film's make-up. What sweeps you along is that the script is lyrically dense and quite thoughtful, while it still generates psychological tension in certain scenes without needing to go out with a bang. There's nothing big or powerful about it, because it plays it cards close to its chest and grafts away with it's involving story and sedated handling. The compelling plot is incredibly well defined by touching on many different aspects that Foster's character encounters. These range from loneliness to her approach on life through an adult perspective and finally that of her estrange relationships with some of the town's folk. It's all about her finding her feet and living her life the way she wants to without the intrusion of others (the adults) enforcing their resolutions onto her because she's "just" a child. Life is what you make it and she's not going to play their game. It's just really hard to categorise this unique film (which, was originally intended to be a TV movie), because it goes down oh so many paths, but it's successful in gelling them together.

Jodie Foster in the lead role makes the character her own by providing a maturely astute performance as the independent girl Rynn Jacobs. Her professionalism really does take hold in this picture and she does so with great control. Martin Sheen is equally as good and believable by playing his villainous character in a very subtle way, but still able to bring a creepy and vile presence to this predator Frank. Scott Jacoby is likable as Mario; Alexis Smith is great as the intrusively stern landlady Mrs. Hallet and Mort Shuman as the caring local officer gives a moving performance. What makes these performances so great is that they have vivid characters to feed off and shape.

Since it was intended to be a TV movie it does feel and look like one, but none of that took away from the elegant looking production. You could tell it was low-key because most of the film did take place in or around Rynn's isolated house. The direction by Nicolas Gessner is carefully crafted and from the outset he paints a mysteriously brooding atmosphere. The simple layout of photography is crisp and beautifully demonstrated. While, the stirring score is quite a strange one with it's heavy handed approach, but it has some sort of a hypnotic trance because it likes to play around with the moody and quite edgy situations.

This under-appreciated find of the 70's is a surprisingly focused and innovative treat that grips you from the very opening.