Presents

Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door

How many times has this happened to you?  You somehow find yourself watching a movie that you wouldn't have picked out on your own, and, about half way through the movie, you've found that you're on the edge of your seat and you're enjoying this movie more than you would ever had guessed!  That's just what happened to me when I sat down to watch Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door.

  This has to be one of the darkest, most shocking, horrific movies that I couldn't take my eyes off of.  I liken it to Stephen King's Stand By Me...only way darker!  This is the story of Meg and her sister Susan, it seems that their parents were killing in an accident that left Susan (the younger sister) crippled, and now the two girls are living with their Aunt Ruth.  What at first appears to be a tale of the 50s, with 'Leave It To Beaver-like' parents and kids who seem on the surface to be good wholesome American kids, takes a very strange left turn!

It seems that Ruth's husband left her, and, in blaming herself, she's garnered herself a very nice little hatred of women in general.  Now, as Meg is getting a bit older and now getting attention from the little boys in the neighborhood, Ruth becomes abusive toward both Meg and her sister, but it's directed more aggressively toward Meg.  At first, it just seems that she's a bit tougher on Meg, but, as the story unfolds, we see that it's more than just a bit of verbal abuse, Ruth actively tortures Meg and Susan.  And, as the story spirals downward, Ruth's sons and the boys in the neighborhood begin to take part in torturing Meg!  And, when I say torture, you might imagine something minor, but you can think again, at one point, Meg is actually suspended from the basement ceiling and hung there for days on end...and that's the mildest thing that happens in that damned basement!  The story is really the story of David, Meg's neighbor.  David has a crush on Meg and, when Meg is being abused, David tries to tell his parents, but can't get them to believe the horrific things that the nice lady next door is being doing to her niece!  We, the viewers, join David in observing this horror that we're totally helpless to prevent, it's a very uncomfortable place to be, and you'll sit there loving every minute of it!

I'm giving Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door four out of four cigars, because it brings to mind Stand By Me, but soon leaves that path and swerves wildly down a dark, dark road, and still manages to make you glad you're in the back seat for the ride!  So, until next time, when I'll tell you about who I've got being tortured in my basement, remember that the best movies are bad movies.