December 05, 2009.

Sick & Twisted.

Rating: 5
I give this film a 5 star rating not because it compares to Lawrence of Arabia, Shindler's List, or Saving Private Ryan but because it achieves what it sets out to do. That's create a sick and twisted film in which a young girl is raped and tortured in every conceiveable way. It's a film about child abuse on the extreme end of the spectrum. This film is so demented that just using children in the making of this movie should be considered child abuse!! While the camera work left much of the visual torture out nothing was left to the imagination. This movie should have been award an X rating for the nudity and graphic sexual violence.

December 24, 2008.

Not a Pleasant View.

Rating: 3
I watched this movie with a good deal of skepticism to start with. People assured me it would shock me, so I kept that in mind. I will guarantee you, upon viewing, that most everyone will likely be uncomfortable with what happens in this movie, women especially. As a female viewer, I was very edgy myself.

There is little outright gore in this movie, but the fear is generated through suspense and shock value. Essentially, this movie tells the story (a true story, though as I haven't read the book I couldn't say how true it remains), of a girl who is tortured by her disturbed Aunt and a gang of neighborhood kids. It suggests strongly that "Auntie Ruth" is resentful of young women for luring off her husband and leaving her with the children, which supposedly sets the stage for her abuse of Meg, an attractive young teenaged girl.

For those of you who enjoy psychology, this movie is rather interesting in that it clearly shows the effect of peer pressure on young, impressionable minds. When viewing the neighbor boys growing violent and outspoken in their desire to hurt Meg, egged on by Ruth, I am reminded strongly of Nazi Germany, where thousands of people were influenced by society to favor human genocide. So, the real point of this movie, in the end, is not whether or not it /could/ happen, because it has, but to be mindful to act when no one around you does. In this way, I believe this movie conveys an important message. It's up to the viewers as to whether the telling is too gruesome and disturbing for them to get anything out of it.

As for me? I probably couldn't watch it a second time, but I believe it's message is important. I suggest you try and watch it at least once, because it will surely leave a strong impression on you, good or bad.

December 15, 2008.

forget about the subject matter; horrible acting, horrible script, horrible everything.

Rating: 1
I'll start off and say that I liked the sepia overtone look of the film. The beginning scene seemed kind of intriguing. That being said, if you are going to do a movie concerning this subject matter of child abuse/molestation, then you better do it well. This is NOT a well done film. I think people are rating the subject matter over the actual DVD and acting. They had 7 years, SEVEN YEARS, to wait for this movie to come out and it seems like the directors and producers and script writers put it together in 3 months or something. Not only was the acting sucky (with exception of the Aunt Ruth), but the character's were extremely flat and one-sided as well. During the last scene, I could hardly understand the actors because they were mumbling. How the cop handled the situation seemed very implausible. It seemed like they tried to shock you (and you should be) but you were shocked solely from the subject matter and not from the way it was brought across the screen. I personally think this movie didnt bring to light the story of child abuse/molestation but used those to show how children could be used in a sexual way. If your husband or a male in your life really likes this movie and watches it a lot at night, do the world a favor and turn in their computer harddrive to the cops.

December 09, 2008.

Bloody awful.

Rating: 1
I love horror. I love gore. I love smart horror, and if not dumb horror with lots of gore. This movie is simply horrible. A difficult watch ( unless you are in to sadism and torture a la' the terrible Hostle movies), and a movie I would not recommend anyone else suffer through.

December 25, 2008.

Review for "The Girl Next Door".

Rating: 2
This movie was more like a play with very NON Professional people trying to act. Other than that, you do get the idea of what Sylvia Marie Likens had to go through.