 | This articlemay incorporate text from alarge language model. It may includehallucinated information,copyright violations, claims notverified in cited sources,original research, orfictitious references. Any such material should beremoved, and content with anunencyclopedic tone should be rewritten.(September 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| The Girl Next Door | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Gregory M. Wilson |
| Screenplay by | Daniel Farrands Philip Nutman |
| Based on | The Girl Next Door byJack Ketchum |
| Produced by | William M. Miller Andrew van den Houten |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | William Atherton |
| Cinematography | William M. Miller |
| Edited by | M.J. Fiore |
| Music by | Ryan Shore |
Production companies | Modernciné Modern Girl Productions |
| Distributed by | Starz Home Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door (also released asJack Ketchum's Evil) is a 2007 Americanpsychological horror-thriller film directed by Gregory M. Wilson and written byDaniel Farrands and Philip Nutman. It is based onJack Ketchum's1989 novel of the same name,[1] which was inspired by the 1965 torture andmurder of Sylvia Likens.[1] The film is dedicated to Likens and dramatizes a fictionalized version of events through the perspective of a teenage boy who witnesses the escalating abuse of a girl held captive in a suburban household.
The cast includesBlanche Baker,Blythe Auffarth,William Atherton, andGrant Show. The film premiered at genre festivals in 2007 and was releaseddirect-to-DVD in the United States. Known for its disturbing content and psychological intensity,The Girl Next Door has divided critics, with some praising its unflinching portrayal of cruelty and others criticizing its graphic violence. It has since gained acult following and is frequently discussed in relation to true-crime-inspired horror.
In 2007, David Moran witnesses a man struck in ahit-and-run incident on aNew York City street. As he rushes to assist the victim, he is flooded with memories of a traumatic summer in 1958, when, as a teenager, he met Meg Loughlin—his first crush—and her younger sister, Susan. The girls, recently orphaned in acar accident, are sent to live with their aunt, Ruth Chandler, and her three sons: Willie, Ralphie, and Donny.
Ruth allows her sons and their neighborhood friends, including David, to gather in her home, where she offers thembeer andcigarettes and indulges their rowdy behavior. Privately, Ruth berates Meg, accusing her ofpromiscuity and punishing her with misogynistic lectures. After Meg strikes Ralphie for groping her, Ruth retaliates by spanking Susan while forcing Meg to watch. She later confiscates Meg's necklace—a keepsake from her late mother—as further punishment.
Meg reports the abuse to a local officer, Lyle Jennings, but he takes no action. In response, Ruth binds Meg in thebasement and suspends her by the arms. The torture escalates over several days: Meg is beaten, burned, and starved, while Susan is also abused as punishment. Ruth encourages neighborhood children to participate, turning Meg's captivity into a spectacle of cruelty. David, increasingly disturbed, attempts to intervene but fails to alert any authority figures.
Ruth brands Meg a liar and instructs Willie to rape her in the basement. Ruth later carves a lewd message into Meg's stomach and burns her with a blowtorch to performfemale genital mutilation. David loosens her restraints and urges her to escape, offering money hidden in the woods. Meg attempts to flee with Susan but is caught.
Returning to the Chandler house, David finds Meg unconscious and Susan by her side. Susan reveals that she once confided in Meg that Ruth had molested her, explaining Meg's refusal to escape alone. Determined to save them, David starts a fire in the basement. As Ruth tries to extinguish the flames, David bludgeons her to death with Susan's crutch. The remaining boys attempt to attack him but are stopped when Officer Jennings arrives and arrests them.
As Susan is taken away for her safety, David returns Meg's necklace. She uses her final moments to thank him and express her love before dying from her injuries. Back in the present, the adult David reflects on the events that shaped him, haunted by the past but holding onto Meg's final words: "It's what you do last that counts."
Additionally,Mark Margolis appears in a brief role as the homeless man struck by a vehicle at the beginning of the film, whilePeter Stickles portrays an EMT.Jack Ketchum, author of the novel on which the film is based, makes a cameo appearance as a carnival worker.
In a 2007 interview, lead actressBlythe Auffarth described the physical and emotional challenges of filming the abuse scenes, particularly those in which her character is suspended and blindfolded. "It's extremely humiliating, and it's a little bit scary being so without control," she stated. "It's scary being helpless, and it's humiliating hanging and dangling there, and it's even more petrifying to have your senses taken away from you."[2]
The film's original score was composed byRyan Shore.
The Girl Next Door received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, with praise for its performances and disturbing atmosphere but criticism aimed at its graphic violence and subject matter.
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 67% based on 15 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10.[3] OnMetacritic, it has a weighted average score of 29 out of 100, based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[4]
The New York Times'Neil Genzlinger expressed strong disapproval, describing it as "the kind of movie that makes you wish you could rinse your brain in bleach to wash all traces of it from your memory.[5]Slant Magazine's Rob Humanick compared the film to "some demented cross between aNorman Rockwell painting and anEli Roth film," highlighting the disturbing contrast between its suburban veneer and brutal violence.[6]
Despite the divided critical response, the film received notable praise from authorStephen King, who called it "the first authentically shocking American film I've seen sinceHenry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) over 20 years ago." King added, "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 ofStand by Me (1986)."[7]
