The Girl Next Door (2007)
Actors:
David Auffarth (actor),
Andy Bennett (actor),
Leon Blot (actor),
Kevin Carroll (actor),
Kevin Chamberlin (actor),
Rory Douglas (actor),
Daniel Farrands (actor),
Dean Faulkenberry (actor),
David Hefferan (actor),
Gerard Houarner (actor),
Benjamin Ross Kaplan (actor),
Jack Ketchum (actor),
George Kloak (actor),
Benjamin Laddin (actor),
William Atherton (actor),
Plot: Loosely based on the true life events surrounding the torture Sylvia Likens faced during her stay with her aunt and her death, this movie is an adaptation Jack Ketchum's 1989 novel of the same name. Story begins with a road accident witnessed by David Moran which sets his mind into a fierce reflection of his not so good childhood memories of Meg and how they first met in 1958. After the death of their parents in a car accident, Meg and her crippled sister, Susan come to stay with their aunt, Ruth Chandler, a sadistic psychopath with their three sons, Willie, Ralphie, and Donny. Meg and her sister become an easy target and fall prey to their aunt's cruelty and her only hope is David, who happens to be her neighbor, who seems to be already captivated by her beauty. After days of mental and physical abuse from her aunt, Meg finds courage, one day to report the events to Officer Jennings. But to her disappointment, her aunt is not arrested and her life, which she thought could never get worse took a bad turn. As a punishment her aunt Ruth, her children, and their friends binds Meg in the cellar with her hands tied to the rafters. They play a bizarre game of "confession", and when Meg has nothing to confess, she is stripped naked. Rest of the story covers the various brutal and horrific tortures, Meg's seemingly unending agony, until one day things change. One day, David goes to visit Meg only to find her being raped by Willie. When he's done with her, Ruth even offers to allow David to do the same, which he refuses. But when things get bad, and Ruth decides to etch few words into Meg's stomach with a heated needle, David tries to run but is himself caught and tied up as he helplessly watches as Meg is mutilated with a blowtorch to "destroying her desire for men forever." as her aunt puts it. Next day David gets up in the cellar and finds Susan sitting beside her sister who seems to be on her deathbed. David unties himself and decides that its time to change things. He lights a fire in the cellar to catch the attention of the neighbors and when Ruth enter the cellar he beats her to death using Susan's crutches. And to their luck Officer Jennings arrives to help them out. The rather painful and chaotic memory ends with David retrieving Meg's mother's ring from Ruth, and giving it to her before she finally succumbs to its wounds. Though these memories have marred his life and engraved his soul with such sadness, that not even time cure, the only thing that keeps David going on are those beautiful words that Meg taught him, "It's what you do last that really counts."
Keywords: 1950s, abuse, abusive-aunt, adult-actress-playing-teenage-girl, america, americana, amorality, atrocity, aunt-niece-relationship, bare-breasts
Genres:
Crime,
Drama,
Horror,
Thriller,
Taglines: In this town murder became the neighborhood game Inspired By Actual Events
Quotes:
[first lines]::Charlie Franklin: [on David's voice mail] Hey David, it's Charlie Franklin calling to say Happy Birthday. Sorry I couldn't get those tickets, man. I know you were counting on me, but my brother-in-law's in town. I'll give you a call next week, and maybe we can get together. Okay, have a good birthday. Take care.
Adult David: You think you know about pain? Talk to my second wife. When she was nineteen she got between a couple of fighting cats, and one of them went at her, climbed her like a tree, tore gashes out of her thighs and breasts and belly that you can still see today. She got thirty stitches and a fever that lasted for days. My second wife says that's pain. She doesn't know shit, that woman.
Ruth Chandler: One sound down here and I promise I'll kill the both of you. Not just punish you, kill you. Dead.
Ruth Chandler: You've probably got the clap now, but nevermind. They've got cures these days.
[last lines]::Adult David: The past catches up to you, whether you like it or not. It can be a gift or a curse if you let it. I will never forget the gift of Meg Loughlin, though I am plagued with the torment of failing again, failing somebody. But as she taught me, it's what you do last that counts.
David Moran: Now tell the truth, have you ever kissed a boy?::Denise Crocker: No, but you have.