Gorehounds Unite!

 In all my years of being a horror/film fan I have searched for the Holy Grail of films. My definition of this is a film that can truly manipulate my feelings and make feel something that I don't or wouldn't usually feel such as disgust or horror.

 The closest I have ever come to these feelings have been while watching a faces of death or Canniabal Holocaust that features real animal torture and brutality. While these scenes certainly brought out anger and disgust it always felt so canned and cheap....Kind of like seeing our troops slaughtered on the nightly news, you feel effected but at the same time you also feel numb to it as the violence is so far away and just doesnt have the same effect as if you knew those people personally and on another level.

 This brings us to the release of  Jack Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door"..... I had never read the book so I knew nothing of the story that was about to unfold. I read the quotes on the front cover of the DVD by stephen king that read "The first authentically shocking american film I've seen since "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer" (still my favorite film for many years now) over 20 years ago. If you are easily disturbed you should not watch this movie." and  this quote by WBAI-FM " A Haunting adaption of a pwerful novel about the darker side of america and innocence destroyed." Then finally the one that scared me the most as it is way too overused nowdays and usually means the filmmakers are trying to cover up a bad movie with the use of  the line "Inspired By Actual Events".

 So needless to say I already had reservations about the validity of this film before even popping it into my DVD player. Add in the oft used ploy of child abuse which it seemed this film was mostly going to be about and I thought for sure I was about to watch a film with no valid content in it what-so-ever besides to try and shock.

  The film begins in the mid 1950's with our young protagonist, David catching crawfish at the local river. Up walks a young and bubbly girl named Meg who along with her younger sister Susan has just moved in next door with their aunt ruth and her 2 younger sons after her parents were killed in a horrific car accident that also left her younger sister confined to leg braces and crutches.

 Aunt Ruths 2 younger sons are davids best friends and it also appears that aunt ruths house is the local hang out for all the kids as she allows them to drink beer, swear and treats them all as adults (you know the type....we all had one in our neighborhoods as well.).

 Soon a romance begins to bloom between meg and david as they hang out together and share all those special moments that young kids do with their first love. Things start to seem out of place when meg and david are at the carnival and meg asks david if he could borrow her some money for food as she isnt allowed to eat at home because aunt ruth says it will make her fat.

 As the film progresses we slowly see Aunt Ruth's mental state deteriorate as the abuse of Meg gets worse and worse and seems to become a personal vendetta in ruths mind.

 As the torture progresses Aunt Ruth begin's to allow the neighborhood children to take part in the abuse and torture of this young girl and it's here where the whole thing spirals into a major nightmare as David seems to be the only one who understands that what is being done is wrong but none of the adults will listen to him. Things only get worse from here on out so Ill stop here and let you find out for yourself when you go out and view this film.

  This my friends was that grail film we were talking about earlier as this film stirred up emotions I didnt even know I had! I went through every emotion a human can feel in the 91 minutes it took this film to reach it's conclusion.

 This was the most beautiful yet disturbing film I have ever seen, If you have a heart and a soul both will be battered and bruised by the time this film reaches it's horrific conclusion. Your heart will bleed for the children that Aunt Ruth took what noone ever has the right to take from a child and thats their innocence. In fact you the viewer will also lose a small part of your innocence when you view this film......And theres no other film out there that I believe will effect you this deeply.

 This film will effect everyone a little differently but nevertheless it WILL effect you and stick with you long after viewing it. I viewed it with another couple we know and my good friends wife had to get up and leave the room....I've also heard grownj men haven't been able to finish the film and some have broken down into tears. Every aspect of this film was done to near perfection.....

 Gregory M. Wilson (director) has managed to put together a masterpiece of a film here and manages to tackle this subject matter not by resorting to the cheap and ineffective Hostel style gore sets but by actually showing very little "Gore". This aspect is probably what makes the film that much more terrifying....although the film wasnt gore soaked it wasnt handled with kid gloves either as this film is so disturbing I can't believe it wasnt slapped with a NC-17 rating. I expect to see huge things out of Mr. Wilson and look forward to what he has in store for us in the future!

 The casting couldnt have been better on this film......Blythe Auffarth as meg is simply amazing and brings so much to the table in this film she needs to be recognized for it. Daniel Manche as david seems poised to be a major star in the near future. Blanch Baker manages to portray Ruth as probably the most Evil sadistic villanous bitches to ever grace the silver screen. You weant to hurt this woman in the most agonizing ways you could think of. What makes it worse is she plays the role so realistically that itll give you chills down your spine. I don't think that in the history of film have I ever despised a character this much....I would have loved nothing more than to just torture and kill this character(this film will take you to the deepest darkest recesses of your subconcious and  show you feelings you never had before). Never before have I seen such a cold callous and evil character portrayed in any medium before.......And to think this was a real woman and what she really did to this poor girl really happened.....It makes all the Jason's, Freddy's and Michael's seem like saints in comparison to Aunt Ruth.

 It shocks me that this film wasnt given a wider theatrical release as I'm sure the word of mouth would have spread like wildfire as Im sure it will happen on DVD as well. This film should have been a consideration for an OSCAR not only for best picture but all the other entries as well.

 I will go on record as saying that no other film has moved and disturbed me to the extent that this film has nor has a film stuck with me for so long after viewing it. I had to take a week between watching it and reviewing it as it took that long to think about it with somewhat of a clear head. This is such a dark and disturbing decent into madness that I still havent fully recovered from it. Films just don't get more powerful than this..........

 If you were abused as a child or if you are easily disturbed stay as far away as possible from this film as possible. If your looking for one of the best movies of the year then look no further than "The Girl Next Door". It's a living breathing nightmare that could be happening to the girl next door to you.....and that my friends is the scariest thing imaginable.

 With only a week before the end of the year I feel confident saying that this is my pick for the best film of 2007 and maybe longer. Do yourself a favor and go buy this film immediatly as it deserves to bee seen by everyone possible. This is what film is all about.......If you don't see this film you'll only be doing a major disservice to yourself and all the people that put their heart and souls into this project.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.thegirlnextdoorfilm.com/

Moderncine's Website:  http://www.moderncine.com/

Anchor Bay Website: http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com/

RATING:

5 Out Of 5 Severed Heads! And a Gorehounds Unite! Seal Of Approval.