Perhaps I deserve a sound kick in the balls for admitting this, but as an avid reader and fan of the genre he writes in, I have never read a Jack Ketchum novel. Some of you may be screaming "Blasphemy!", but I have yet to pick up one of the man's works. I know that he has a legion of fans and has risen to "cult author" status, but I'm usually slow jumping on the bandwagon. I figure I'll eventually pick up and quickly devour a few of Ketchum's works in the coming months, especially now that I've watched a horrificly disturbing film based on one of his more popular novels. I'm speaking of "The Girl Next Door", a terrifying lil indie that disturbed me in ways that few films have.

The so called "torture porn" movies have pretty much ran their course over the past few years, and unfortunately some will throw "The Girl Next Door" into their catagory. But where the other films in that canon (the "Saw"s and the "Hostel"s) are excuses to shock and offend viewers (although there's nothing wrong with that!) with little-to-no moral fiber (again, nothing wrong with that either). But those are the subtle things that differientiate the "toture porn" films and "The Girl Next Door" - whether it was intentional on the filmmakers part or not, I viewed "The Girl Next Door" as a cautionary tale, a morality play, and a statement against child abuse. Still, I was sickened by some of the atrocities onscreen, the intent of the "torture porn" genre but not exclusive to it, and was overwhelmed by how powerful the movie was.

As told in a flashback by the films narrator, David (William Atherton), "The Girl Next Door" is the story of a young womans brutal treatment at the hands of a sadistic caretaker, her aunt Ruth (Blance Baker) in a 1950's era suburban neighborhood. Did you ever see "Mommy Dearest" with Faye Dunaway? Remember how badly you wanted to kick in your television screen everytime she appeared onscreen? You'll have the same reaction here with Baker's evil Aunt Ruthie. You want to reach inside the screen and choke this bitch out.....she's a menacing, hateful, sick sociopath and she gets progressively worse as the movie runs. It's a knockout performance by Miss Baker, one that could define her career. Young David (Daniel Manche) spends his free time with the neighborhood kids which include Ruth's own sadistic children. Ruth loves to have the neighborhood children over to her home, where she plies them with alcohol and shares anecdotes about life (or her version of it anyway) with them. When Ruth and Co. take in Meg Loughlin (Blythe Auffarth) and her younger sister Susan after a terrible car accident claims the lives of their parents, David begins to experience his first crush. Yeah, Meg is a little older, but she seems to genuinely like little David. But David begins to witness abuses on the girls. Ruth tells him to keep quiet about it, that it is "family matters", and David feebly agrees. As Meg begins to suffer physically, little David suffers as well - the emotional baggage and secrets he keeps inside eat at him. He wants to help, but is unable (and too afraid) to do so.

Soon Meg is kept prisoner in the basement where she is subjected to unspeakable tortures.....not the kinds you find in modern day horror films, complete with clever contraptions and the like, but realistic horrors - beatings, burnings, rape. And it is often at the hands of the neighborhood children that poor Meg receives these punishments, which makes the movie even more disturbing. David is helpless, an unwilling and unwitting witness to the atrocities, never falling under Auntie Ruth's spell like his counterparts.

"The Girl Next Door" is hard to stomach at times. It's unflinching. It's brutal. It's heartbreaking. It works on almost every level. But it is not without some flaws. Some of the acting is choppy at best. And by that I'm referencing some of the child actors. But with a cast made up of mostly children I couldn't expect them all to be little Dakota Fannings...especially since this is an indie production. But for the most part the acting works fine for the movie.

I wondered if this film would be considered too exploitative, too much like quasi-snuff for it to work, but upon a second viewing (which was as hard to stomach as the first time around) I see that it works so well because it is based in realism. Shit like this does happen! It's sad to think that children are subjected to this kind of inhumane treatment, but it is real. And for me that made "The Girl Next Door" that much more disturbing. It is not a gory film with buckets of blood and guts flying at you, but is rather subdued in the violence it shows. The mental and physical torture is enough to spark anger in the viewer so the filmmakers wisely chose not to give us a bloodbath. And the movie does evoke a strong emotional response, oh yes. It hurts you to see this beautiful young girl brutalized in this fashion....it angers you. THAT is what a movie should do.

Tautly directed by Gregory Wilson, the movie is at times beautiful. It captures the innocence of childhood as well as "Stand By Me" did 20 years ago. It also captures the fear and helplessness of youth. Overall I'd give "The Girl Next Door" a high recommendation as it is a harrowing, disturbing film that makes you actually FEEL for the characters. If all of Jack Ketchum's works are as powerful and disturbing as this, then I've truly been missing out