If I was to say the movie was as good as the book I'd be a big fat liar. It's not a bad movie by any means but it just didn't feel like it did the trick. After I finished the book, I remember thinking that it was one of the most disturbing books I've read. But after watching the movie, the first thought I had was "Meh".
As everyone probably already knows the story is based on Jack Ketchum's depressing and disturbing read by the same name, The Girl Next Door. I suppose the movie was played out in a faithful enough way, but how it felt is an entirely different story. I don't know about anyone else, but this really felt like a made-for-TV movie. And they could have easily made it so if they deleted a little nudity and took out the swear words. The acting in this flick is laughable at times, especially when you have the characters Meg and Davey alone together. Also the bully, what's his name....well, when he first entered the movie strutting along....now that was some cheesy acting. This really reminds me of how amazing the young actors were in Stand By Me. But anyways, during last 30 minutes or so the movie sticks with the disturbing nature of the book and goes from a really average movie, to an alright film. The movie moves at a pretty nice pace, but some scenes, like when Ruth is describing things to the kids, those seem a little lengthy sometimes.
I only know a couple people that have seen this as well, and they happened to love it. It's pretty obvious that the acting in this film (besides the actress who played Ruth) is amateur at best, and with a movie with nothing but acting to drive it along, I'm surprised so many people are really enjoying it as much as they say. But whatever, besides the Made-for-TV feel and the weak acting, it stayed pretty faithful enough to the book, and that's a pretty rare thing. But this is another case where the book outshines the movie by a large margin. And if you have the choice watch the movie first, because that way the likelihood of being letdown is much lower. A 6 outta 10.
As everyone probably already knows the story is based on Jack Ketchum's depressing and disturbing read by the same name, The Girl Next Door. I suppose the movie was played out in a faithful enough way, but how it felt is an entirely different story. I don't know about anyone else, but this really felt like a made-for-TV movie. And they could have easily made it so if they deleted a little nudity and took out the swear words. The acting in this flick is laughable at times, especially when you have the characters Meg and Davey alone together. Also the bully, what's his name....well, when he first entered the movie strutting along....now that was some cheesy acting. This really reminds me of how amazing the young actors were in Stand By Me. But anyways, during last 30 minutes or so the movie sticks with the disturbing nature of the book and goes from a really average movie, to an alright film. The movie moves at a pretty nice pace, but some scenes, like when Ruth is describing things to the kids, those seem a little lengthy sometimes.
I only know a couple people that have seen this as well, and they happened to love it. It's pretty obvious that the acting in this film (besides the actress who played Ruth) is amateur at best, and with a movie with nothing but acting to drive it along, I'm surprised so many people are really enjoying it as much as they say. But whatever, besides the Made-for-TV feel and the weak acting, it stayed pretty faithful enough to the book, and that's a pretty rare thing. But this is another case where the book outshines the movie by a large margin. And if you have the choice watch the movie first, because that way the likelihood of being letdown is much lower. A 6 outta 10.