The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Okay bitches, it's October and you know what that means: I'm going to watch a shitload of horror movies. I know I already usually watch an assload of them, but I am upgrading this month to a shitload. Shitload > assload. I'm trying to think of a catchy name for it. I thought up Shocktober Fest but then I realized that I only thought of it because it already exists and is taken. So let me know if you think of anything.

This one is from the 70's, it's a little strange, and it stars a young Jodie Foster as a girl who gets a bag full of black wool.... no, wait. That's not right. She plays a girl who's lives alone in her house after her father's death, and tries to keep it a secret from the outside world. Some of the townspeople are starting to become suspicious, including a pedophile who begins stalking her. Also, she has some corpses stashed in her basement, although that's just a misunderstanding.

Like I said, it's a weird one, but also a pretty good one. It feels a bit like Wait Until Dark meets Home Alone. Most of it takes place in the living room of the girl's house, so it also feels a bit like a stage play at times, with lots of entrances and exits from the supporting characters. It's not exactly a believable story, but it holds your interest and I thought only really crossed the line one time with a bit involving a character, a teenager, wearing heavy prosthetics to pretend to be an old man. That strained credibility a bit too much for me, but otherwise this was an engrossing and somewhat suspenseful story, with a lot of strong performances. It's a unique mix of coming of age comedy/drama and horror/thriller, by turns charming and creepy. Definitely a good way to start the month.