Reviews

I have been waiting to see this film for over a year now because this is a case that has haunted me for years and I am very familiarized with the facts of the case. I finally got to see it's USA premiere on Showtime tonight. I was of course, like everyone else, blown away by Catherine Keener and Ellen Page's performance and was quite impressed with the caliber of talent in the entire cast. Everyone seemed to play off of each other very well and all seemed to handle the extremely difficult subject matter very maturely. There were just a few things that baffled me about the film:

Firstly, the soundtrack. Now I do understand that this was a 'period' piece set in the 1960's and that music from the 60's is appropriate but to me it is much more impactful to have no music at all, especially during some of the more hard to watch torture scenes. Some of the music did not seem to match what was going on on screen.

The other thing that baffled me was the 'dream sequence' toward the end that showed Sylvia actually escaping and reaching her parents and one of her torturers was helping her to escape. Yes I realize that this scene was added for more dramatic purposes and it was effective when it turned out to be an out-of-body experience for Sylvia but I really think they could have done without this scene and dealt more closely with the actual facts of this case.

Also, it seemed to me that the director was trying to portray Gertrude and Paula Baniszewski as almost sympathetic characters when in reality they were monstrous in their actions and merciless with their sadistic torment of this young woman. For example, Paula did hurt her hand while punching Sylvia and had to put it in a cast but in reality it did not end there because Paula used her cast to further beat Sylvia. Paula did not defend Sylvia against her mother and was in fact, in some ways, even more callous than her mother. An example of this would be the scalding baths that they gave Sylvia, which was not touched on in the film, but after these baths Paula rubbed salt into Sylvia's wounds.

Gertrude was much more active in the torture in reality and she showed absolutely no remorse or even recognition for her actions until many years later at her parole hearing when she was finally released. The only person who actually did show even the slightest bit of mercy towards Sylvia during her ordeal was Stephanie, a fact that is not touched on in the film.

I can certainly understand why the producers would choose to leave out certain specifics of the tortures that Sylvia endured because they do not feel that an audience would believe it however, if you are going to make a film like this I believe it is essential to let the viewers know the full extent of the torture she endured. Viewers need to know that after the 'church dinner' that is shown in the film Sylvia was forced to eat a hot dog with everything on it and consume her own vomit because Gertrude thought that she made a pig of herself at the picnic and NOT because she met a boy at the picnic as the film portrays.

Certain specifics of the Baniszewski's everyday life were also omitted. I believe these are important elements to the case. If you are going to try to portray Gertrude as some sort of desperate housewife who was stricken by poverty and caved in to her own inner fury than the viewers need to see that the Baniszewski household had no phone, no stove (just a hot plate), and that it's kitchen drawers had only 1 spoon. Also, a vital example of just what sort of person Gertrude is would be to let the viewers know that, while the children slept on dirty, urine soaked mattresses (and there were not enough of these for all of the occupants in the home) Gertrude had a complete bedroom set in her room.

Ordinarily I would not stress these facts so heavily but the producers of this film would like to lead the viewer to believe that it is based entirely on fact and they stress that with a disclaimer at the beginning of the film and while I do realize that for dramatic purposes certain things had to be added and deleted it should not dilute the fact that a young woman was murdered in a cold, calculating, maniacal manner the likes of which had never been heard of before and that there is absolutely no room for sympathy for her torturers especially Gertrude and Paula. Regardless of these facts, I personally feel that films like this are vital viewing because they touch on subject matters that people generally do not talk about. If more people talked about them perhaps a life could have been spared here. Kudos to the director for taking on this subject matter and to Keener, Page and the rest of the cast for having the courage to take on such a horrific topic.

This is a long lost horror gem starring Sydney Lassick ("Carrie" and others) and Barbara Bach. It is sometimes difficult to locate a copy of this film but it's worth it. This film is creepy yet cheesy at the same time. It seems that 3 young newswomen (Karen, Vicky, and Jennifer) travel to the small city of Solvang, California to cover a festival when a mix-up occurs involving their hotel room and they seek refuge at the home of Earnest Keller (Lassick) and his strange wife Virginia. Vickie stays behind, feeling ill, as the other 2 are off to film their story. She is soon murdered at the house, in a VERY cheesy way by some unknown force hiding in the ventilation system (she is decapitated by the closing cover of the vent as it comes crashing down on her while she is being tugged through and into the basement). Soon Karen returns and she is murdered in an even more brutal fashion by having her face rammed through the vent cover. Jennifer is fighting with her (ex?)lover in a rather boring sub plot and when she returns home, her hosts (whom by now we have discovered are brother and sister and that whatever it is that is in the basement is their son) devise a plot to try to murder her as well. Virgina does not totally agree with Earnest's plan to murder Jennifer but she is tricked into going into the basement where she meets Junior. Here the film turns almost comic as Junior (portrayed hysterically by Stephen Furst) is a deformed, mentally deficient, manchild whose actions and motions will cause a few chuckles even though it's supposed to be scary. This is where the pace of the film picks up and the ending is well done. The actors/actresses do a terrific job with the material especially Lassick, Furst, and Bach and although it's not the most horrifying film ever made it is highly entertaining!

Positively one of the very best horror films of all time is Clive Barker's "Hellraiser". The imagery on the screen is bone chilling and will make your skin crawl, the characters he creates are absolutely terrifying and his image of what "Hell" is like will change your point of view on the subject forever. Every actor/actress in this film puts on a brilliant performance. The film centers around a man named Frank Cotton who makes a 'deal with the devil' in the film's opening sequence purchasing a mysterious Japanese puzzle box which opens the gateways to Hell. Seeking new pleasures, he solves the puzzle and is torn to pieces by the now legendary character "Pinhead" (played brilliantly by Doug Bradley) and his legion of "Cenobites" (demonic creatures from the pits of Hell). A few months later his brother Larry and his wife Julia move into Frank's deserted home along with Larry's daughter Kirsty. It is soon revealed that Julia had a sexually charged affair with Frank on her wedding night and when Larry cuts his hand open during the course of the move, the blood that seeps into the floorboards brings forth life, from a strange looking "cocoon" from Hell underneath the house,in the form of Frank. Frank is only partially alive though as he is seen as merely bones, blood and rotting flesh tissue. Julia encounters him and agrees to procure 'victims' for him in order to help make him whole again so that they may escape before the Cenabites realize that Frank has escaped their clutches. Kirsty begins to become suspicious of her stepmother's bizarre behavior and begins to investigate the situation. Soon she discovers Frank hidden in the attic, now a bloody mess of tissue, muscles, nerves and flesh but nearly complete except for the skin. Kirsty barely escapes the clutches of Julia and Frank but manages to steal the puzzle box. She solves it and summons the Cenobites, striking a bargain with them by promising to deliver Frank to them in exchange for sparing her own life and helping her to save her father from Julia and Frank. She is too late however as she returns to the house, only to discover that Larry has been murdered and Frank has assumed his identity and wishes to murder Kirsty and have sex with her (in that order). A strange and unusual yet powerful ending results when the Cenobites come for Frank which winds up setting the scene for the inevitable sequel (it has been said that writers had already begun work on the sequel even before filming on this one had completed). The sequel "Hellbound: Hellraiser 2" is actually very well done, fans would be well advised however to skip all of the rest of the sequels. "Hellraiser" is a highly recommended for all fans of horror and the occult...it will change your life forever! Warning: This is an extremely gory film and is NOT for the weak of heart!

Before I get into the film let me briefly surmise the actual case that this film is based on. Firstly, the actual case of Sylvia Likens was in reality much more brutal than this movie portrays. If you can try for a moment to wrap your mind around that fact than you can begin to fathom the unbelievable torture that this young woman actually endured. The actual case took place in the 1960s but for some odd reason this story is set in the 1950s this is where the confusion begins. Also, in the actual case, Sylvia was not raped nor was she forced to suffer the final indignity that the character in this movie does. That aside, this is a shockingly brutal and powerful film...yes the acting is stiff but I do believe that this was intentional in order to reflect the times. This film is a period piece and should be taken as such. When you take a look at the cast and realize the caliber of actors/actresses in this film anyone can easily see that these are not bad actors. Much of the brutality in this film is implied violence rather than in your face blood and guts. There are cut-aways during some of the more intense moments of the torture scenes but in many ways this makes things even worse! In this sense, this is genius film making. It makes the viewer believe that they have seen something much more horrific than they actually have, not to say that this makes the images seen in this film any less disturbing. A friend of mine who watched this film with me told me that he was unable to sleep for the rest of the night because of this film...and we're talking about a grown man in his late thirties! That's the sort of impact a film like this has. I am looking forward to "An American Crime" which is based on the court transcripts of the actual case and should adhere more to the facts but nonetheless "The Girl Next Door" is a film that punches you in the gut and refuses to relinquish it's grip on your senses.