The Girl Next Door (2007) – WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie?

Last Updated on January 31, 2023

We’re getting this week started with a new episode of the WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie? video series, and this time we’re looking at the awful true crime story behind the 2007 film The Girl Next Door (watch it HERE). To find out all about the crimes that inspired the movie, check out the video embedded above.

Based on a novel by Jack Ketchum, The Girl Next Door was directed by Gregory Wilson from a screenplay by Daniel Farrands and Philip Nutman. The film has the following synopsis: A teen suffers horrible abuse at the hands of her caretaker, who also encourages the neighborhood boys to torment the girl.

Farrands is best known for writing Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, and has also directed the documentaries His Name Was Jason, Never Sleep Again, Scream: The Inside Story, and Crystal Lake Memories, as well as the films The Amityville Murders, The Haunting of Sharon Tate, The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman, and Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman.

Blythe Auffarth and Blanche Baker star alongside William Atherton, Kevin Chamberlin, Dean Faulkenberry, Gabrielle Howarth, Benjamin Ross Kaplan, Spenser Leigh, Daniel Manche, Mark Margolis, Graham Patrick Martin, Michael Nardella, Greg Northrop, Grant Show, Santo Silvestro, Catherine Mary Stewart, Madeline Taylor, Andrew van den Houten, Austin Williams, and Michael Zegen.

WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie? is sort of a spin-off from our show WTF Happened to This Horror Movie. WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie? dives into movies that were based on or “inspired by” true stories, real people, and actual historical events so we can try to separate fact from fiction.

This episode of WTF Really Happened to This Horror Movie was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

The previous episodes of this series focused on Jaws, The Exorcist, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, The Sacrament, The Conjuring 2, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Stepfather, Fire in the Sky, and Silent Night, and you can watch a couple of them below. To check out the other shows we have on the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel, head over to the channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

What do you think of The Girl Next Door? Share your thoughts on this film by leaving a comment!