TheLittleGirlwholivesDowntheLane

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)

A very young Jodie Foster (14 at filming) stars as the titular little girl Rynn. From the very beginning the audience is aware that something is up because Rynn keeps telling the adults that come to her home that her father isn’t available to speak to them. Later we find out that knowing he was terminally ill he moved the both of them to a new town where nobody knew them. After setting her up in a home with enough money to keep herself going until she was an adult he takes his own life by disappearing into the ocean. But the nosy landlord keeps poking her nose in looking for the father and worse even is her creepy son that has an unhealthy attraction towards little girls. Plus there is some secret in the basement that Rynn is desperate to keep people from finding.

This is a movie that I remember seeing when I was younger because it scared the heck out of me. I don’t know if it was never seeing what was in the basement or the Martin Sheen character but this is a movie that has stuck with me for years. So when I sat down after not having seen it in almost thirty years I expected to be somewhat disappointed. I mean how often is something as good as you remember it? Well I was pleasantly surprised. The movie is an entertaining and well-paced film that grabs the audience and never lets go. While the majority of the movie takes place in one small house there is always something happening to keep the audience involved. Additionally the characters are well written and are completely believable. This is a credit to both the wonderful script and the amazingly good cast. Jodie Foster is without a doubt one of the greatest child actresses that there has ever been. The Rynn character is a tough sell that has to be both self-reliant at times and vulnerable at others for the movie to work. To think that Foster did both this film and Taxi Driver in the same year just boggles my mind. But as good as Foster is I think that Martin Sheen steals the movie. Frank Hallet, as played by Sheen, is just about the creepiest son of a bitch that I’ve ever seen on screen.

I suppose I should talk a bit about the technical stuff here. This isn’t an effects movie, and with the exception of a bit of blood on a forehead and a “stunt” hamster there isn’t anything bloody in the movie. The camera work, lighting, and sound are all very well done, but not spectacular. I get the feeling that somewhere along the line it was realized that the movie had such a strong script and cast that they didn’t need to do anything other than just shoot it. Which in the end I think served them well.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane isn’t a horror movie, or an exploitation movie, though it contains themes from both. But it is a damn fine movie and worth checking out. The term “classic” is thrown around too much for my liking, but in this case I have to agree that it fits. So I recommend everyone check out the classic, The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane.

4 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer