The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) American International/Horror-Thriller RT: 91 minutes Rated PG (language, violence, brief nudity, mature themes) Director: Nicholas Gessner Screenplay: Laird Koenig Music: Christian Gaubert Cinematography: Rene Verzier Release date: May 11, 1977 (US) Cast: Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith, Mort Shuman, Scott Jacoby. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ****
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is the first real horror movie I ever watched. I was 11 and it showed one Friday night on network TV. I remember wanting to see it when it played at the movies two years earlier and not being allowed. Knowing the parental units wouldn’t let me watch it on TV either, I never mentioned my evening viewing plans to them. I got to see it all the way through and LOVED it. I saw it “uncut” for the first time on video in ’92. It wasn’t really uncut though; a nude scene involving Foster’s character- actually a body double of legal age, Foster’s older sister Connie- was removed. The scene was subsequently re-inserted for the DVD release. I don’t see what the big deal is. If you look closely at the scene in question, you can tell it’s NOT Jodie by the brief glimpse of her face as she climbs into bed.
Foster plays Rynn Jacobs, a fiercely independent 13YO with a secret. She lives with her father, a poet, in a leased house in seaside Maine. It’s one of those big, old jobs situated in an isolated area away from the prying eyes of nosy neighbors. If anybody found out her secret, it wouldn’t be good. Without giving anything away, let’s just say her father never seems to be around, a fact that arouses the suspicion of the landlady Mrs. Hallet (Smith, The Young Philadelphians). She keeps coming around insisting on seeing the father. Rynn always has an excuse for his absence. Their encounters are contentious. Rynn taunts Mrs. Hallet about her son Frank (Sheen, Apocalypse Now), a creepy pervert with clear designs on Rynn. Everybody in town, including the local police represented by Officer Miglioriti (pianist Shuman who helped with the score), knows about Frank and his proclivities. Nothing can be done because of who his mother is.
Long story short, Mrs. Hallet dies in a fatal accident involving a cellar trap door. Any other kid would be freaked out, but not Rynn. She’s scarily calm, cool and collected; it’s almost as if she has experience with this kind of thing. She tries to deal with it herself at first, but must ultimately accept help from Mario (Jacoby, Bad Ronald), a local teen and magician afflicted with polio. That takes care of Mrs. Hallet, but not Frank. He keeps stopping by with questions and lustful intentions.
I’d have to say that The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is more moody than scary. It’s less concerned with cheap “BOO!” scenes than presenting an unusual situation involving an intelligent, disturbed child willing to do anything to keep her secret. Rynn doesn’t need or want adults meddling in her life. She does just fine on her own. Foster is the perfect choice for Rynn. The actress has always had a sense of maturity about her. Even in her Disney movies, I never thought of Foster as a kid. As Rynn, she projects sheer determination as she faces off against Mrs. Hallet in a battle of wills. The older woman tries to scare Rynn into assuming the role of obedient, compliant child only to have her efforts thwarted by a smarter opponent. What’s interesting about her character is how she lets down her guard with Mario. Her natural inclination to distrust people evaporates as he proves trustworthy. For probably the first time in her life, she makes a friend. Then she falls in love with him, another first. Could it be that Rynn wants to be a normal teenager on some minute level? It’s a complex character that can only be played by a young actress of Foster’s caliber. It’s a testament to her talent that she starred in Taxi Driver, Freaky Friday and The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane all in the same year.
Sheen is absolutely despicable as Frank, the kind of menacing creep that kills a young girl’s pet hamster to make a point. He represents one of the biggest threats to children in society. It’s even worse for a girl like Rynn with no parents around to protect her. How can she possibly defend herself against a bigger and stronger opponent? I’m sure you’d like to know, but I won’t tell. What I will say is that Sheen’s character made my skin crawl. He is truly evil in this movie. Smith is also suitably hateful as the enabling mother who can’t stand to hear a single word against her son even though she knows exactly what he is. To be succinct, she’s a bitch.
Directed by Nicholas Gessner (Someone Behind the Door) and written by Laird Koenig (Bloodline), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane was originally intended as a play which explains the staginess of a few scenes. Filmed in Montreal and Quebec, Gessner and cinematographer Rene Verzier use the locations to great effect. This thriller has atmosphere like you wouldn’t believe. The weather is suitably gray and chilly. It gives us a clear sense of Rynn’s isolation and loneliness. The haunting score by Christian Gaubert adds a lot to the story already imbued with sadness.
It’s difficult to say why The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane spoke to me so strongly as a child. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks. I didn’t have the knowledge to put into words how it affected me. I can say that it deepened my pre-existing love of cinema and gave me my first real taste of horror, a genre I would come to love over the next few years. For me, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is powerful. I highly recommend it. If you’ve never seen it, treat yourself.
