The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)

[trekgeezer]

An interesting little movie starring Jodie Foster.  The film starts with 13 year old Foster making herself a birthday cake on Halloween.  A man (Martin Sheen) comes to her door and talks her into letting him in.  His motives are obviously not good as he touches her inappropriately. She finally gets him out of the house by telling him that her fathers is  upstairs in his room.

The next day the landlady barges in and starts rearranging furniture and wanting to see Fosters father (anytime some asks about him, he is conveniently not available).

We meet a few other characters, such as the local cop and Mario (the local cops nephew), who befriends Foster and becomes he accomplice.

Why is the girl alone and what's with the illusive Dad?  These are the questions that have to be answered.

A lot of folks won't like this film simply because it's slow moving, like a lot of 70's films.    My wife and I found it pretty enjoyable.


This movie was on the Reelz channel on Directv. They seem to have a big catalog of 70's films on hand. 

 

[akiratubo]

I didn't agree with the way the movie ended.  Otherwise, it's a solid little movie and worth a look.  Just don't expect a "horror" movie, per se, and you should be happy enough with it.

[The Burgomaster]

Years ago, this used to be on TV frequently.  I bought the DVD when it was released a few years ago.  Still enjoyable after all these years.

 

[lester1/2jr]

one of a number of things I've taped off thistv and yet to watch

[BTM]

Did you know?

According to what I've read, it actually started out as a stage play.  I thought that was kind of interesting.  Makes sense though, considering most of the film takes place in the same room.

Anyway, it was a good film, definitely worth a watch.  I do wonder though, about the mentality of some of the people involved with the production of it.  If you read the trivia section of the imdb, it doesn't sound like Foster had a good time of it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074806/trivia

Can't say I blame her.  And WTF, where did they get a dead hamster?? (shudders)

[voltron]

Ahhhh, I posted about this one a while back. I absolutely love this movie. A great little suspense flick that I caught on tv years ago and just recently got on dvd. Blew me away the first time I saw it and it still holds up. Seeing Rynn's (ahem) dad for the first time freaked me out.

[lester1/2jr]

akira -spoiler alert   whatever however you do it-------   +++===


the ending was awesome. she was going to kill herself rather than be raped by the guy and instead he took her drink. the camera lingered on her for the entirety of the credits. i thought it was really effective ending

[JPickettIII]

Isn't there a scene where the boyfriend climbs in the bed naked with Jodie.  I believe that she was sick or something.  I remember seeing a documentary about movies with young actresses being portrayed in a sexual way.

I remember the documentary talking about Jodie Foster doing a movie where she played a thirteen year old girl.

Later,

John

[lester1/2jr]

I don't recall that scene but I saw it on tv

[The Burgomaster]

Isn't there a scene where the boyfriend climbs in the bed naked with Jodie.  I believe that she was sick or something.  I remember seeing a documentary about movies with young actress being portrayed in a sexual way.

I remember the documentary talking about Jodie Foster doing a movie where she played a thirteen year old girl.

Later,

John

Yes, there is a scene like this (I don't remember the particulars). 

[voltron]

akira -spoiler alert   whatever however you do it-------   +++===


the ending was awesome. she was going to kill herself rather than be raped by the guy and instead he took her drink. the camera lingered on her for the entirety of the credits. i thought it was really effective ending

Funny, but I never really took the ending as Rynn was going to kill herself. I always thought she knew he would take her cup instead for some reason. Either way, I liked the ending, too.

[lester1/2jr]

well it's both. either she was going to die or he was. either way he doesn't get to rape her, so she was relaxed

[JPickettIII]

akira -spoiler alert   whatever however you do it-------   +++===


the ending was awesome. she was going to kill herself rather than be raped by the guy and instead he took her drink. the camera lingered on her for the entirety of the credits. i thought it was really effective ending

Funny, but I never really took the ending as Rynn was going to kill herself. I always thought she knew he would take her cup instead for some reason. Either way, I liked the ending, too.

Sounds so up lifting.   

John

[BTM]

Isn't there a scene where the boyfriend climbs in the bed naked with Jodie.  I believe that she was sick or something.  I remember seeing a documentary about movies with young actress being portrayed in a sexual way.

I remember the documentary talking about Jodie Foster doing a movie where she played a thirteen year old girl.

Actually, the scene is the boyfriend is in the bed sick (although why he's at her house sick instead of home, I'm not sure... get the feeling the girl wasn't the only one with absent parents) and she climbs into bed with him.  He's like, "You might catch my cold."  She replies, "I don't care." 

Again, according to IMDB trivia, the director was very insistent about Jodie doing a nude scene in the film, causing her a lot of emotional distress.  Eventually, her old sister stepped in and played body double.  I think in most versions of the film the scene is trimmed anyway.

Like I said earlier, Jodie has stated she didn't have that great of a time with that movie. 

[Flick James]

akira -spoiler alert   whatever however you do it-------   +++===


the ending was awesome. she was going to kill herself rather than be raped by the guy and instead he took her drink. the camera lingered on her for the entirety of the credits. i thought it was really effective ending

Funny, but I never really took the ending as Rynn was going to kill herself. I always thought she knew he would take her cup instead for some reason. Either way, I liked the ending, too.

Sounds so up lifting.   

John

Like about a few hundred other films from the early to mid 70's. They were dark times and the films reflected that.