The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)

 

I remember watching The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) on VHS way back in the early 90's. One of the things that I recall in my youth, and especially in the early 2000s (the Netflix DVD and Turner Classic Movies coming into my life), these off-beat, odd little films that are unexpected gems you never even hear of until discovering them were often just ready for re-evaluation. I fear in the age of streaming, as so much new content becomes available, the films of the past fade into the ether, never to be discovered as I did and others like me, scanning the shelves, taking a chance on some title that came and went in the 70's, sort of forgotten or at the very least escaping the attention of maybe one generation of audience. When I discovered "Black Christmas" (1974) in the early 2000's, I had never even heard of it until the film was mentioned on the IMDb Horror Message Board. There was a thread about it, and I investigated the internet on the film's information. I then rented it from Netflix during the site's powerful DVD boom. Now that streaming has been all the rage and physical media has taken a turn for the worse with only boutique labels serving as distribution of content of the 70's and 80's for those of us still yearning for the unique and obscure, I worry that films such as "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" will eventually be lost to new audiences. I feel Generation Now deserves to have that option. Maybe streaming won't totally disavow the past as the content of today becomes so overwhelmingly vast. 

I recorded "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" from MGMHD Channel in June, but I waited until the season was right for it. I remember back then how the mood and feel of the film was cold and grey, somber and overcast, rainy and melancholy. There is this darkness that just works through the entire film's running time, as if no matter how Jodie Foster's 13 year old Rynn wishes to avoid folks and live her life of solitude and keep to herself, fate seems to just invite them into her leased house. When the film opened, Rynn was overlooking the water, contemplating what she has lost, perhaps preparing for how to sustain the lease for the upcoming three years. It's a rather sad moment for a girl who has certain secrets that could result in disaster for her...but what happens after this is just as detrimental. It's hard not to recognize some sort of cosmic force working against her.

Her father, a poet from England who brought Rynn to this coastal Maine village to get away from a horror of a mother, was dying, preparing his daughter for a life after his demise. Although he decided to commit suicide, Rynn does seem as if she might be capable of living on her own, displaying a maturity and confidence few at 13 years old would have. But Martin Sheen's creepy pedophile, known in the town for his attraction to pre-teen girls, arrives before his sons to Rynn's house because its Halloween, his Frank Hallet perhaps excused of his behavior because his mother, the domineering Cora Hallet (Alexis Smith), has such a stranglehold on the community through her powerful influence. Halloween night was also Rynn's birthday, and she was to spend it by herself, having made a cake to celeberate. An Italian police officer, Ron Miglioriti (Mort Shuman, a welcome presence whenever he appears, considering how dreadful Sheen is) knows about it, driving up when Frank offers Rynn a ride home after she visits the school to determine if Cora's claims of telling the school board about her seeming absence of parental guidance at home (and lack of presence at school despite her age). Frank has the tendency to come over to Rynn's home, having considered that neither of her parents are actually available despite the claims of a poet father in his study translating Russian. Rynn and her father often discussed how to avoid suspicion, mapping out plans for the next three years of the lease before any other options needed to be considered. But with Cora insisting on talking to her father, wanting into the cellar despite Rynn's persistent resistance of allowing her in there, mysteries emerge as to what exactly is in the room behind that floor door. 

The film doesn't ever allow us into the cellar. We never actually see a body, except Cora's when she goes into the cellar despite Rynn's objections, popping up too fast, bumping a prop that results in the door smashing her head, causing a head injury that kills her. There is obviously a body in that cellar, and Rynn does allow one person to see it...a teenager near her age named Marco (Scott Jacoby), a talented magician who first befriends her and later the two fall in love. Marco gains her trust, and the two have pre-marital, adolescent sex...it is all handled matter-of-factly and nonchalantly. When they talk, it isn't really like we're watching kids. They are like two little adults. I think that is part of what makes this film so intriguing and fascinating. Granted, seeing a teen girl strip (well, it was actually her 20 year old sister, but we didn't know that unless we researched the film's history and production, which left Jodie rather uncomfortable and challenged because it was said they wanted her to appear nude!) is VERY yikes so that scene with her and Marco is just awkward, but the way it is filmed, the two teenagers are fully involved and treating their sex as if it isn't all that big a deal.

By far the most intense scene in the film, besides Cora's aggressive insertions into Rynn's house without her permission and demands she isn't really allowed to assert at the 13 year old, is Frank's intrusion on Rynn and Marco one night, just making himself at home, dropping orders (like kindling the fire in the fireplace, getting some tea, etc.), and even burning a pet hamster with a cigarette. The stench of racism that exists in both Cora (dropping "you people" at Jodie with her "type of wine") and Frank (calling Marco a Wop) is disgusting and not even particularly subtle. Even Officer Ron (Marco's uncle) admits to Rynn, who he gives a ride home, disrupting Frank's attempt to) that Cora isn't actually welcoming to "immigrants". When Marco snaps and pulls a sword from his cane (he's handicapped with a bum leg) on Frank after quite a bit of abuse (Frank trips him and throws him down), you see Frank's back down...he's not strong when physicality or a threat against him presents itself. Sheen is very good as Frank...he makes your skin crawl. He is almost always trying to work his way towards bedding the girl. There is one moment after Halloween, when Frank bursts into the house and pats Rynn on the butt, that we see his ways of pedo-behavior. He sizes up a mark, sees how that kid lives, tries on some charm, and evaluates what he could get away with. It is unsettling as it should be. What makes Rynn such a captivating character is how Foster imbues her with intellect, cleverness, survival instincts, quick-on-her-feet mental acuity. If she was an adult, Rynn could easily navigate her situation...that she's 13 years old present a problem that keeps her from managing every aspect of her life. How she escapes a seemingly no-win entrapment by Frank--the same escape used against her mother involving a "special ingredient" added to tea, orchestrated by Rynn's father without her knowledge of its "contents"--ends the film in a closing credits closeup no other film I can remember has ever applied. Foster's performance is astounding...she was brilliant at a very young age. 

The film follows not only the adolescent romance of Rynn and Marco, but when he gets pneumonia after helping her bury a body in the cold rain, and nearly dies, she loses an ally, leaving open the door for Frank, who clearly knows that his mom is dead. So it would appear Rynn is without any other options besides the "corrupted" tea. However, the irony of the scene, that Frank actually poisons himself, is quite well staged. Foster is just incredible in this entire film considering how old she was. 5/5

***I can't leave this without mentioning the music score. It can often be classical and symphonic, but there is plenty of very 70's specific score that the decade kept to itself.***

***I do wonder if a knock against the film from some will be critical of the idea that this girl could live alone, conduct herself as an adult, and offset any attention her way, because she would need groceries, and how long could she excuse the missing dad? So I could see many considering the film imperfect and illogical. Maybe I was just so impressed with how the whole film kept me in its spell, I could personally look past that and love it***