News

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,...

Ever wonder how much a script changes between its original form and what we see on theater screens or DVD? Now, thanks to Cargo Cult Press and MODERNCINÉ's Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door: Movie Omnibus, you can see exactly what was different in Dan Farrands and Philip Nutman's screenplay versus director Gregory Wilson's cinematic version. And a whole lot more as well!

Here's what you'll find in the limited edition Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door: Movie Omnibus:

The book, which will be signed by all contributors, includes:

The original screenplay written by Daniel Farrands and Philip Nutman Introduction by Jack Ketchum Essays written by the following

* Blanch Baker (actress playing Ruth Chandler)

* Blythe Auffarth (actress playing Meg Loughlin)

* Producer Andrew van den Houten

* Director Gregory Wilson

* Score: Ryan Shore

* Producer and Cinematographer: William M. Miller

Interview with Jack Ketchum, Daniel Farrands,...

Whoever thought that the High School Musical is nearly over is dead wrong. In fact, the overly successful Disney movie is hitting the big screen soon, with the film being released in October. Now MTV is getting into the game with The American Mall, a new movie musical premiering tonight at 9pm.

Tired of the same old cheesy inspirational songs and love duets in the youthful High School Musical? Don’t give up just yet. MTV's The American Mall is an edgier, sexier version. In fact, the setting of the movie is not in high school, but—you guessed it—at a typical American mall, where the older crowd go for retail therapy and relaxation while hanging out with their friends. So what exactly separates this film from the gigantically successful High School Musical (aside from its setting)?

"We deal with more adult issues," said Blythe Auffarth, one of the movie musical's hot young stars.

MTV is looking to make a splash in the original musical arena with The American Mall.

The project, from High School Musical producers Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush, will premiere in the summer on the cable network, followed immediately by a release on DVD.

Bulgarian-born actress Nina Dobrev and Rob Mayes lead the ensemble cast of the musical, a romantic comedy-drama set at a mall that centers on high school graduate Ally (Dobrev), a singer-songwriter battling to save her mother's music store and to keep the boy she loves, Joey (Mayes), a musically gifted young janitor who fronts a garage band.

Autumn Reeser will play Ally's mean-girl adversary Madison, the spoiled and ruthless heiress to the owners of the mall who tries to shut down the music store and steal Ally's boy.

Wade Allain-Marcus, Bianca Collins, Rodney To, Neil Haskell, Brooke Lyons, David Baum, Blythe Auffarth, Yassmin Alers, Bresha Webb, Neil Haskell and Al Sapienza round out the cast of the film, which will begin shooting in late January at a mall in Provo, Utah.