MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Mina-Mina The first time I saw this movie, I was a kid of maybe 7 or 8. (I was about 2 or 3 when the movie came out). My parents were both educators, and in the summer, they ran the local summer recreation center at the school. On Fridays, they would sometimes show movies that were rented on reel-to-reel from the library and shown on film projectors. (Ah, memories! I do believe VHS was just becoming a "thing", but my dad like the old-timey sound and feel of the movie projector. But I digress!) I have NEVER forgotten this movie, and so began my lifetime love affair with Jodie Foster. OF course I own this film on DVD and it is one of my regular watchable's during the month of October when I am watching ALL things suspense, horror, and macabre. As I am currently watching this movie on a very typical, cold and rainy fall day in the Pacific NorthWest, I am once again reminded of the small details that make this movie so enjoyable. The acting is FANTASTIC. Both Jodie Foster and Charlie Sheen nailed their roles with the perfect amount of tension, suspicion, and confidence. The director knew that subtleties made that much more of an impact than over-the-top actions (Pay attention to ANY of the scenes with the Foster and Sheen.) And truly, all of the actors were very believable in their roles. I especially liked the way Foster carried herself while at the bank. Her actions were very precise and direct. (I wasn't even aware that identity fraud was a THING back in the late 70's.) The pace of the film is appropriate, and I while I always "know what's gonna' happen next", I still get caught up in the suspense and drama of it all. Good times!!!

Paul Magne Haakonsen Given this movie is from 1976 then it is still a movie that can be watched today. Why? Well, because it does have a story with solid contents, although it was unfathomably slow paced.What works out for "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" was the acting. A young Jodie Foster really carried the movie phenomenally, and she held her own against screen mammoth Martin Sheen. And speaking of Martin Sheen, then he really pulled off that sly, perverted role he was portraying, and this has to be the most sleazy role I have ever seen him in.While the story is slow paced, it was also rather predictable. You know what is going on right from the beginning, or at least it takes very little to figure it out.Just to quickly summarize the story, then it is about a 13 year old girl living in a big house, allegedly with her father, although no one has ever seen him. As the locals start to come snooping around, the girl attempts to shun them off by driving them away.If you enjoy a movie that is driven by a well-written, albeit slow paced, story, and if you enjoy a good old Classic, then "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" might be worth spending an hour and a half on.

tieman64 A forgotten masterpiece, "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" is a 1976 film by Hungarian director Nicolas Gessner. It stars Jodie Foster as Rynn Jacobs, a thirteen year old girl who lives in a secluded seaside home. Rynn's mother and father have died - to say any more would be to further spoil several key revelations - leaving the poor girl to fend for herself."Lane" drips with atmosphere. Set during Halloween, when ghouls and wizards roam the streets, Gessner creates a macabre world in which drizzle kisses shadows and menace lurks in every corner. Police, paedophiles, peeping-toms and pesky prowlers all knock on Rynn's door, each of whom threaten to stumble upon the girl's little secret: Rynn lives alone, and has been living so for quite some time.Today Jodie Foster typically plays fragile, uncertain, asexual women with the personality or demeanour of a child. Early in her career, though, Foster typically played the opposite: intelligent, resourceful, sexualised kids who were wiser than surrounding adults. Rynn is another such character. She's an adult trapped in a kid's body, forever sceptical of the stupid, lecherous grown-ups around her. More importantly, Rynn is preoccupied with protecting her autonomy. With protecting her right to live alone, on her own terms, in her own world.Whilst "Lane" celebrates Rynn's independence, and the strengths necessary to resist conformity, it also does the opposite. Rynn's unable to survive without the assistance of a kind local boy (Scott Jacoby), whose limping legs ironically counterpoint the vital support he provides the young girl. It is through this character that the film - based on a novel by Jewish author Laird Koenig - smuggles its politics. Here Rynn - an intellectual type who reads Hebrew - becomes emblematic of Jewish isolation and persecution. People knock on Rynn's doors like stormtroopers, search her basements and under her rugs, demand identification and entry, whilst Rynn clings to her identity and resists assimilation. This ethnocentrism, this strength in the face of quasi-anti-Semitic persecution, is both cherished by Koenig and critiqued, seen to be bound to feelings of smug and so unwarranted superiority. Yes Rynn knows it all, is wise and sees through lies, but even the strongest needs an outsider's helping hands. Or as historian Simon Schama once wrote: "Jewish history turns out not to be an either/or story - as in, either pure Judaism detached from its surroundings or else assimilation - but rather, for the vast majority, the adventure of living in between." Ryn learns to live in the in-between."Lane" works well as horror, drama, mystery and romance. Unfolding like a stage-play, it also has very strong melancholic qualities, thanks largely to an affective soundtrack by Christian Gaubert, and director Nicolas Gessner's simple but atmospheric visuals, which stress lonely homes, dank Maine surfaces and water-laden skies. A young Martin Sheen co-stars as Frank Hallet, a character who may or may not be a local child molester.8.9/10 – To assimilate or not to assimilate? Such was a question of inordinate importance to post-war novelists and film-makers. See "They Might be Giants", "Some Came Running", "The Gypsy Moths", "The Sandpiper", "Cool Hand Luke", "The Swimmer", "Goodbye, Columbus", "King Rat" and "A Thousand Clowns".

callanvass (Credit to acidxian)Rynn Jacobs is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives in a secluded house that she and her father have rented in a quiet seaside community. But whenever anybody from the town tries to satisfy their curiosity, Rynn's father is never around, and it seems as if the girl is all alone. Rynn's resourcefulness is put to the test as several people try to find out what she might be hiding, including the snobby landlady and her sleazy son. This was a very intriguing film. It slowly creeps up on you and manages to get under your skin. It's a great psychological thriller with many great surprises. You know something isn't right with Rynn, but Jodie Foster manages to make you care about her plight anyways. Despite that she had obvious problems, I still empathized with her. That's talent! Martin Sheen is excellent as the scumbag. I hated him for who he was. He creeped me out on several occasions with his inappropriate behavior. Scott Jacoby is entertaining as the friend Mario. I wouldn't call this a "true" horror film. It's a great movie nonetheless. It's a true gem.8/10