As others have noted, this film is loosely based on the story of Sylvia Likens, 16, who was tortured to death in the basement of an Indianapolis house in the summer and fall of 1965. Gertrude Baniszewski, the mentally unbalanced adult who was boarding Sylvia and her sister Jenny, 14, was eventually convicted and served 19 years in prison before being released -- despite public protest -- in 1985. She died of cancer in 1990 while living in Iowa under the name Nadine Van Fossan. Gertrude's children and some neighborhood boys were also involved in the torture and some served prison sentences of their own. One of the neighbor boys died of cancer within a few years after the murder.
There are two books written about this case -- one by Natty Bumppo and the other by Kate Millett. If you want to know about this case, read one of those books. They were written by people who treated this story with the dignity Sylvia was denied -- not exploiters like Jack Ketchum who just wanted to sell books, nor sleazoids like the people who made this movie, who just wanted to glorify the unspeakable depths to which some "humans" can sink. Blanche Baker, the only name actor in this production, ought to be jailed for agreeing to be part of this travesty, which amounts to little more than a snuff movie.
There are two books written about this case -- one by Natty Bumppo and the other by Kate Millett. If you want to know about this case, read one of those books. They were written by people who treated this story with the dignity Sylvia was denied -- not exploiters like Jack Ketchum who just wanted to sell books, nor sleazoids like the people who made this movie, who just wanted to glorify the unspeakable depths to which some "humans" can sink. Blanche Baker, the only name actor in this production, ought to be jailed for agreeing to be part of this travesty, which amounts to little more than a snuff movie.
