By Janet Phelan
Girl Next is a horror film, replete with the usual blood, dismemberment and terrifying machines to cut off your limbs. Unlike most horror films, however, Girl Next has a message.
The film, which is the brain child of Zeph Daniel, reflects the dark underside of the dual American obsession with beauty and with control. The movie brings to the fore such themes as human trafficking of women, cloning, mind control, as well as a proto-Nazi obsession with blonde, blue-eyed beauty as a form of perfection and also currency.
Lorian is snatched from a supermarket parking lot in full view of a police officer, who is gleefully photographing her abduction. She is taken to a mansion on the outskirts of town, which is run by a scientist named Heinrich who creates perfect "dolls". The dolls happen to be women, who must be altered by him to become acceptable merchandise.
Heinrich is assisted by his wife, Misha, a hermaphrodite whom he abuses and who in turn lashes out in jealousy at Lorian. Together, Heinrich and his wife apply electroshock and drugs to Lorian as well as a host of other techniques to turn her into a "doll." At one point Misha tells Lorian, "Being curious won't help you. Being obedient will." The endeavor turns increasingly violent as Lorian does not ultimately obey.
Below the surface of Girl Next lurks a dark spirituality. Heinrich sucks on a substance called Aqua Velva, which puts him in touch with murky and powerful spirits to whom he seems to be beholden. He references his life in "the program," which he mutters is now run by stupid bureaucrats. He is clearly serving unseen others in his work creating "dolls" out of living, breathing women.
Beyond the Hollywood-esque preoccupaton with sex with submissive and gorgeous women lies a dark indictment of American values and consumerism.
The matrix of control, so dramatized by this film, has been further defined through our increasingly suspect history, including the current pandemic, which was launched after Girl Next went into the can. The creation of a society of mindless and obedient dolls can be seen as symbolically relevant to the societal reaction to the current crisis, as well as many others that preceeded it--9/11, the JFK assassination, endless wars and more.
Zeph Daniel is best known as a writer for the 1989 cult classic, Society, which also featured a hidden society of rich and powerful people who preyed on others, quite literally. As one reviewer stated,
"(Society is a) strange horror/sci-fi satire on the yuppie way of life.
"Beverly Hills teen begins to suspect that there's something very wrong with his snobbish family, is he imagining it or are they... inhuman?!"
Daniel, who is both writer and the man behind the stories told in these films, is also known for the Zeph Report, a podcast which has been running now for 20 years. The Zeph Report podcast has a dedicated following as Zeph spins out his thoughts on spiritual and political life on Planet Earth.
Girl Next is the first film in a quartet, to be followed by The Quantum Devil, The Voice and Dragon Island. These films will further tackle the dark spirituality of our technologically driven society, as well as the issue of gangstalking and--yep, the End of the World.
Girl Next has already been sweeping up awards in film festivals, having received two for best feature and one each for acting and cinematography, as well as an award of excellence. It is directed by Larry Wade Carrell and is available for rent or purchase on iTunes.
Girl Next on iTunes.
Janet Phelan has been on the trail of the biological weapons agenda since the new millennium. Her book on the pandemic, At the Breaking Point of History: How Decades of US Duplicity Enabled the Pandemic, will be published in 2021 by Trine Day. Her articles on this issue have appeared in Activist Post, New Eastern Outlook, Infowars and elsewhere. Educated at Grinnell College, UC Berkeley and the University of Missouri Graduate School of Journalism, Janet "jumped ship" and since 2004 has been writing exclusively for independent media. Her articles previously appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Oui Magazine, Orange Coast Magazine, the Long Beach Press Telegram, the Santa Monica Daily Press and other publications. She is the author of the groundbreaking expose, EXILE and two books of poetry. She resides abroad. You may follow Janet on Parler here @JanetPhelan. To support her work, please go to JanetPhelan
Top image: The Movie Database
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