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Sunday 17 August 2014

DADDY'S GIRL... As if That Term isn't Creepy Enough Already...

The only thing scarier than little girls, is little girls with closed files...


3.5 Stars

90s horror - you gotta love it. Daddy's Girl was released in 1996, and my guess is with all the excitement over the Scream series and it's rejuvenating the "who dun it" mystery, this one may have gotten lost in the shuffle. I hadn't heard of it until recently, but when I did, I couldn't pass it up.

The plot follows a young girl named Jody who has been recently adopted. While she has taken a particular shine to the father, Don, the mother has failed to make a connection with her. Probably the weirdest thing going on here - even before the bodies pile up - is her inclination to call her adoptive father "daddy" in this very insistent manner. Eventually we find out this is at least her second family in the last few years, so her love for daddy quickly turns into something that mirrors obsession far more closely. 



Of course, she's troubled, so when she finds out her principal, a nice elderly lady, is going to suggest her parents send her to a boarding school (someplace that will better handle her sensitive situation and delinquency), Jody is very displeased. After all, the woman is trying to take her precious daddy from her. There's only solution. Kill the old lady, and anyone else she might perceive as a potential threat to her relationship with daddy........ 
WTF?! This kid's nuts.



This is an entertaining watch, best if you're bored in on a rainy Saturday afternoon (which was exactly my scenario). The gore is pretty minimal, her killing method is often to set someone up for a terrible accident. The deaths do seem more gruesome though, simply because they are so ruthlessly committed by such a small girl. They also become increasingly violent. 

But I don't know how she would be fooling anyone - the kid looks like pure evil delivered to your doorstep with adoption papers and a creepy smile.

And yes, the adoption set-up is a little played out but I'd say this is forgivable. I almost want to compare  Daddy's Girl to The Good Son which was released just 3 years earlier. If you have any form of child-phobia (and I do - THANK YOU Stephen King) this one should give you some shutters. Ultimately though, it's a fine ride meant to shock more than frighten.