The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is a 1976 cross-genre film directed by Nicolas Gessner and starring Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith, Mort Shuman, and Scott Jacoby.

The plot focuses on 13-year-old Rynn Jacobs (Foster), a child whose absent poet father and secretive behaviours prod the suspicions of her conservative small-town neighbours.

Felicia Feaster, writing for Turner Classic Movies, found an "unusual theme" in the film, which she interpreted as being one of independence for children.

[9] Writer Anthony Synnott placed The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane in a trend of sexualizing children in film, calling Rynn the "murdering nymphet" and comparing her to Foster's character Iris in Taxi Driver (1976).

[10] Anthony Cortese also referred to Foster as giving an "encore performance" of Taxi Driver, calling Rynn "a 13-year-old imp of maturing sexuality".

[11] Scholar Andrew Scahill described it as fitting a cinematic narrative of children in rebellion, one in which the child appears seemly, as with The Innocents (1961), The Omen (1976), and others.

[20][21] Canadian producer Denis Héroux, who during the decade specialized in popular cinema with financiers from outside the country, also worked on the project.

[17] Financiers disliked how in the novel, Rynn murdered Mrs. Hallet with poisonous gas, causing the scene to be rewritten so the death is accidental.

[16] Director Martin Scorsese was editing Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and Gessner's look at his work led him to discover Jodie Foster.

Gessner noted that casting Alexis Smith, who was born in Canada, also helped secure Canadian tax incentives.

Sheen described the set as relaxed and as encouraging creativity, and said Foster also built a friendship with his daughter Renée Estevez during shooting.

[30] Following the release of Taxi Driver, the industry shared stories of Foster having conflicts during the production of The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.

[16] The crew built a false trapdoor for Mrs. Hallet's death scene, but Gessner acknowledged Smith was nervous about the effect.

[16] For the scene where Frank Hallet kills the hamster Gordon, Sheen handled a dead and frozen rodent, and attempted to make it seem like it was still alive.

[20] After a screening at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1976,[3][4] Astral Bellevue Pathé Limited sold distribution rights to The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, allowing it to make $750,000 worldwide by June.

[1] According to Variety, Beachfront Properties secured a temporary restraining order which gave it ownership of the film per a contract from September 1976.

[31] Janet Maslin for The New York Times wrote this was Foster's most natural portrayal of a child and that Sheen was frightening, and found the romance to be the greatest strength.

[33] In The Washington Post, Gary Arnold called the film engaging, but claimed the murder plot is "too glib, too immorally contrived, to be satisfying.

"[19] Kathleen Carroll gave the film a two-star rating out of four, and, in her review of it for the New York Daily News, stated that "Jodie Foster plays Rynn with her usual aplomb, but it seems a dreadful waste of her talent.

As such, the movie appears to condone teenage sex, and, for that reason, parents should use great discretion in allowing young people to see it in spite of the mild PG rating.

"[40] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called it "the exact movie equivalent of one of those slim, swift novels that are read on rainy Sundays or late at night or on vacation, for their pleasurable unimportance.

"[45] Martin Malina of the Montreal Star wrote that "this odd little adolescent love story-cum-murder mystery depends very heavily for its effectiveness on the playing of its principal character, and Miss Foster doesn't disappoint.

"[46] Julie Maskoulis of The Gazette wrote that "without her unbelievable cool and calm self-sufficiency as the unusual adolescent of the story, the film would not be nearly as penetrating.

It is hard to say how much of Foster's stunning performance can be credited to director Nicolas Gessner, who brilliantly manipulates a build-up of suspense by insinuation and suggestion using Laird Koenig's screenplay (based on his novel).

"[48] Noel Taylor of the Ottawa Citizen called the film "a modest thriller with conventionally scarey moments", adding that "director Nicholas Gessner builds his tension gently and is decently wary of sensationalism.

[50] In 1992, James Monaco gave the film three and a half stars, assessing it as disturbing and complimenting the performances and writing.

[51] In their DVD and Video Guide 2005, Mick Martin and Marsha Porter awarded it three and a half stars, commenting it was "remarkably subdued".