VOD Review: The Neighbor (2016)

"The Neighbor is pretty much The Collector 3, minus the collector. And most of the gore."

The last time director Marcus Dunstan teamed up with the way-underrated Josh Stewart, we got two entertaining and thrilling movies: The Collector (review HERE) and The Collection (review HERE.)

Both were great Home Invasion Thrillers, and now we get The Neighbor which feels a lot like those films in its mechanics. It has a different plot of course, but it's Josh Stewart once again trapped inside of the house with a twisted killer, being forced to use his wits to escape and save the day.

Duntsan and Stewart pull of that premise so well together though that we don't even care how familiar it all feels. Bring it on.

John is a career criminal who works as a Coyote for the local crime boss. He's been saving his money so that he and his girlfriend, Rosie, can get the hell out of their backwater Mississippi town and start a new life that won't end with them dead or in jail. Of course when his boss catches wind of his impending departure, he is none too pleased, i.e. he threatens to kill them if they try to leave.

AS IF SAYING "I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU LEAVE" WILL SOMEHOW MAKE THEM WANT TO STAY?

As if that wasn't enough drama for John to have to deal with, he and Rosie have a shady new neighbor to deal with. Troy (The Neighbor) isn't exactly an upstanding citizen himself, and after he forces his way into John's house and forces him to drink a beer with him, they come to the understanding that both of them have secrets, and that they should stay out of each other's business...

...WHICH WOULD BE FINE AND WELL, IF ROSIE WEREN'T SUCH A CREEPER.

You see, Rosie likes to spy on their new neighbor with her telescope, which leads her to witness a murder on his property, which leads him to kidnap her and lock him in his basement with his other whores. John figures this out and breaks into Troy's house to find Rosie, but instead stumbles into something that spells doom for them all.

An attempted escape from the Boom Boom Room ensues.

THAT'S NOT HELPFUL AT ALL.

As we mentioned above, The Neighbor has a lot in common with The Collector movies: the director; the male lead; the color scheme (Dunstan loves playing with reds and blues); and the plot, which involves a nice normal guy (who is a tiny bit of a crook), creeping around in a Serial Killer's lair in an effort to stay alive, and rescue some poor, Innocent, potential victim. That's alright by us, because we really liked The Collector 1 & 2, and even though The Neighbor isn't quite as gory as twisted as they are, it's still got the air of tension that made them so special, even if it's not "quite" as good. 

Intensity is the order of the day here, and it works well. 

Josh Stewart is a guy who has been around for a while now, and he's had some small roles in some great movies and TV shows, but is still a bit under the radar. He's a great actor, and we love how the films of Marcus Dusntan allow him to take the lead and shine. He's got a humble, southern boy charm about him, and he really needs to be the lead in more movies. Alex Essoe's character felt like more of a plot device than anything, but that's because she killed it in Starry Eyes, and just doesn't have a ton to do here other than play the victim. She has her moments towards the end though.

It's comedian Bill Engvall that really owns this movie though. For a funny man, he plays menacing extremely well, and he made Troy a truly memorable villain. Kinda wish that he had more time towards the end to flex his twisted muscle, so to speak, but he was really good with what he was given, and that was enough for us. Mostly. 

JOSH STEWART ALWAYS LOOKS HIGH TO US.

There's plenty of violence towards the end, but most of the movie is more of a cat-and-mouse type of Thriller than it is a visceral shocker.

STILL, GUNS ARE FIRED, AND LIVES END.

Not that kind of movie.

SHE'S HAD A ROUGH DAY.

"We all got our secrets."

BOY, AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH.

Some people are going to call The Neighbor a Home Invasion flick that is average at best, which is true to a point, but we enjoyed it a lot more than that. Maybe it's because we dig Josh Stewart so much, or how we really like the way that Marcus Dunstan constructs his movies, but there was just something compelling about the story and its characters, even if it was a bit too formulaic and familiar.

If you liked The Collector flicks, and are cool with revisiting that same type of world, only with a bit less twisted violence throughout, then you'll probably like The Neighbor a lot too.

B

The Neighbor is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD.

Alex Essoe is in this, and she's still got those dreamy, starry eyes.