| Neighbor | |
|---|---|
 DVD released by Lions Gate Entertainment | |
| Directed by | Robert A. Masciantonio |
| Written by | Robert A. Masciantonio |
| Produced by | Charles Smith |
| Starring | America Olivo |
| Cinematography | Jeff Schirmer |
| Edited by | R. Emmett Sibley |
| Music by | Kurt Oldman |
Production company | Neighbor Productions |
| Distributed by | Aspect Film |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Neighbor is a 2009 American horror comedy film written and directed by Robert A. Masciantonio. [1]
The film opens of an exterior of a house in the suburbs. In it, a young woman known only as "The Girl" is dancing around a house after preparing breakfast for herself. "The Girl" enters a bedroom and finds a man and a dead woman tied to chairs. The Girl acts shocked, but then it is revealed that she was the one who had captured and tortured this couple, killing a female relative and possibly their baby as well. The Girl finishes the husband off by stabbing him in the chest with a tap, collecting the blood that drips from it in a wine glass. The Girl then claims two more victims, an elderly woman whose medication she tampers with, and a high school student who she drowns in a bathtub after several unsuccessful attempts to electrocute her. The Girl moves forward to stalking Don Carpenter, a stoner and member of a band who lives alone, so The Girl easily captures him, and imprisons him in his recording studio basement.
The Girl tortures and mutilates Don, and gives him drugs that cause him to experience hallucinations and flashbacks. Don's friends, band mates, and ex-girlfriend are also captured and tortured to death by The Girl. Eventually growing bored with Don, The Girl strangles him (inexplicably beginning to cry while doing so) as he weakly tries to do the same to her. Don's body and those of his friends are posed around the basement by The Girl, who then goes upstairs, where a party that Don had been planning is in full swing. The Girl greets the guests, leaves the house, and dances down the street.
As the credits roll, Mike, one of Don's band mates who had seemingly died when The Girl tricked him into drinking drain cleaner, awakens, coughs up the chemicals, and screams for help when he realizes that he is now blind.
Two prequel short stories were written by Robert A. Masciantonio. The first, New Girl in Town, was included in Anthology Philly, while the second, Neighbor for Christmas, was released through Amazon.com. In January, 2013 it was announced on Icons of Frights that Masciantonio will continue the series of e-stories for each major American holiday, including New Year, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter. [2] The six stories, including a revised version of New Girl in Town, were later compiled in a collection entitled A Girl For All Seasons, Volume 1.
Neighbor was called "deliciously dark and humorous" by Dread Central's Steve Barton, who awarded it a 4/5, [3] while Audrey Quaranta of Fangoria gave the film a 3½ out of 4, and categorized it as "definitely one for the gore-lover's library". [4] In a review for Horror News, Todd Martin wrote, "Do yourself a huge favor. Run out and get a copy of Neighbor as soon as it is available to own. Trust me, you won’t regret it. If I had to describe it in just a few words I would say it was brutal, disturbing, and at times, a little hard to watch (and this is coming from a hardcore gore fiend). I was very impressed by this film and I think that a lot of other viewers will be as well." [5]
DVD Talk's Justin Felix found that the film began well, but eventually became "a chore to watch" that "devolves into an ugly and unconvincing exercise in 'torture porn' that abandons the film's earlier strengths and fails to engage the viewer". [6] Gordon Sullivan of DVD Verdict wrote, "I really wanted to like Neighbor for America Olivo's performance (which is dark and funny in equal measure) and the overwhelming amount of attention lavished on the gore. However, the lack of any real plot or character development makes Neighbor hard to love." [7]
A splatter film is a subgenre of horror films that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. These films, usually through the use of special effects, display a fascination with the vulnerability of the human body and the theatricality of its mutilation. The term "splatter cinema" was coined by George A. Romero to describe his film Dawn of the Dead, though Dawn of the Dead is generally considered by critics to have higher aspirations, such as social commentary, than to be simply exploitative for its own sake.
Kingdom of the Spiders is a 1977 American science fiction horror film directed by John "Bud" Cardos and produced by Igo Kantor and Jeffrey M. Sneller. The screenplay is credited to Richard Robinson and Alan Caillou, from an original story by Sneller and Stephen Lodge. Part of the eco-horror subgenre, Kingdom of the Spiders centers on a rural town in Camp Verde, Arizona which lies in the migration path of a horde of tarantulas turned aggressive due to pesticides having depleted their normal food sources. The film was released by Dimension Pictures. It stars William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling, Woody Strode, Lieux Dressler, and Altovise Davis.
Chris Alexander is a Canadian magazine editor, film critic, director, musician, composer, teacher and writer. Alexander was a member of the Toronto Film Critics Association and was the editor-in-chief of Fangoria, an editor of American film website ComingSoon.net and a writer for the daily newspaper Metro News.
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End is a 2007 slasher film directed by Joe Lynch and starring Erica Leerhsen, Henry Rollins and Texas Battle. An international co-production between the United States and Canada, it is a sequel to Wrong Turn (2003) and the second installment in the Wrong Turn film series. The film received a positive response from critics and remains the best-reviewed film in the franchise. It grossed $9.2 million in home video sales.
Sea of Dust is a 2008 horror-fantasy film directed by Scott Bunt and starring Tom Savini and Ingrid Pitt. It takes its name from the boundary separating reality from religious truth, a boundary epitomized by Prester John's Sea of Dust.
The Hamiltons is an independent 2006 horror film directed by the Butcher Brothers. Cory Knauf stars as a teenager who must decide whether to help the victims that his older siblings have kidnapped.
Scar is a 2007 American slasher film directed by Jed Weintrob, written by Zack Ford, and starring Angela Bettis.
HalloweeNight is a 2009 American horror directed by Mark Polonia of the Polonia brothers.
Patrick Rea is an American producer, writer and director known for the films Nailbiter, I Am Lisa, They Wait in the Dark and The Last Butterflies.
The Psycho Legacy is a 2010 American independent direct-to-video documentary film that examines the history of the Psycho film franchise and the continuing legacy of the original Psycho. It also pays a tribute to actor Anthony Perkins for his portrayal of character Norman Bates. It is written and directed by Robert Galluzzo. It includes interviews with the cast and crew who were involved in the productions of Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning. It also features interviews with current horror filmmakers who are fans of the Psycho series.
See No Evil 2 is a 2014 American slasher film directed by the Soska sisters, written by Nathan Brookes and Bobby Lee Darby, produced by Michael Luisi, and starring Danielle Harris, Katharine Isabelle and the WWE professional wrestler Kane. It is the sequel to the 2006 See No Evil feature film. Unlike the original, which had a theatrical release, the film was released in 2014 on a direct to Blu-ray and DVD form.
Umbrage: The First Vampire, also known as A Vampire's Tale, is a 2009 British horror film written and directed by Drew Cullingham as his directorial debut. The film stars Doug Bradley, Rita Ramnani and James Fisher. The film had its first public screening on 31 October 2009, at the London FrightFest Film Festival, and in 2010 was picked up by Lionsgate for 2011 and 2012 DVD distribution.
The Orphan Killer is a 2011 independent horror film written and directed by Matt Farnsworth. It was produced by Farnsworth and Full Fathom 5. Farnsworth has stated that he has plans for sequels and a web series.
A Wet Dream on Elm Street is a 2011 pornographic slasher comedy film written and directed by Lee Roy Myers, as a parody of the 1984 film A Nightmare on Elm Street. In the film parody, the Freddy Krueger character has vibrators attached to his fingers, and places women into "pleasure comas" after giving them orgasms. Myers produced the film with Tom Byron Pictures; Tom Byron and Myers had previously collaborated on the film The Human Sexipede. It was released to DVD format on September 29, 2011.
Craig W. Chenery is a British-American author, screenwriter, comic book writer, and artist with a particular interest in the dark humor, zombie, horror, comedy, pop culture, Star Wars and special effects genres.
Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website four times and was selected as AMC's Site of the Week in 2008.
Zombie Women of Satan is a 2009 British comedy horror film directed by Steve O'Brien and Warren Speed. It was written by Warren Speed with contributions from Seymour Mace and O'Brien. Speed, Victoria Hopkins, and Christian Steel star as a group of circus freaks who must combat zombies and cultists while trying to rescue a captive.
Beneath the Surface is a 2007 American horror comedy film written and directed by Blake Reigle. It stars Kyle Stanley as a high school student who uses voodoo to resurrect his crush, played by Dominique Geisendorff, when she dies.
Terrifier is a 2016 American independent slasher film written and directed by Damien Leone. The film stars Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, David Howard Thornton, and Catherine Corcoran. The plot centers on partygoer Tara Heyes (Kanell) and her sister Victoria (Scaffidi), who become targets of the enigmatic serial killer known only as Art the Clown (Thornton) on Halloween night.