You know all of those lists that people make with movies that are so bad they’re good? Well this movie isn’t one of them. NEIGHBOR is one of those movies that tries to ride the coattails of the current popular wave but doesn’t live up to the rest or even come close to it. This time around the film du jour is torture porn.
The story revolves around “the girl” (American Olivo) and yes, that’s her character’s name. “The girl” is a psycho who watches people, goes to their homes and then tortures them to death. Her catch phrase revolves around wanting to see what would happen or if something would work that she’s heard of. For instance would someone really be electrocuted if a hair dryer were dropped into a bathtub full of water they were in? You get the picture.
We move on to a group of friends that at one time were a garage band hoping to make it big. The leader of the group is Dan…at least I think that’s his name…I’ve tried to wipe so much of this movie from my mind I’m not sure. Anyway, Dan has a girlfriend he’s hoping to make up with while at the same time eyeing the local barmaid at the hangout this trio of friends frequents. It is there that he is spotted by “the girl”.
Of course she follows him home and somehow the next thing he finds is himself tied to a chair and “the girl” figuring out just what to do with him. How about for starters she digs the claw end of a hammer into his shin and pulls up on it? That way the special effects guy gets to introduce some nice gore into the film. Not enough? Then let’s take that drill she was walking around with and drill through his big toe, all on camera.
Bit by bit “the girl” tortures Dan over and over again with new ways to inflict pain upon him. So much so that he eventually escapes into his own mind, reliving many of the boring, mundane things we witnessed earlier. But then he returns for us to witness more torture.
When his friends show up, none of them seem smart enough to take out the single psycho and they too become victims. Eventually even his girlfriend shows to be tortured with a particularly gruesome hacksaw across the mouth scene that will give normal people chills and gore fans orgasms.
I just don’t get the whole genre. I love horror films but never felt that these sorts of films fell into that category. I’ve considered them more for fans of special effects than of films. I’ve thought that the whole idea of horror in a film was taken too literally in these types, focusing on the most disgusting thing possible rather than the subtle type of terror that lasts with you for days and gets into your mind.
Perhaps these films are homage to the drive in exploitation classics that featured gruesome gore in the past. But then even those films had a story. These seem made just to get the gore out there as cheaply and easily as possible. If that’s all that matters to you, you’ll love this movie. Otherwise you’re wasting your time.
SPOILER ALERT
If you don’t want to waste the time with this movie, here is what happens. “The girl” tortures everyone she comes into contact with in the film. Dan was planning a party to celebrate the group and his friends all show at the end of the film and the party begins. All the while, the tortured bodies of the band are in the basement rec room. “The girl” walks among the guests and heads out, taking time to talk to a vapid young girl and then moving on, walking down the street to find her next victim. So with the exception of offering a bunch of gore effects, the film is basically pointless. Well until someone comes along and tries to explain the “artistic merits” of this film and the social implications offered that are metaphors for the real world. Give me a break.
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