The House Next Door (2002)

Fantastic!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

First of all I want to point out that the cover lies. As is commonly the case the cover deceives the viewer in order to sell more copies. In this instance Sean Young is on the right hand side instead of the lead AJ Cook. Why would they do this? I can only assume because Young was more famous at the time of release, but having the lead absent from the cover is rather baffling.Following your standard thriller formula telling the story of a couple who move into a new home but become increasingly concerned that their neighbours aren't as nice as they present themselves.Decent enough performances including the excellent lead (Cook) make this generic title watchable enough. I have to say I thought they were building to something different, I expected a double bluff but got a disappointing paint by numbers finale.Watchable stuff but not stuff to go out of your way to watch.The Good: AJ Cook Sean Young The Bad: Very clichéd Things I Learnt From This Movie: If you're going to tell a lie about what you were burying in the backyard claiming it's your extremely noisy dog is a logical choice and couldn't possibly backfireAJ Cook deserved a better careerIf you're planning on tormenting some people, give them a gun. What could go wrong?

As a writer and a filmmaker myself, I try not to be ultra-critical when you consider all of the elements that go into making a film. When viewing this one, I quickly realized that John Benjamin Martin's script didn't have the same quality of writing of a William Goldman script, and for the most part it certainly lacked the dialogue of a Quentin Tarantino ... or even a Jon Favreau script, for that matter. But, if you're looking for a semi-fun, serviceable B-thriller, this will do fine. In fact, it's the perfect Friday Midnight Movie when you just want to veg-out with a BIG tub of buttered popcorn!In fact, a little over four years ago, a similar film - WHAT LIES BENEATH - was released starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford. Was it a better movie? Sure, but not that much better when you consider all of the variables involved: HOUSE NEXT DOOR was made with a lot less dough than WHAT LIES BENEATH was. And HND certainly lacked both the A-list stars and the BIG-Studio backing of 20th Century Fox and Dreamworks. In fact, I would go so far as to say that director Joey Travolta did the best he could with what was given him.And one of the things given him in this film is a fine performance by James Russo, who is at his utmost-creepiest, playing Carl Schmidt, the next door neighbor of Lori Peterson (played by A.J. Cook). Russo's performance - along with Travolta's direction - actually makes this film not only watchable, but enjoyable as a "guilty pleasure." As does the performance of Sean Young, who also does the most she can with the supporting role of Monica, Peterson's long-time friend. It's priceless to hear her utter lines such as, "It's crazy - I mean like get in the car and move to Arizona crazy!" Frederic Forrest, who garnered a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 1980 for his performance in THE ROSE, also lends credibility to the cast.And again, I felt Travolta's direction, which seems to get better with each new film, helps to offset the movie's notoriously low budget.As was the case with WHAT LIES BENEATH several years back, THIS film is filled with the obvious cheap thrills you'd expect from a movie of this nature, but again, that's part of the reason that makes THIS the perfect Friday Midnight Movie!

the title really says it all but i can expand a bit. The acting was breathy and lacked any talent what so ever. The plot was obvious and stupid. I saw the end of the movie the second the movie started and i am ashamed that i saw the movie through. I suggest that NO ONE buy/rent this movie, because it would only encourage the producers of this movie to make another one. Bottom line: if there were a zero, I would have voted that one instead of the 1 I was forced to cast.

This conventional woman-in-jeopardy suspencer, screened at the American Film Market in February, has enough predictable situations to place it in the lightweight horror category.A young Chicago couple, married two years, move into their country dream home only to discover their neighbors are not all they appear to be. The young wife (A.J.Cook) is left vulnerable when husband (Matthew Harrison) has to spend two weeks in LA on business. James Russo provides so-so excitement as the heavy-next-door.While Joey Travolta directs competently, we don't get to know enough about the characters to make us care very much what happens to them in the situations they are placed.