The Neighbor (2016)

I'm usually more at home reviewing restaurants than movies, but have just finished watching "The Neighbour (or Neighbor if you're in the US and spell it wrong !) ;) and felt strongly enough about this film (in a positive way !) to write a review on it.Although I've ticked the box that this review "Contains spoiler", I won't be giving any exact details away as that would ruin the movie, but suffice to say that this film's star is Josh Stewart who starred in "The Collector" (2009) and the sequel, "The Collection" (2012). I will not be giving away too much by telling the reader to expect that they should expect similar type action in this film - as to whether good triumphs over evil ? Well you'll just have to watch the movie for that ! :)

We always wonder what our neighbors are like. Unless we are good friends with them that is. But even then, do we really know them? Do they like us? Do they have extra curricular activities we are not aware of? Also what can we expect from the filmmaker of the Collection movies? Exactly and if you know those, you do know what you are letting yourself into (no pun intended of course).So while our main characters may not exactly make their way into heaven for their personality or way of life, there might be a bigger problem right around the corner (or just next to the corner). Obviously if you are watching a horror/thriller movie I don't have to tell you, that things tend to get ugly. Suspense level is there and it keeps you on your toes until the end ... what more can you ask for?

2016 has brought us some very good predator vs prey in a house movies such as Fede Alvarez's horror hit Don't Breathe and the Mike Flanagan silent suspense film Hush. So now writer of Saw 4-7 and director of the Collector series Marcus Dunstan gives the sub genre a shot. Unfortunately for Dunstan, The Neighbour doesn't make the good list for suspense horror films this year.The film is a little bit generic (as the name would suggest) and doesn't possess the unique quality that the aforementioned films possess. The Neighbour at its core is a snooping-into-other-people's-business-and-finding-something-dark film but fails to bring anything new and exciting to the mix. The dark secret that The Neighbour has feels rather tame when compared to similar films like Don't Breathe, as well as seeing as Dunstan wrote 4 Saw sequels you would expect something more out there and extravagant. This all being said, Dunstan does throw in some inventive weapons later on as the film progresses but it just isn't enough to save the film from forgettable genericness.The film is a short one and so it focuses more on the progression of events rather than their probability. The plot twist surrounding the police officer is intriguing but is never really explained and also Rosie's stomach for violence is rather questionable. The film at the end becomes completely focused on action sequences and rapid pace that it loses substance in doing so.So far I have been rather ruthless towards the director/ writer, but truth be told he does exhibit some rather slick and stylish directing at times. The opening credits and closing sequence stand out with their square box framing and weird black square central to the left of the screen. The film does have suspense and Dunstan does succeed in creating it at times and also does get inventive and a little brutal near the end, but these are only moments in the film, Dunstan needs to step his game up and make the whole film feel like those good on off moments he has shown throughout this film.Overall, The Neighbour is a rather generic film with patchy pacing, that is more of a thriller than a horror. Writer/ director Marcus Dunstan has some interesting moments and ideas but they are so few and scattered that it isn't enough to save the film. Maybe next time he'll hit the nail on the head... or should I say camcorder to the head?

** SPOILERS AHEAD**I didn't have much expectations about this movie, but I like Josh Stewart so I gave it a try. Okay, it's not the best movie ever, maybe even not in top 100 thriller movies, but I liked it! I think the storytelling was simple enough so it didn't became too "blood festive", but thrilling enough to keep my eyes on the screen the whole time. *the spoiler part starts here, be warned*I liked very much that at the end of this movie it was the girl who saved the hot male hero. There are too many movies where woman characters are there only to motivate the male hero to swoop towards some almost impossible rescue mission, always the ones to limp behind the male and be weak and protected. This movie started that way and OK, I would have still watched it, but it was so much better this way. Both of the main characters were strong and weak.