The House Next Door (2002)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Joey Travolta

Writer (WGA):

John Benjamin Martin (written by)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama

Plot:

A newlywed couple move into their dream home only to find that their next door neighbor isn't as good natured as they had initially thought.

Plot Keywords:

Best Friend | Neighbor | Dream Home | Top Hat | Whiskey

Cast

A.J. Cook	...	Lori Peterson
James Russo	...	Carl Schmidt
Frederic Forrest	...	Vernon Crank
Theresa Russell	...	Helen Schmidt
Matthew Harrison	...	Tom Peterson
Sean Young	...	Monica
Jennifer Carmichael	...	Cindy (as Jennifer Anne Carmichael)
John Benjamin Martin	...	Deacon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Demord Dann	...	Bar Fighter
Kurt Evans	...	Police Officer
Doreen Ferreira	...	Josie
Patrick Gallagher	...	Ed the Mover
Conan Graham	...	Nick
Harold Green	...	Paul the Locksmith
Doyle McCurley	...	Mac
Darren Moore	...	Scary Man
Christian Pepin	...	Rocky

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

95 min | Germany:87 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Germany:16 (video premiere) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

A Totally Predictable Festival of Clichés

The young couple Lori Peterson (A.J. Cook) and her husband Tom Peterson (Matthew Harrison) moves from Chicago to a suburb, to live in a huge house. Their neighbors Helen Schmidt (Theresa Russell) and Carl Schmidt (James Russo) welcome them with a dinner party at their house and the two couples start a good relationship. When Tom travels to Los Angeles on business, Lori stays alone at home and realizes that Carl is a violent man and might have killed his wife. She decides to investigate what might have happened to Helen. 'The House Next Door' is a totally predictable festival of clichés. It seems that the studios have some sort of previously prepared combination of screenplays with this sort of flick, and releases them with a minor participation of some known actors and actresses, like Sean Young and Theresa Russell, a beautiful cover and posters to the video rentals to attract the attention of viewers. Later, they release it to an open or even cable TV channel, and nothing else. Just as an example, this type of movie is very common and typical in the Saturday 9:00 PM session of TV Globo (the greatest open channel in Brazil). 'The House Next Door' is a watchable and very forgettable flick. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): 'Vizinhos Lado a Lado Até a Morte' ('Neighbors Side by Side Until Death')