The House Next Door

This thriller is very watchable due to the high caliber acting of three of the main characters. A J Cook (Jennifer Jareau on TV's Criminal Minds) and Matthew Harrison play Lori and Tom Peterson who have been married for two years and decide to leave the big city of Chicago and move to a smaller community in the countryside, where they believe their lives will be safer and more like the lives of the people on that old television series The Andy Griffith Show which took place in the quaint little town of Mayberry.

Little do they know that they have moved next door to a very militant neighbor who associates with a group of degenerates that like to party at his house. James Russo is the neighbor from hell named Carl Schmidt. Carl is married to Theresa Russel's character Helen Schmidt who is a stay at home mom with two young children. Helen appears to be abused both verbally and physically by her ex military husband Carl.

Two other characters that come in to play are Lori Peterson's hip girlfriend Monica played by Sean Young who comes to town to visit her good old friend Lori, and the not so nice, and corruptible skirt chaser Sheriff Vernon Crank played by Frederic Forrest.

Yes, the script is very predictable, but the musical score suits the scenes as they play out, and A J Cook, Theresa Russell and James Russo are all good actors who hold the movie up quite well to the bitter climax. Even the director Joey Travolta (yes he is John Travolta's brother) does an admirable job pulling off a pretty good thriller. One could do a lot worse than watching this 95 minute thriller, so sit back with your popcorn and leave at least one light on for this two and half star thriller.

Actors are not bad in this film as a matter of fact acting is very good and believable. Also the filming is quite good as much as I can say something about it. But when the actually story is sooooo foreseeable all the way to the end then you just can't enjoy the film. Sorry :[

I got this dvd for free, so I checked it out. I think it's quite an ordinary thriller but also a well made one. The characters were well written and acted. Not a movie I'd want to watch agan soon, but it wasn't boring either.

Recommended if you like thrillers that are set in the real world and could actually happen. And if the theme of neighbour's dark secrets seems appealing to you.

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!

I can be very picky when judging a suspense-horror type movie. I can honestly say I enjoyed House Next Door very much. Mainly because the type of suspense shown in the movie was believable. We've all experienced weird neighbors, not to this extent, but its something we can relate to. To me this is far more enjoyable then a typical Stephen King sci-fi weirdo picture ! I found the story was well written, well directed and the acting was superb. It goes to show you Producers don't need idiots running around with a chainsaw and hockey mask chasing bare breasted women in the middle of the night. The movie was clearly written and stuck to the point right up until the final climax. I purchased this older movie the other day and I know I'll end-up watching it again in the near future. I recommend you do the same. You will not be disappointed. I'll give it an 8.