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It's October 1995 Montreal. There is a serial killer out on the loose. Victor (Jay Baruchel) is moving into a 4th floor walkup. His neighbours are cat lady Louise (Emily Hampshire) and wheelchair bound Spencer (Scott Speedman). Louise is working at a local Chinese restaurant where waitress Johanne (Kaniehtiio Horn) is killed one night in the streets. Victor walks Louise home from the restaurant every night. Spencer turns out to be able to walk and somebody poisons Louise's cat.

Director Jacob Tierney is able to get an offbeat eerie vibe sort of like 'Shallow Grave' except nothing so cool and thrilling. It's a serial killer thriller that lives on its atmosphere for the most part. Baruchel is quirky cute. Hampshire is a quirky adoring cat lady. Speedman is good as Spencer hiding a secret. The three of them form a very compelling trio. The movie does need more tension. It would probably help to condense the timeline. It's good creepy throughout with an underlining low key dark humor.

Good Neighbors (2010)

A Canadian indie thriller with spritely charm. Yup! The cast is small, the concept cute and macabre (both), and the filming and editing first rate. This is the latest installment of what is a new genre, mostly American, where a bright, lighthearted tone keeps a relatively serious theme tipped on edge the whole time.

It's almost as if the filmmakers are tired of high drama movies, from true horror films to action adventure to even the moving dramas that win the awards. It's also, though, a product of budget, and making the most of small resources. "Good Neighbors" is in many ways a perfect small movie.

Imagine the most common of situations--a small apartment building where two main characters each have an apartment. One is a disgruntled young woman with two sweet cats, her only real friends. The other is a charming handsome man in a wheelchair, with a cynical and mean interior. Then a newcomer arrives, all sweetness and kindness.

Meanwhile, a serial killer is in the neighborhood, and the woman in particular follows the story for her own self-preservation. Because it's a tightly constructed movie you suspect that one of the three has something to do with the killings, but maybe not, as a fourth apartment dweller makes her viciousness known. This is the turning point, and things get complicated in a funny/tragic way in the last quarter of the film.

As convincing as all these characters are (most of the time), there are few holes here and there. One of them is the series of crimes, and the minimal presence of the police (and rather unconvincing tough detective who looks better than he sounds for the part). In a way we're not supposed to believe or care about the crimes themselves, but in another way, the crimes become, increasingly, the whole movie. Thank goodness for the director that the Montreal police are apparently pretty relaxed about gathering evidence.

Never mind the nitpicking, however. If you like the "indie" feel of movies like "Timer" or even "Juno" (which is better overall), this one will really take you in. It's a "delight" in the best sense of that word.

Article first published as Movie Review: Good Neighbors on Blogcritics. 'http://blogcritics.org/video/article/movie-review-good-neighbors/'

Take three freaky characters with tenuous grips on reality and stick them into an aging apartment building in a rundown neighborhood of Montreal and what do you have? Good Neighbors. You also have a film noir mystery which rivals anything the Coen brothers (Blood Simple, Fargo, No Country for Old Men) have ever done.

Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Jacob Tierney, Good Neighbors is based on the 1982 book, Chère Voisine, by Chyrstine Brouillet. Tierney first read the book when he was in high school, and decided to take it to his producer father, Kevin Tierney, with whom he had collaborated on the comedy The Trotsky.

"Jacob told me about this book a long time ago," recalled the elder Tierney, "and I said, Jacob, I really don't want to make a movie about a serial killer. And when we finished shooting on The Trotsky, I sent him a note saying, 'I'll produce any project that you want to make.' And he told me: 'this is the one.'" The producer overcame his initial reluctance upon reading the novel. "I actually found it way funnier and way more diabolical than just being a book about a serial killer. Don't get me wrong, it's still a pretty sick little tale – but there's great fun to it in a perverse way."

Good Neighbors stars Jay Baruchel, Scott Speedman, and Emily Hampshire. It also stars three cats, Mozart, Tia Maria and Balthazar who are instrumental in moving the story along.

At first, I was annoyed at not being able to figure out who the protagonist was, but I realized as the film progressed that writer- director Tierney was doing an excellent job of giving us three characters each of whom was strange enough to either be evil or something close to it. In no time, you are suspicious of all of them.

Emily Hampshire plays Louise, a waitress in a Chinese restaurant, whose fear about the possible presence of a serial murderer in the neighborhood comes to dominate her life and the lives of those around her. She has trouble relating to people, and is the creepiest cat lover in film history.

Louise communicates her fears to her neighbor, Spenser, a disabled housebound man played by Scott Speedman. Spenser's lean, swimmer's body seems out-of-place, trapped in a wheel chair on an upper floor of the apartment building. His personality flashes back and forth between a way too friendly smile and a barely controlled rage. But, after all, he lost his wife in an auto accident, or so he says.

A new neighbor, Victor, moves in – played to geeky perfection by Jay Baruchels. Victor is as socially inept as they come, but apparently good at heart. Of course, he does tell his brother that Louise is his fiancée, before he's told her she is.

As the violence escalates on the streets outside, the three of them bond – as much as their flawed psyches allow – in an effort to come to grips with the threat of the serial killer. But, the strangeness doesn't end with the lead characters. Co-workers, policemen and other neighbors all have their quirks, and you'll find yourself being suspicious of nearly everyone at some point, at least until they too become a victim.

The twists and turns come at you rapidly in the third act and I found myself hoping for just one more when things wound down. But that wasn't because I thought anything was missing, I just didn't want the mayhem to end. Good Neighbors - murder, betrayal, cats, a few laughs and lots of blood - is available now on demand. It will open theatrically in New York on July 29 and in Los Angeles on August 5. I'd see it in a theater – being trapped in a dark room full of strangers will add to your enjoyment.

I saw this film recently partly based on the other review above. I did not agree with the general thrust of that review and so I've contributed one based on my own impressions. As a whodunit the culprit was fairly obvious taking away any possibility of plot tension. The general lack of action, drama (or blood) was actually disappointing.

The film did not hit any low notes to be fair and was watchable enough but it failed to hit any high ones (for me) either.It was well professionally acted and with workmanlike direction, the scenes were well shot including the slightly unpleasant one alluded to in the previous review but the only emotional connect I felt with the film was some twinges of embarrassment at a couple of points. Sunday evening filler.

It's the story of three strange friendships, with a serial killer lurking in the background. Lives of the three single people, two guys and a gal, all under age 30, become intertwined over a five-month period as a result of living in close proximity in a Montreal apartment building. The film is less a whodunit than a play of mind games, as unlikely events collide, to force the three to question each others motives, then plot ways to a self-interested outcome.

The three characters are mildly interesting, though the Victor character is so neurotic, and dense to others' cues, he quickly becomes grating. I see that as a script problem. There are also a couple of significant plot holes. And the ending I find less than satisfying, as it leaves viewers wondering, and questions unanswered.

Casting is acceptable. Acting is fine given the subdued story line. Visuals trend a bit dark. Most of the plot is set indoors. "Good Neighbors" is a low-budget film, and uses a minimal cast and minimal sets. Overall, the film has a pleasantly European look and feel, with interspersed French dialogue, Canadian accents, musty interiors, and cold climate exteriors.

If you're looking for a whodunit, or an extravagant production, or a film of great thematic depth, look elsewhere. Notwithstanding weakness previously described, "Good Neighbors" excels at character drama, with a touch of low-key quirkiness; a cozy, intimate little film worth a one-time watch on a cold winter night.

Turned my TV on and this was running on HBO, in the middle, so I looked up the rating & storyline here to see if I was interested in restarting it...and stumbled across the spoiler IMDB choose to use for a quote.

Umm, why???

but since I need 10 lines to write this review, here goes...

Likable actors - notice I said actors and not characters. I thought Speedman was very good in "The Strangers" and that movie had some suspense.

This movie was lacking direction, suspense and interest. When you read the summary, you think this sounds like a great movie. When you watch the movie, you think "how did they screw this up?" I like animals, but cats got on my nerves after watching this movie. The french speaking just felt contrived and introduced to seem more artsy.

Ending - blew. No climax whatsoever. No resolution. If it was open to interpretation, I was too turned off to care.

Now can someone please take the plot for this movie and make a good suspenseful one???

There is the story and there is the characters. And let me tell you, it must be the first time, weirdness has been depicted in such a funny and intriguing and honest way. I loved all those characters, who while seems similar had different agendas. I can tell you that although I was appalled by the female lead, I also was in love with her.

Quirkiness and mayhem, you can find everything that you won't find in a big budget movie. Exceptionally cast and smartly played (Scott Speedman almost playing against type) this was one of my highlights of last year. Of course this will not appeal to everyone, being about people who essentially are anything but normal. But if you have a heart for good independent movies and like your story to not be predictable (safe one obvious twist maybe), you will cherish and love this one as I do/did!

Loved the way this story is put together, little miniature caricature studies of people you live near/around/with....

Its kind of a mystery, and like any mystery it would be nice if the ending was a bit of an 'ah ha ' moment... wasn't for me hence 7 of 10.

Actually really impressed by Speedman, who knew he might be an actor?

The rating here is way off, because only 26 people have reviewed the movie! It was quirky, interesting, twisted, and well done! It keeps you guessing and nothing happens in a predictable way! I'm sure it has been said in other reviews, but it really reminded me of Shallow Grave by Danny Boyle! And boy did I LOVE Shallow Grave! Did I mention it had great performances too! All of these things make a great movie in my opinion! The writer/director Jacob Tierney is going places! I see a bright future for this guy! Right now the IMDb rating is a 5.7, but as more people see the movie, it's going way up! See it! You won't be disappointed!

Horror movies are generally not good. Good comedies, although hard to write well, are easier to find. I normally wouldn't recommend anybody attempt a horror comedy, but "Good Neighbours" is Jacob Tierney and Jay Baruchel's follow-up to "The Trotsky" (2009) and I couldn't pass up that potential. The result though is something that's not scary and not very funny.

"The Trotsky" mixed Russian political history with teen coming-of-age comedy and it was brilliant. "Good Neighbours" starts off with the Québec separation referendum in 1995, and frustratingly, they didn't do anything with that. I guess it was just supposed to be another check mark for as many Canadian references that you can put in a film.

Victor (Jay Baruchel) is an elementary school teacher and new to Montreal; Louise (Emily Hampshire) is a waitress and lives with her cats; Spencer (Scott Speedman) is in a wheelchair and he's handsome. "Tragically handsome," as the gossiping ladies like to say. It's a good role for Speedman who has struggled to get away from the "cute" role that "Felicity" pigeon-holed him into, so he might as well embrace his looks. Here, he's supposed to smile at the camera and look cute and evil at the same time.

They all live in the same apartment building in a neighbourhood that is being terrorized by a serial killer and rapist. This is a comedy but it's hard to figure out which parts to laugh at since rape and murder aren't all that funny. More deaths occur and more reasons to kill other people become apparent. Our three heroes / nonsensical characters each become potential suspects and potential serial killers in the making.

We spent a long time being introduced to all of the characters which did provide for an interesting atmosphere but not an entertaining one. It didn't lead to anywhere fruitful. The plot which then became painfully apparent involved lots of blood, sex and sex jokes. Exactly the types of things you would expect to find in an unintentionally-funny horror flick. But this is a horror which is supposed to be funny. It was kind of funny but too stupid to be scary and too stupid to be enjoyable enough.

I very rarely post reviews of even the most outstanding (or, say, outrageously bad) films on IMDb, and one major reason is that (in general, i.e. usually) the films I see have either been reviewed hundreds of times or seem to have been fairly reviewed by the relatively few who've contributed their thoughts. This, however, is an exceptional case! The majority of this film's other reviews so far posted here are either negative or lukewarm, which is a tragedy for the prospective viewer, at least if she takes that to be a reason for passing this clever, immensely enjoyable gem over! I find it kind of shocking that there aren't more (at this time, there is only one other) extremely positive reviews of this film here. The only thing I can come up with to explain that fact is this: Good Neighbors is pitched at a fairly high level; the humor is subtle and often perverse, depending upon multiple layers of irony and extensive character development; the drama/suspense does NOT depend upon much mystery qua whodunit (although the movie "plays by the rules" in that it gamely keeps the viewer open-minded about the killer's identity, to this viewer the killer's identity was rather overtly apparent from the opening scenes...I second guessed myself at times, but...) but rather on the tension between what the viewer knows and what the characters don't, all of which means that less astute viewers might not notice most of what's going on in this film (several people here have called the movie 'flat', which honestly makes me inclined to call them 'dull'). I don't want to say anything about the actual plot here, but for those of you who enjoy intelligent films (e.g. Coen Brothers films, as another reviewer aptly noted) even though the proper appreciation thereof will engage more of one's mind than more escapist fare, this is pure indie treasure. For a third world country, Canada sure produces more than her share of cultural jewels...(jokes)!

Victor, a tall, lanky, awkward guy moves into an apartment complex in Canada. He's quick to attempt to befriend a girl and her wheelchair bound fiancé. However there's a killer on the loose and things slowly begin to unravel.

A very slow and plodding movie yet well-acted enough to keep my interests despite some character motivations that were quizzical to say the least. Even an ending that left many more questions than answers, didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film (that much) That being said, your mileage may vary, just keep in mind that it's much more a quirky character study and NOT a horror film, nor ever much of a thriller for that matter.

This came up as a suggested watch for horror, thriller on Amazon prime. What a terribly, boring and ridiculous waste of a movie. I liked Jay from a few things, along with Emily and Scott, but this movie was a bad choice for all three of these leads. The movie drags on for so long with none of the characters being remotely likeable. The female lead is just miserable. Scott's character is predictable from the start. Jay seems to play the same type of character in every movie, a pot smoking, nervous, dorky kind of guy. The end fell and it was a let down in so many ways. What a piece of crap. I would never recommend this movie for any reason. Zero stars.