The Good Neighbor

Some teenagers decide to run an experiment on their grumpy, creepy old neighbour. They decide to see if they can make him believe in ghosts by rigging his house with cameras and tricks.

Now on paper this does not have a lot going for it. It is fairly cheap, has a found footage element and sounds like a rip-off of the Burbs or Disturbia. Well it isn't - this is much more.

For once it makes sense that everything is filmed and the added element of a court case adds a degree of mystery to the film.

The characters and performances are great. The scope of the film is tiny, only a few rooms, so the tight budget is not a problem and everything looks professional.

There is no mass of action or intensity here but I found this movie gripping, intriguing, and some of the back story even a little moving.

I may be in the minority but pound for pound this is one of the best movies I have seen all year.

Watched this because James Caan was in it. Reviews suggested it would have a Don't Breathe/Paranormal Activity vibe about it and I'd agree.

Two kids surveil and "haunt" Caan as a an alleged social experiment and document it all in a found footage style.

Caan plays the miserable old guy perfectly and still has great presence, pretty good for a "150 year old"!

It moves at a steady pace and rewards you at the end with a solid twist.

I had pretty low expectations coming into this film. It had a 6.6 rating and wreaked of a legend of an actor just picking up another paycheck on his way out. Gladly, it was none of that.

I guess I've just been burned by DeNiro lately and the lame flicks he continues to pile up in his golden years, and even James Caan has been in some bad ones, but Caan killed it in this one and created yet another memorable role.

The film was well done and very suspenseful but even more than that it will appeal to all generations. The new social media craze driven teens, the struggling adult split family scenarios, and the classic elderly struggles and nostalgic themes.

Hats off to a brilliant production and to Caan the legend. This one is definitely worth the watch. Oh, and BobbyD, take a lesson from your Godfather buddy and stop already with the crappy films.

I was anticipating this film as the trailer had my eye. Now anticipation is always a dangerous thing with films, as anyone who is a an avid film watcher knows. I can say I was not let down. Caan was in full form, nice to see him showing his chops. The rest of the cast put on a good show, but James was by far the scene thief. The movie keeps the mystery alive and always had me wanting more. It is not to over the top, so you can watch it with someone who is a bit more light hearted when it comes to these types of movies, and that doesn't take away from the film either. I really felt it was a nice vacation from the everyday re-tread movie. I give it a 7.5 out of 10. Check it out.

After a fairly lacklustre start, The Good Neighbour turns into an imaginative, tense and gripping film. A genre let's face it that has been done to death in recent years, I can think of so many similar films, but this one actually does a great job. The scenario is a little different, you get to see two sides of the story, it's more in the psychological drama genre, it's tense and suspenseful. It is very well acted, everyone plays their part well, it would have been easy to overact. The final showdown was good, but I wish they'd have made it a little more suspenseful, it was a little underdone.

Overall I thought this was a very good film, very watchable. 7/10