The Boys Next Door

Penelope Spheeris received kudos as director of "Wayne's World." I know that flick was funny as hell and made gobs of green, but "The Boys Next Door" is one of her best. This film combines her earlier efforts, particularly "The Decline of Western Civilization" and "Suburbia," into a nihilistic tale of two guys that ultimately realize that everything has its price. Sheen and Caulfield are very convincing as friends. When they first arrive in L.A. and stop at a gas station, Caulfield steals the show by brutally beating the gas station employee and justifying his actions to Sheen by basically saying: it happened, you can turn me in, you can come with me; let's see what the night turns up?

The most shocking thing in this unsettling film is the way it accurately portrays the state of mind of the two "heroes"; murder seems to be just another inconsequential act of "escapism" for them, and the (sincere) grief that Sheen's character feels for some of their victims is brief and quickly lost amid the "thrill" of it all. The movie handles the violence in an uncompromising but not exploitive way, and it may not have all the answers, but at least it isn't afraid to touch the subject. (***)

After seeing this gritty drama, then you wonder why there are nuts in the world. The movie is more ( in a weird kinda way), like a docudrama. It shows how 2 people can become alienated and rejected from society, to become heartless animals. Not to justify what they do, but if these two boys were somewhat loved, maybe they wouldn't be cold blooded killers. There's a scene where one of the teens father ignores him totally. That is shocking. But watching it will disturb you.

ok, for the fans of quality entertainment, i recomend this movie. this one has superb quality action. plenty of beatings, punishment and domination to go around. since plent of other viewers have explained the basics of the film, i will spare the details. i cant recomend this movie if you are too uptight and take yourself too seriously- remember this is only a movie. folks who found movies like a clockwork orange and barfly disturbing will not be able to get any laughs out of this either. those movies are great too!. i will soon own this on dvd b ecause of the funny moments and the excellent violence. these two guys bo and roy, dish out some serious pain and suffering in l.a.

you must see this movie.

THE BOYS NEXT DOOR is one of the most intense and powerful movies I've ever seen. Charlie Sheen and Maxwell Caulfield are excellent and the film is very well written and directed. Sheen and Caulfield are two bored teens who decide after graduating, to take a little vacation where they become violent and go on a killing spree, killing whoever gets in their way. Everything feels real and it delivers a true, shocking message. I think this is an amazing movie and even though it didn't get a lot of attention when released, I think it deserves more attention now and shouldn't be missed by anyone.