I'm a big fan of Marcus Dunstan. I'll never forget being in a hotel room late one night when a movie I'd never heard of called 'The Collector' came on, and I thought I'd give it a look. What followed were 90 of the most intense minutes I can remember seeing on film. While I still enjoyed 'The Neighbor', I can admit it didn't quite live up to those high standards. It's a fun premise, but instead of being tense from whoa to go, it has long sequences that are actually rather dull and hard to focus during. Those are really the only parts that let it down though, because the rest is excellent.
Josh Stewart fills the lead role again. I think he's an under-appreciated actor. He brings a tremendous intensity to a movie and manages to be likable, even when playing a crook (although often a crook who is the lesser of two evils). The main villain isn't quite as memorable as 'The Collector', hence the more toned down film title of 'The Neighbor'. I suspect that is what Dunstan was going for though. A more grounded and realistic story, while still keeping all the suspense of his previous films. He almost pulls it off to perfection and with some simple editing tweaks this could have been something very special. Alas it will have to settle for being an above average thriller.
