by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden
In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s the Shudder exclusive, Destroy All Neighbors.
Synopsis
William Brown (Jonah Ray Rodrigues), a neurotic, self-absorbed musician determined to finish his prog-rock magnum opus, faces a creative roadblock in the form of a noisy and grotesque neighbor named Vlad (Alex Winter).
The Good
Joseph: The highlight of Destroy All Neighbors is, for me, the well-rendered practical effects, which are goopy, gory, gloppy, fun — and plentiful. These alone make the film worth a watch.
Mike: Destroy All Neighbors grabbed me pretty quickly with its situation of a neighbor from hell and the other residents of a small apartment building. There’s a lot to like in the initial setup and first act as Jonah Ray Rodrigues has to play the straight man to the assembly of oddballs he shares walls and halls with. Plus, how often do we get a pro-rock loving protagonist? Alan Parsons Project, Moody Blues, and early Genesis fans finally have the hero they need, even if William isn’t the one they deserve.
One of the biggest highlights of Neighbors are the practical effects with plenty of gore and viscera flying around, chief among them the makeup and prosthetic work used to change Alex Winter into Vlad, the neighbor from hell, which was amazing in and of itself. Seriously, you would never guess that Vlad was Bill S. Preston Esq. if you didn’t already know it was so.
The Bad
Joseph: Destroy All Neighbors has, for me, the vibe of a film that tries hard to be weird which, again for me, never works as well as films that are organically weird. This one has more of an aura of being weird for people who don’t normally watch “weird” movies. And although Rodrigues is fine in the role, I found the nebbish character of William and his story arc difficult to root for.
Mike: I’m not sure what it was, but my interest started to flag right around the halfway mark. While the first half had me laughing out loud on a few occasions, I can’t say the same for the back half. Maybe the joke had run its course? Maybe the material just wasn’t as good as I initially thought, I’m not sure. Whatever the cause, I kept looking at the clock every few minutes which is never a good sign.
William, despite all efforts by Rodrigues’ performance to make him a “loveable loser” type of guy, is simply too much of an insufferable and self-absorbed ass to root for which adds to the overall feeling of apathy one may feel towards things.
The Verdict
Joseph: What I wrote about in “The Bad” being said, the film certainly has enough going for it that it is worth giving a shot on Shudder, and it will certainly find an audience. Although I wasn’t fully invested throughout, neither was I bored, so I can give Destroy All Neighbors an “If you already subscribe to Shudder, why not try?” recommendation.
Mike: Being a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, it’s always amusing and fun to see host “Jonah Heston” when he pops up in films since I’m still not used to him being an actual actor as opposed to the home-grown talent that came before him. And if I’m being honest, he’s a big reason why I made it through Destroy All Neighbors without getting too bored. It’s not that I dislike what’s being offered up, but with the same basic setup and payoff to every scene, things felt awfully repetitive to me, making the later half of the film a slog to get through. Although there’s a fair amount to NOT like about Destroy All Neighbors, there’s an equal amount to enjoy for fans of absurd comedic uses of blood, guts, and gore.
Destroy All Neighbors
Directed By: Josh Forbes
Written By: Mike Benner, Charles Pieper, and Jared Logan
Starring: Jonah Ray Rodrigues, Alex Winter, Kiran Deol, Christian Calloway
Run Time: 1h 25m
Rating: NR
Release Date: January 12th, 2024