Wonderful character development!

Who payed the critics

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

From their dull lives as high-school outcasts, two misfits, named Bo (Charlie Sheen) and Roy (Maxwell Caulfield), vamoose to L.A. seeking sex and excitement. The film's underlying concept is fine. But given the first three minutes, wherein viewers learn about well-publicized American serial killers, the script sets us up for a way too predictable plot.Even in small matters of business, like when the guys stop to get gasoline, we can see what's coming next. The plot offers very little in the way of surprises or depth. The script is too direct and too shallow. Dialogue lacks subtext. And characters are almost two-dimensional cardboard cutouts. They're stereotypes of losers, so too are the pretty faces of those who reject them.There's no real character development here. Roy especially is filled with anger. But we never learn why. They both are such simpletons, so clueless, that when they unintentionally walk into a gay bar, the result is almost comical. And the film is full of plot clichés, like the standard high-speed car chase along urban streets curiously devoid of traffic.Casting is unfortunate. Both Sheen and Caulfield look too old to be in high school. Yet both actors do a pretty good job in their roles. Cinematography is fairly standard. But given the outdoor scenes, the visuals make the film look dated. So too does the background music, which reeks of 1980s junk music.The main problem here is a script that plots a story that is too direct and too predictable. Casting doesn't help, and neither does the music. I could have wished for main characters with some complexity and whose journey had shades of gray. "The Boys Next Door" is a film of marginal interest. It's not terribly bad. But there are other films out there that tell a similar story better.

Pure genius this movie is one of the best ever. Mostly because of Maxwell Caulfield's outstanding performance words cant describe how good he captured the mind of a sociopath. I was totally blown away by this movie when I saw it for the first time about a year ago. This movie was never accepted by the mainstream mostly because they cant relate and they never will. But those who can will love this film there's no one like it and its mostly because of Caulfield's performance. I have never seen anyone play a sociopath more convincing.Roy-"That motherf*cker... is the one who will keep us from going anywhere"

The Boys Next Door is an ugly, but generally gripping film about two losers who decide on a whim to spend the weekend in Los Angeles after graduating from high school. Charlie Sheen (Bo) and Maxwell Caulfield (Roy) play these two punks pretty convincingly, and this low-budget film lets them flex their muscles while terrorizing anyone unlucky enough to get in their path.The film begins by showing us pictures of seemingly normal-looking serial killers while at the same time using audio commentary to detail the number of victims they had. The actions of the two in this film really don't seem to be patterned after any particular killer, but this early footage is just trying to tell us that virtually anyone we see might have violent tendencies.We see a little of their last day of school. Bo strikes out with a hot chick. Nobody wants them to come to a big party later that night. The boys crash it anyway. Roy pisses in the pool, and the boys steal the family dog and take it with them out to L.A.. Once the guys get to L.A., pure mayhem ensues. First of all, they beat an Iranian clerk at a gas station senseless, nearly killing him. Then, they go to the beach and hit an old lady in the head with a beer bottle. Later on that evening, these two hoodlums graduate to murder. They pick up a gay man at a gay bar and kill him at his place in West Hollywood. Then they murder a young couple just because they're jealous that they can't get a hot chick like the young woman. Things are capped off by the senseless killing of a new-age hippie woman while she's getting it on with Bo. Roy seems to get jealous, then he violently shakes her to death after dissing her new-age values. By then, the cops are hot on their trail, and they corner the two punks at a shopping mall. The conclusion may or may not surprise you.The acting is very good. Sheen is decent enough, but Caulfield is the guy you will remember. This in not the same Maxwell Caulfield we were rooting for in Grease 2. This guy is one seriously screwed-up individual who takes to murder like a fish to water. Penelope Spheeris does a very good job with the limited budget in one of her earliest efforts. When watching this film now, you can't help but be reminded of the Columbine tragedy of 1999. The kids that caused that bloodbath were probably a lot like Bo and Roy. For some reason, they just couldn't conform, and they saw no other alternative but to take out their frustration on society. There also seems to be a bit of social commentary with the final ten minutes of the film taking place in the mall. I think the film is trying to say that kids of the 1980s were a bankrupt generation who had nowhere else to turn from their problems except shopping malls or other consumer venues. Arcades, too, for that matter.Overall, this is an ugly film that will make you think about it for quite a while after it's over.7 of 10 stars.The Hound.

With THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, director Penelope Spheeris captures the alienated, frustrating world of teenagers that is often either missed or glossed over in most Hollywood teen pictures. Though released at the height of the "brat pack" movement, it's as far from SIXTEEN CANDLES as possible. It's about crime and more. It tunes into the same sexual aggression Spheeris focused on in her documentary DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION. Maxwell Caulfield and Charlie Sheen play two bored kids from Northern California who, after being lectured to at school about the need for young people to be more humane when they get out into the "real" world, go on a weekend killing spree in Los Angeles. Although directed by a woman, it is not, as one might suspect, anti-male. Spheeris is careful to point out that these two boys are sociopaths who hate everyone. While they appear normal --- the wear t-shirts and jeans and are surprisingly clean-cut looking --- they aren't. They're unable to fit into society and are rejected by their peers. They turn to violence as a way to communicate their frustrations. The world these boys see is full of freaks and repellent characters, out to get THEM. After beating a gas station attendant to near death, they blame HIM...for trying to short-change them. Spheeris' direction is so frank, and the violence is so brutal, it's stunning. That said, the violence in THE BOYS NEXT DOOR is at times so over the top that is nearly operatic.