Who payed the critics

How sad is this?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The young couple Lori Peterson (A.J. Cook) and her husband Tom Peterson (Matthew Harrison) moves from Chicago to a suburb, to live in a huge house. Their neighbors Helen Schmidt (Theresa Russell) and Carl Schmidt (James Russo) welcome them with a dinner party at their house and the two couples start a good relationship. When Tom travels to Los Angeles on business, Lori stays alone at home and realizes that Carl is a violent man and might have killed his wife. She decides to investigate what might have happened to Helen. 'The House Next Door' is a totally predictable festival of clichés. It seems that the studios have some sort of previously prepared combination of screenplays with this sort of flick, and releases them with a minor participation of some known actors and actresses, like Sean Young and Theresa Russell, a beautiful cover and posters to the video rentals to attract the attention of viewers. Later, they release it to an open or even cable TV channel, and nothing else. Just as an example, this type of movie is very common and typical in the Saturday 9:00 PM session of TV Globo (the greatest open channel in Brazil). 'The House Next Door' is a watchable and very forgettable flick. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): 'Vizinhos Lado a Lado Até a Morte' ('Neighbors Side by Side Until Death')

This is slightly less suspensefull then having somebody tell you the plot of "Rear Window". All scenes are done by the book, with no big mistakes, but with no imagination or heart either. The actors save the movie from being downright rotten.

This is the story: my wife and I ran into The house next door at the video rentals, she picked it up and read at the back cover that this is one thriller in the vein of Hitchcock's The rear window. We both decided to watch it not because of the so-called reference with the masterpiece of cinematographic voyeurism, but for spend a little time of relax with a movie not so complicated, just as I guessed by seeing the front cover. But, once we watched it -in two periods, because we both fell asleep-, all I could think was that this is such an insult for the Master of all suspense and thrills. This movie it´s nothing but a big fat bunch of crap! I think I've never felt so bad after watching a movie. Of any kind.Every little thing in this so called film is horrible: the acting, the screenplay, the suspense (?), the directing, I mean, everything it´s awfully done. It´s a real pain to sit thru' this movie because we never get to feel any connection with the characters; they're as unidimensional as only a blank paper can be; all is constructed under the simplicity of the easy -and predictable- scare; the scenario, the holes in the story, the stupidity in the lead roles unable to see what's coming, and run away when there's still plenty of time. By half the movie we already knew who was who and who did that and this. Was there any enigma to solve? Nope! Maybe just to find the missing mystery, because any episode of Scooby Doo has more of it -and tension- in it´s 30 minutes, than in the 90 plus that lasts this torture titled The house next door. I still can't understand how does this kind of garbage get to be done and reach for the cinemas; bad luck we found it, but good one that we only had it for rental. Anyway, once the movie finished, I felt like going back to Blockbuster and ask for my money back. I'm aware that the tone in this text it's one in anger, but that is because I am. But, really, if you appreciate your time or mental health, don't you even get close to this movie. No matter what the back cover says -what else could the distribution company do?-, this movie stinks!!!!!

I had the opportunity of being invited to the Vancouver screening of `The House Next Door'. The movie was very well done; it kept everyone in the audience on the edge of their seats wondering... why doesn't she leave? Vancouver composer John Sereda did an outstanding job on the films soundtrack. It was "Dramatic, Dynamic, Suspenseful, and it Rocked you"... It is definitely a movie worth seeing... and a soundtrack worth hearing.