Next Door (Movie of the Week)

Yuri Johnson's Next Door, the debut entry in the movie of the week series, was selected, it seems, largely due to its obscurity. Released in early 2002 during one of 3dmm's most active periods, the movie may have slipped between the cracks somewhat. At any rate, it had been nearly totally forgotten in the meanwhile - I had never even heard of it.

Unfortunately, this doesn't come as much of a surprise after viewing the movie. It is very much a PAM, with its meager plot consisting of a man's sudden and unexplained decision to murder his neighbors. That is not a problem in and of itself. Even in 2002, the PAM was a very well-established genre, probably more so than any other. Movies like Lethal Intention and Diabolical Delightment had shown that there is plenty of room for innovation and style in the genre.

Next Door, however, has very little of either. The deaths all occur quickly, and none of them are particularly inventive. With no real action or conflict, Johnson relies on humor to keep the viewer engaged. Since this movie's humor is limited to the outbursts of the goofily hyperactive protagonist (verrry reminiscent of Maltby's Gustave) and the repeated use of a rather irritating song, I would have to rate this approach as unsuccessful. In fact, it seems like more of the movie is dedicated to showcasing the song than to actually showing our hero's rampage. The song isn't even used in a particularly creative manner - just listening to it on its own would be just as entertaining as the way it's used in this movie. And the "bonus movie" included at the end is just downright awful.

Technically, the movie is more than adequate, quite good even by 2002 standards. The movie essentially has two locations, the inside of a room and a driveway/yard, and they're both quite nicely put together. Perhaps as a result of this, though, the movie consists mostly of static shots of these locations from rather conventional angles. This doesn't complement the action at all and is really an odd (or perhaps lazy) choice for a PAM. Even in 2002, more dynamic scenery and animation was expected for a movie like this.

There is not much voice acting, just a few quips from the main character. These are done in the already-tired-in-2002 "hectic/unbalanced" style associated with Maltby. The dialogue's quality is ok (though it's absolutely awful in the "bonus movie," but that might be by design - it's probably best to just pretend the bonus movie doesn't exist anyway). Otherwise, the sound basically just consists of Yuri Johnson's beloved lumberjack song.

Next Door is really just a silly little short, and it might be unfair to expect it to measure up to the bigger movies in its genre. But to be successful as a PAM, regardless of scope, a movie needs either engaging action and cinematography or a strong sense of humor, and Next Door has neither. It's not entirely indefensible, and it might even be worth a nostalgic viewing, but with so many better options in the genre, it's hard to justify bothering.

[Aaron Haynes]

I thought there were a surprising amount of zooms and pans, actually. Maybe I was expecting less.

I didn't make the connection of the goofy protagonist to Maltby, but I wasn't as active in that era either (and you're probably right). It caught me off-guard and I kind of enjoyed it, though I can see where it could've been done better.

Nice review.