Best in Show: Nasty Neighbors (Pt. I of II)

While plenty of horror films are set nestled in desolate locations, some of the scariest stories come from the house right next door. Whether hiding bodies in their basement or harboring a dark secret, neighbors can be the unknown and unsuspecting evil you never knew you had to watch out for. Sure suburbia sounds nice and high-rises can build a sense of community, but when your fellow suburbanites or tenants are evil, isolation seems like the better plan. This week's list covers horror's scariest neighbors.

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10. Will & Annie (Honeymoon)

While leaning more toward the isolated setting of films like The Strangers, the indie horror flick, Honeymoon, features a pair of distant neighbors who could make any new residents' skin crawl. When Paul and Bea set out for their honeymoon at a remote cabin, their closest neighbors are a pair of odd townies, Will and Annie. Will happens to know Bea from her youth and Annie, while quieter is deeply troubled. And, while Will ends up being less aware of the dark roots setting themselves into Annie and Bea, his initial hostilities toward Will are more than suspicious cannot be ignored.

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9. Ryan Jacobson (House at the End of the Street)

Despite his troubled childhood and continued struggles, there's no denying the creep factor driving Ryan Jacobson. When divorcee Sarah and her daughter, Elissa, move into a secluded and wooded neighborhood, the nearby house at the end of the street proves to harbor more than the normal white lies of everyday families. Ryan lives there alone after the disappearance of his sister who happened to murder their parents. Things get increasingly unsettling as Elissa uncovers far more than she bargained for in her budding relationship with Ryan. Ryan isn't your typical scary neighbor; he's young, enrolled in school and seems relatively friendly, but through all of his childhood trauma, Ryan has turned into something far more evil.

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8. Abel Turner (Lakeview Terrace)
Rarely do thrillers give as much of a perspective as to the crazed reasoning behind bad neighbors as in Lakeview Terrace. While completely unwarranted, there's something almost sympathetic about the unhinged Abel Turner. His actions while sinister and problematic are given plenty of backstory and while he eventually turns into quite the problem, he starts the movie as a grumpy old man. It’s a shame how evil he turns out to be because everyone would think having a cop next door would be the blessing of a lifetime.  Instead, it ends up being an absolute nightmare. 

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7. The Castevets (Rosemary's Baby)

You have to love moving into a new place and discovering you have kind, even if a little overbearing, elderly neighbors. Well, that is until you realize they're far more sinister than they appear. Turns out, the Woodhouse's neighbors are quite the opposite of cutesy. In fact, they're anything but. Last week, the pair made the list of scariest old people in horror and for good reason. The Castevets' pension for Satan, hidden behind a desire to assist Rosemary and her pregnant needs, is anything but neighborly. Rosemary's Baby is a classic hinged on the great villains created in The Castevets. They're terrifyingly kind demeanors and their overly helpful nature make for something truly dark.

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6. The Ferrins, Halversons and Mr. Cali (The Purge)While a lot of money may buy you a nice neighborhood, it certainly can't buy you nice neighbors. While the tension built around the neighbors surrounding the Sandin's may seem a little warranted, the added pressure of an annual anything-goes evening of horrors is all that's needed to break the camel’s back. Whether it’s the standoffish but innocent behavior exhibited by the Sandin's is partially to blame the horrific intentions of their neighbors is anything but couth. Despite the feigned culture and class of them all, this group of neighbors are vicious. They set out with a goal and set on the Sandin's house with all the ferocity of the deeply rooted mistrust and competition of upper-class living.

Review: Ghost House

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Shipping a horror movie to a foreign land can open up the door to a lot of criticism. After all, taking opportunity in the use of others culture, if done so improperly and without accurate depiction and research, is disrespectful and rarely accomplishes its goals. These movies, blinded by their own ambition to create something mystical and dark, fail to have the foresight to make something worthy of using another country as a setting. Following this trend is the inappropriate and worst of all disinteresting Ghost House.


Following a couple on vacation in Thailand, Ghost House has everything you'd expect from a travel abroad horror movie that attempts to capture some supernatural element of a foreign land. From strange rituals to unhelpful and odd locals, the couple gets more than they bargain for when the woman stumbles upon and is possessed by a ghoul. The film stars Scout Taylor-Compton (The Runaways) and James Landry Hebert (Westworld) as Julie and Jim, the couple central to the movie's plot. Mark Boone Junior (Batman Begins) plays Reno, some sort of helpful mystic, and Michael S. New (Crazy Medicine) plays the couples driver, Gogo.


Whether it’s the screechy broken English and lack of self-awareness exuded by every character outside of the main couple or the unfortunately sole instance suggesting that the couple may be neglectful of their views and disrespectful of the foreign land they've entered, Ghost House does little to improve on critically planned films like The Other Side of the Door or Out of the Dark. While it’s a similar film, the redeemable qualities of the aforementioned movies are all but missing from the terribly done, offensively exploitative plot of Ghost House. Its portrayal of Thai people is absolutely unforgiving and the film’s most egregious aspect, but not its only.


Ghost House isn't simply offensive in its setting - mystifying and otherizing Thai culture - it’s also gravely offensive in its cheap ploys and poorly timed scares. Ghost House lacks any of the charm that similarly bad movies have; the characters are unlikeable, the tension is nonexistent and worst of all, the film never gets scary. Each scene plays through with some brief instances where a scare would begin, only to become jolty and poorly done.


While you could pick out pieces from this jumbled mess, like some mediocre camera work, there truly isn't anything to look twice at. From the casual, overly awkward mention of a ghost house to some strangely inserted supporting characters, the film feels poorly put together; its stitching ripping apart from the get-go. Ghost House, like its flat, unenthused title, is exactly as plain as it sounds. Its harsh depiction of a foreign land, schlocky plot and lackluster scares all culminate into something best avoided.  3 out of 10.