- submitted by . on 09/26/2011
Top 15 "Neighbors From Hell" Movies
There are so many movies with really bad neighbors. We tried to pick a mix -- some good movies, some with particularly egregious or imagination-stretching neighbors. Tell us what we missed. We'll do an updated list reflecting your comments.
Let the debate begin.
The 15 Best (in no particular order):
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
So your neighbors are Devil worshippers who want your first born as the 'next' Devil. At least your husband, a struggling loser TV actor, is starting to get more TV gigs. All he had to do was join the Satanists – no problem there apparently – and sacrifice you and your baby to these freakazoid cultists and possibly bring down humanity as we know it. Hey, jobs are tough and your neighbors only want what’s 
best…to accelerate the rise of Hell and Satan on earth. In truth, the pic is excellent, directed by Roman Polanski, way better, more suspenseful and complex than the novel by Ira Levin, and genuinely scary.
Arlington Road (1999)
Arlington Road is a beautiful street in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. And Jeff Bridges, a single dad and professor, has made quick friends with his neighbors, the Langs (Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack) who are smart and welcoming and well, it turns out, right wing nut-job domestic terrorists. Sure, they’re going to try to overthrow the government and blow up buildings and innocent people. And yes, Professor, once you figure out who they are, they’re going to try to kill you and everybody in your family; but what else can they do, turn themselves in? Plus, Ms. Lang does make a great casserole and, while you’re alive, you’re always welcomed in their neat, thoughtfully decorated house.
The Stepford Wives (2004)
The original (1975) is better, but the campy remake with Nicole Kidman serves the same purpose. Stepford, the picturesque, idyllic (though transparently deadening) planned suburban community is a great place to live -- unless you’re a woman, in which case almost all the neighbors are 
decidedly not your friends unless your desire is to be turned into a robotic (lobotomized) “yes, honey” wife-oid whose only purpose in life is to serve and service your mostly arrogant, overweight, fatuous and wholly undeserving husband.
Disturbia (2007)
You know that next door neighbor you think is kind of weird and you think really really may be a monster serial killer? In this pic, he is. And house bound Shia LaBeouf spends a lot of time watching him, investigating and ultimately getting into deep s**t discovering the truth. The neighbor (David Morse) likes killing and is definitely not the kind of guy you’d want to invite to your next BBQ or block party. Unless you need a person skilled with power tools and the willingness (enthusiasm) to use them for many purposes not listed in the tool manuals.
Cujo (1983)
Yes, we know, Cujo is a dog. But he does live in (or near) town and he’s smarter than most human neighbors we’ve ever seen. Thing is, he’s out of his mind nuts, rabid and hell-bent on maiming and killing the Trenton family. Based on the Stephen King novel, the pic is mostly cheese; but at times it’s genuinely terrifying. More important, Cujo, the dog and character, became a pop culture phenomenon almost 
immediately after the novel’s and film’s debut -- for decades being known as the iconic symbol for dogs (and people) who “lose it,” who can’t contain their emotions, who go simply “Cujo.”
Neighbors (1981)
Dan Aykroyd as a freakazoid gun-toting, carousing, constantly interfering next door neighbor to quiet afraid-of-the-world Jon Belushi who only wants to be left alone to enjoy his uneventful suburban life. Great role reversal – Belushi as mild mannered nerd. Pic is based on the Thomas Berger novel and, for dark suburban comedy, is pretty nihilistic, out there and often laugh-out-loud funny.
Barton Fink (1991)
A Coen Brothers pic. John Turturro is Barton Fink, a “playwright” selling his soul in 1940s Hollywood, trying to write a crappy (but elusive) screenplay. Day by day Barton deteriorates into writer’s block, desperation and weirdness. Unfortunately for him that’s the good news -- compared to the antics and ultimate threat from his next door neighbor (John Goodman) 
in the seedy hotel they’re living in. Goodman plays a seemingly amiable insurance salesman friend who, it turns out, is really not such a good friend; in fact he’s a bad friend, actually evil, and, as Satan as his witness, is going to make sure things don’t end well for Barton and his ambitions.
Rear Window (1954)
Hitchcock classic. A guy in a wheelchair, a photographer, house bound and incapacitated observes his neighbors across the way through the apartment windows. He sees one, he thinks (maybe), who killed his (the neighbor’s) wife. Not a good time to be stuck in a wheelchair, especially when the unhappy neighbor (played by Raymond Burr, who ironically would soon spend years in a wheelchair in his starring role in the TV series, Ironside) realizes he’s been watched and naturally wants to “take care” of the snoopy, suspicious voyeur (Jimmy Stewart). Film was the partial basis for Brian De Palma’s, Body Double (1984) which, while gory and sometimes suspenseful, isn’t in the same league as Hitchcock’s beautifully paced, eerie original.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Freddy Kruger -- enough said? -- in your worst nightmares (literally) killing everybody he can. Sure he’s spectral but he used to be just like everybody else on Elm Street (only he killed a bunch of people there) and, after being burned alive, it’s only fair he comes back to the street and seeks revenge. Another classic horror bad guy; kids are still wearing Freddy Halloween masks. Another neighbor you’d just assume live – and sleep – without.
Pacific Heights (1990)
Not exactly a cinematic tour de force; but classic, almost text book 1980s really bad neighbor story. Happy yuppie couple Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith are terrorized by menacing neighbor and tenant, Michael Keaton, who as an actor has mastered exquisitely the role of psycho and, in this bent interpretation, is determined to destroy 
his “friends’” marriage, break them financially (they're upwardly striving yuppies, remember) and otherwise do whatever is necessary to steal everything from them, including their home.
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
George Romero classic. Sequel to his 1968 original, Night of the Living Dead. Flesh eating zombies are everywhere. And zombies, however cool and trendy today, normally don't make great neighbors. On the other hand, they're focused and motivated and they know exactly what they want - peoples' brains? -- so they're excellent role models for your typically unmotivated kids...if your kids can survive for a while or you don't mind your kids having their limbs and organs ripped apart for snack following their stepped-up motivation. Pic is over-the-top, brutal, and one of the ultimate near-great horror films.
Halloween (1978)
Directed by John Carpenter. Michael Meyers, incurable murderer (killed his sister when he was 6), escapes from a mental institution and returns to his home town, Haddonfield, to terrorize, kill (and otherwise ruin Halloween) for a lot of innocent town folks, especially the town hotty babysitters. Film is violent as hell and Meyers is the uber crazed suburban terror. Genuinely scary, entertaining pic, with Carpenter (in this first, original Halloween) at his violent horror best.
Duplex (2003)
Black comedy directed by Danny DeVito, starring Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore as striving yuppies who leave the city and find the perfect brownstone on the perfect quiet street -- only upstairs is this little old lady who, it turns out, is the ultimate unrelenting neighbor from hell. Sure, 
she's in her 80s but she makes more noise than a rock band (she and her senior friends enjoy brass instruments); she constantly demands favors; she interferes with the happy couple's privacy; and, despite all hope, shows no sign of quieting down (or, better, dying) any time within a century. Pic isn't especially good - in fact it's often cliché-ridden and unfunny. But it offers periodic moments and, if you want an example of an old lady pain-in-the-butt neighbor, Duplex is definitely a place to visit.
Funny Farm (1988)
Based on the under-appreciated funny Jay Cronley novel. City newspaper writer Chevy Chase moves to the country with his wife to write his novel - and to enjoy the anticipated friendliness and open-heartedness of his new country neighbors. Only these country folk aren't as Hallmark advertised; they're as small-minded, mean-spirited, unfriendly as your local traffic cop trying to fill his monthly ticket quota. (Think, Deliverance, only without that scene in the woods -- or as a light comedy.) The country folk here do everything possible to scare their new interloping neighbors back to the city. Pic is light-hearted, often 
hilarious and is generally smart (like the book). It will make anyone pause before heading out to the country in search of people who, in contrast to their supposedly ugly angry city counterparts, are all sweet and nice and salt-of-the-earth welcoming.
Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
More zombies invade the neighborhood and, as usual, they're not good neighbors. But here they're not as much terrifying flesh eating monsters as they are middling annoyances to Shaun and his UK slacker pals -- distractions to doing the stuff they like to do every day...hang at the pub, drink, watch TV, have fun. The film is funny, quirky; it's a clever parody of many of the more "serious" (or seriously violent) zombie pics that came before. Sure, zombies aren't "good"; but Shaun is up to the task of fighting them while, at the same time, taking a stab at getting his life a bit more in order, engaging his relationships and...using that cricket bat of his to very good anti-zombie effect....read more rants
