The Boys Next Door 4K 1985 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

After graduating from college, friends Bo and Roy decide to go on a weekend trip to Los Angeles. But their fun trip turns into a nightmare: the guys unexpectedly commit murder, and their bloody journey shocks the whole country. What could have pushed ordinary guys—the same ones who live next door to you—to commit such inhuman acts?

Review 4K Movie

"The Boys Next Door" is probably an ideal title to evidence the statement that good castings are half the work done! We've got two hunky boys, dreamy sons-in-law almost, that are cast as soulless, rotten apples gradually descending further and further into complete emotional numbness. The first, Maxwell Caulfield, never fully able to recover from the dreadful flop that was "Grease 2", and the other, Charlie Sheen, still at the start of his guaranteed road to stardom. Best pals Roy and Bo graduate from high school but, at barely 18 years of age, their lives already seem prescribed and inescapable. Being working-class boys, they aren't officially invited to the graduation parties and the popular girls in school look down upon them. In fact, the only perspectives they have is working in the local factory for forty years and maybe raise a family with an equally inconspicuous town's girl. But, before that, Roy and Bo want to head for Los Angeles for one last and crazy weekend. And a crazy weekend it will be, as their oppressed frustrations and lack of self-control - especially in Roy's case - soon escalate into criminal records and even murder.

Penelope Spheeris' distant, almost documentary-styled direction is fantastic, the character drawings of Roy and Bo as well as their social backgrounds are phenomenally handled in the script and the performances of both Caulfield and Sheen are unarguably terrific. And yet, I can't help feeling somewhat disappointed after "The Boys Next Door". Its reputation and numerous reviews promised me a grim thriller with lots of extreme violence and a nihilistic atmosphere. The kick-off is excellent, with callous info files and mugshots of real-life serial killers during the opening credits, but Roy and Bo's own and allegedly relentless "rampage" is rather weak. Sure, I felt sorry for the victims, notably the innocent young couple, but the whole thing could (and should) have been much more dismal.