The Boys Next Door (1986)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I'm still scratching my head as to what the point of this movie was? I got what it was trying to sell. Life is very frustrating, and people can be downright callous around you, but that doesn't mean it wasn't pointless in the long run. After the chilling opening with a narrator giving us some info on past serial killers with a creepy musical score, I was ready to dig in and go along with the ride, but what followed was a depressing disappointment. What was the background of Roy & Bo? We get very little insight as to what has made these guys snap, other than a difficult few years in High School, and parents who have neglected them. Most of the movie forces you to follow Roy & Bo around Los Angeles with a pointless killing spree. Despite top billing, Charlie Sheen is not the main star. He shares top billing with Maxwell Caulfield. The main problem I had was with Roy (Maxwell Caulfield) He is a whiny, unsympathetic person who I was begging to see get his. The movie tried to portray him as a sociopath with a screw the world type attitude, but instead they made him into an annoying loser. I think the world sucks some days, but am I suddenly gonna turn into a killer? Get real. Charlie Sheen is a little more bearable. He's a miserable soul himself, but not quite as bad as Roy is. We also get slightly obsolete terms such as "Fag" the gay subtext can't be denied, and stuff you would never see in movies today. An old lady gets drilled in the head and cut open with a beer bottle. It tries way too hard to be offensive, and in the end I just didn't care. We also get some idiotic symbolism at the end that ties in with the beginning of the film, but I was just glad it was over. Final Thoughts: It's one of Charlie Sheen's first movies. It's far from his worst, but still. It's not a very good movie. It tries to be something memorable, and instead becomes forgettable. Teenage agnst is tough, but I don't see why anyone would wanna spend time with these guys. Not really recommended4/10

Penelope Spheeris received kudos as director of "Wayne's World." I know that flick was funny as hell and made gobs of green, but "The Boys Next Door" is one of her best. This film combines her earlier efforts, particularly "The Decline of Western Civilization" and "Suburbia," into a nihilistic tale of two guys that ultimately realize that everything has its price. Sheen and Caulfield are very convincing as friends. When they first arrive in L.A. and stop at a gas station, Caulfield steals the show by brutally beating the gas station employee and justifying his actions to Sheen by basically saying: it happened, you can turn me in, you can come with me; let's see what the night turns up?

The Boys Next Door is an ugly, but generally gripping film about two losers who decide on a whim to spend the weekend in Los Angeles after graduating from high school. Charlie Sheen (Bo) and Maxwell Caulfield (Roy) play these two punks pretty convincingly, and this low-budget film lets them flex their muscles while terrorizing anyone unlucky enough to get in their path.The film begins by showing us pictures of seemingly normal-looking serial killers while at the same time using audio commentary to detail the number of victims they had. The actions of the two in this film really don't seem to be patterned after any particular killer, but this early footage is just trying to tell us that virtually anyone we see might have violent tendencies.We see a little of their last day of school. Bo strikes out with a hot chick. Nobody wants them to come to a big party later that night. The boys crash it anyway. Roy pisses in the pool, and the boys steal the family dog and take it with them out to L.A.. Once the guys get to L.A., pure mayhem ensues. First of all, they beat an Iranian clerk at a gas station senseless, nearly killing him. Then, they go to the beach and hit an old lady in the head with a beer bottle. Later on that evening, these two hoodlums graduate to murder. They pick up a gay man at a gay bar and kill him at his place in West Hollywood. Then they murder a young couple just because they're jealous that they can't get a hot chick like the young woman. Things are capped off by the senseless killing of a new-age hippie woman while she's getting it on with Bo. Roy seems to get jealous, then he violently shakes her to death after dissing her new-age values. By then, the cops are hot on their trail, and they corner the two punks at a shopping mall. The conclusion may or may not surprise you.The acting is very good. Sheen is decent enough, but Caulfield is the guy you will remember. This in not the same Maxwell Caulfield we were rooting for in Grease 2. This guy is one seriously screwed-up individual who takes to murder like a fish to water. Penelope Spheeris does a very good job with the limited budget in one of her earliest efforts. When watching this film now, you can't help but be reminded of the Columbine tragedy of 1999. The kids that caused that bloodbath were probably a lot like Bo and Roy. For some reason, they just couldn't conform, and they saw no other alternative but to take out their frustration on society. There also seems to be a bit of social commentary with the final ten minutes of the film taking place in the mall. I think the film is trying to say that kids of the 1980s were a bankrupt generation who had nowhere else to turn from their problems except shopping malls or other consumer venues. Arcades, too, for that matter.Overall, this is an ugly film that will make you think about it for quite a while after it's over.7 of 10 stars.The Hound.

I'm happy to say I don't watch a lot of truly terrible movies. This one reminds me why.I'll admit upfront -- I was sucked into watching The Boys Next Door because it has early Maxwell Caufield and his amazing chest and abs. More incredibly to me... I don't think it was worth it.I can only assume that the several good reviews written here are meant to be sarcastic. The movie is bad is so very many ways, it seems unfair to single out just one or two. You name an element of movie-making, this film has mucked it up.Bad story, bad dialog, bad acting, bad editing, bad music. Well, I suppose the costumes were....nope, now that I think about it, those were bad too. This movie isn't even "fun" bad.I suppose that people who make movies need to learn how somewhere. But its kind of like with doctors -- you don't want them practicing on you.