A Killer Next Door

I actually watched the entire movie, not sure why. It was slow-moving, bad acting, and really not that interesting. The Stepfather, which is based on the same killer, is much better. The only thing that saved this movie was the music at the end while the credits rolled by.

The last time I saw acting this bad was in 1971 while watching the now cult classic, BILLY JACK. Ironically, this crime by John List also took place in 1971. Was this film directed in such a manner to pay homage to this era?

If you know the John List story you will hate this. Not a good representation of the true story. Why skip 18 years?

I love serial killer movies. This was not that. At best, a weak plagiarized Rear Window(down to the injured protagonist.) At least Disturbia updated the "stuck at the window" premise. Reasons not to watch:

• Terrible acting,
• Ridiculous dialogue,
• Awful camera work (with weird zooms, shaky at times, out of focus at times,)
• Exposition narration in the form of dialogue (where a person would come onscreen to say a few sentences, then the movie would movie would go on to another scene, with no acknowledgment of who the person was talking to,)
• Bad sets and costume design,
• Terrible facial expressions,
• Weak score/soundtrack,
• Entirely unlikable, dumb characters,
• Zero tension or mystery.

I could go on and on. Anything going on in this movie is extremely bad. I will never watch it again, and I recommend that you not either. If this is playing at a friend's house, go for a walk. Fresh air is better than this atrocity.

Terrible. Rear Window is my favorite thriller and What Lies Beneath is a close second. Those are solid movies.

This one, however, simply dropped the ball. They could have had so many more suspenseful moments! Also, if you lack appreciation for sacrilegious attributes in a murderer, definitely skip it!