De sang froid

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?

After seeing this gritty drama, then you wonder why there are nuts in the world. The movie is more ( in a weird kinda way), like a docudrama. It shows how 2 people can become alienated and rejected from society, to become heartless animals. Not to justify what they do, but if these two boys were somewhat loved, maybe they wouldn't be cold blooded killers. There's a scene where one of the teens father ignores him totally. That is shocking. But watching it will disturb you.

"The boys next door" is a superb movie. Bo and Ray, two mischevious best freinds, set out for a hightime weekend after graduation. They get spun out of control, and eventually, kill in cold blood for no apparent reason.

This movie will make you go away thinking. With a twist ending that is supremly unexpected, and altogether a deliberate ironic musing, this movie is a must see! It is one of those rare movie, where you go away saying, "Hey, that movie was actually really good!"

What I liked about this movie, is it is what I like to call a Sleeping Suprise. Its one of those movies that you casually pass by in the movie store, roll your thumb over in a tv guide, but when you finally do get around to watching this movie, you know you have witnessed something you should have seen earlier. I loved this movie, and you will too.

With great acting, a realistic story line, and superb script, "The boys next door" will leave you thinking about the minds of a serial killer, and the qualms of a deeply distubed mind.With inside information about real life serial killers, it will leave you looking over your shoulder for days to come! 8 out of 10...

Not too good, and not too bad!

The kids are relatable, their perfornances are excellent, and the production was stylish. I really appreciate this fairly obscure blast from the 80s. And i love Penelope Spheeris!

I would take her film Suburbia from a couple years earlier over this, any day!

First off, don't listen to the comments by the moron from Pleasant Valley, New Mexico. Maxwell Caulfield couldn't possibly be doing his version of "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer" since "The Boys Next Door" came out BEFORE it. In fact, since "The Boys Next Door" came out in 1985, it's pretty safe to say that "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer" (which came out in 1986) borrowed from it, not the other way around. Regardless, this movie has a great soundtrack and really funny dialogue ("Two Blacks and a Mexican.") Scenes so outrageous that they're actually funny (gas station beating). Now, while it's not the greatest film in existence, the fact that the (life- like) violence in the movie could really happen (and sad to say, similarly HAS really happened before), make this movie better than a lot of movies out today. The acting is pretty good, especially Maxwell Caulfield (probably his best performance). I'd recommend this movie to anyone, especially if you grew up in the '80s. People who don't like it are usually over-analyzing it a bit too much. Too many people are looking for "social commentary" when watching movies. They usually end up not liking many films. They forget the simplest thing: movies are made to entertain, bottom line.