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Good Neighbors
Score: 88%
Rating: R
Publisher: Magnolia Home Entertainment
Region: 1
Media: DVD/1
Running Time: 99 Mins.
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: Spanish

Features:
  • Deleted Scene
  • HDNet: A Look at Good Neighbors
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment

Good Neighbors takes place in October in Montreal where it looks like a serial killer is has emerged. There are 3 dead already, all women who have been raped and killed. Louise (Emily Hampshire) and Spencer (Scott Speedman) are neighbors in an apartment building. Louise has two cats to obsess over, while Spencer has fish tanks that he loves, which is good because he can't leave his house as he is stuck in a wheelchair. Louise works in a Chinese restaurant and walks home from work late at night, so naturally she's worried about the recent danger. She's a bit jumpy. Louise and Spencer apparently spend time together as friends. They also have a bitchy neighbor named Valerie (Anne-Marie Cadieux) upstairs who threatens to sue Louise because Louise's cats get in her trash. A new guy named Victor (Jay Baruchel) moves into the apartment building. Louise and Spencer discuss helping the new guy move a couch in, but she doesn't want to and he's in a wheelchair. When Louise leaves Spencer's apartment, she sees Victor trying to move that couch up the stairs to the 4th floor alone, so she breaks down and helps him. Louise's co-worker, Johanne (Kaniehtiio Horn), was working until midnight and then waiting on a date to pick her up. When she gets stood up, she walks home and is dragged into an alley on the way home and killed.

The next morning, Victor asks them both if they want to do dinner so Spencer says that he'll cook at his place. Spencer doesn't like the cats and runs them off of his window sill. The police ask Louise if she knows anything when she gets to work, but all she can tell them is about the guy that Joanna was gushing about, who happens to have the same name and general description as one of the cops making Louise even more jumpy. Louise calls Victor to walk her home that night. Before dinner, we find out that Spencer can't walk because of a car accident that killed his wife last year. The evening is quite a bit tense, but they get through it. Louise is still obsessed with the killer, reading everything that she can get on it. Victor walks her home nightly, but she's still not very friendly with him. He asks her to dinner, and while she refuses, she says she will come to his party on Friday. Things start to look weird when Louise goes down to talk to Spencer. Spencer asks why she didn't tell him that she knew the last victim, but she's really not sure how he knew that she knew. He says he read that she worked at the restaurant in one of the papers, but Louise has read all the papers and knows this isn't true. The next day, Victor starts building a wheelchair ramp for Spencer to go down the stairs, just because he wants to. It's nearing Christmas by this time.

At Victor's party, Louise meets Victor's family and friends, but Spencer refuses to go. Victor lies to his people and tells them that he's engaged to Louise (without telling Louise). He introduces Louise to his cat, Balthazaar, and naturally she loves the cat. While this is going on, we find out that Spencer can get out of his wheelchair apparently. He goes prowling the city for action. Victor's brother sees Spencer climb the escape back to his apartment. Meanwhile, Valerie poisons Louise's cats on Christmas causing Louise to go a bit insane as well. Now, all of these people have secrets to hide and none of them are truly stable. How much worse will things get and to what lengths will they each go? When it really comes down to it, how well do we know our neighbors? Can we trust them?

There is one deleted scene available that is quite interesting and I'd almost have liked to see it left in the movie. There's also a very short look at the film available in the special features. I really enjoyed Good Neighbors and while I did figure out who was what and what was generally going to happen, I did not see it ending that way. Good Neighbors is a solid psychological thriller that will make you pause and think about the people that live near you. If you're looking for a thriller, check it out!



-Cyn, GameVortex Communications
AKA Sara Earl
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