Review of Killer Next Door, The

Introduction

This tacky exploitation piece is a ripoff of that other ode to prurience Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer. Revelling in America`s squalid underclass, the story of Ronnie Schwann purports depressingly to be a true one. This 2002 movie was originally titled simply "Ronnie", and is a not-so-jolly tale of abuse-of-the-mentally-ill, rape and murder. It`s not particularly well-acted (histrionics is a very good word), or well-directed, but for setting a mood of train-crash-depressing it`s spot on.

I know there`s a place for movies that show the bad times as well as the good times, but I really have to wonder what`s the attraction in viewing a movie like this? Is it prurience? Is it good old fashioned misoynism as the ultimate victim is the mentally-ill girl our "hero" lures back to his trailer-trash pad to force himself upon? The character of Ronnie`s Mama is such a caricature, this movie could be the blackest black comedy (if it wasn`t so dire).

I`ve said it before and I`ll say it again. Yuk. This one out-crapped Dead Babies on the old crapometer if you`re curious.

Video

Presented in non-anamorphic 1.85:1, the picture is vivid and free from digital or film artefacts.

Audio

The sound is in very plain vanilla Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.

Features

Trailer, Cast and Crew Biogs and a Stills Gallery. There are no subtitles.

Conclusion

I can find absolutely nothing to recommend about this movie. I feel dirty having watched it and that much poorer for having lost brain cells building a memory of having watched this squalid movie. If you get your rocks off seeing how low human beings can sink, then maybe you`ll enjoy this picture, but frankly I`d seek help.