Is The Boys Next Door Treasure or Trash?

Blu-ray Distributed By Severin / November 19, 2019

This is the moment ‘80s teen movies turned “harrowing” (Unobtanium13.com), “frightening” (FilmFracture.com) and “all too real” (CoolAssCinema.com). Now this “dark, forbidding vision” (Los Angeles Times) from Penelope Spheeris – director of THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION Trilogy as well as WAYNE’S WORLD – and screenwriters Glen Morgan & James Wong – creators of FINAL DESTINATION and writers/producers of THE X-FILES – comes to Blu-ray for the first time ever: Maxwell Caulfield and Charlie Sheen star as high-school outcasts who head to Los Angeles for a spree of petty crime, senseless violence and savage murder “that will stick in your head for a long time” (The-Unknown-Movies.com). Patti D’Arbanville (BILITIS) and Christopher McDonald (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) co-star in this “descent into Hell” (BirthMoviesDeath.com) featuring music by Iggy Pop, Tex & The Horseheads and The Cramps, scanned in 4k from the original negative.

Jamie’s Take  (4 / 5)

“I’ve got stuff inside of me.” 

The Boys Next Door wasn’t a movie I grew up with but was a movie I discovered while in college at the right time of my life. With a feeling of isolation due to being away from my family and high school friends, a film about two outcasts who flip their shit after being rejected by women and knowing their life won’t amount to much…well, I could identify with it more than any other movie I had seen at that point.

Thankfully, I’m not easily influenced by films, acting out some childish fantasy of revenge. In fact, The Boys Next Door could potentially be dangerous for those who are easily influenced and on that brink. Controversial at the time of its release, the film is now available for the first time in HD thanks to our pals at Severin.

Maxwell Caulfield (just coming off the box office flop Grease 2) and Charlie Sheen (just coming off the box office sleeper hit Red Dawn) star as Roy and Bo, two high school graduates with low I.Q.’s who are outcasts and troublemakers at their school. Pulling pranks and trying to fit in, they are looked down by their fellow peers with disdain. While Bo tries to fit in and has the hots for one particular classmate, Roy resents everything around him. Angry and bitter, he doesn’t even try to fit in and even mocks Bo for even wanting a yearbook.

After crashing a party and being shunned by their class, the two decide to take the money that Bo got for graduating high school to go on a spending spree in Los Angeles and let loose. With a stolen dog in tow, the two friends vent about how their lives will be forever ruined by working at the factory in their local town. This is their last hurrah before reality sets in.

No sooner do they get to Los Angeles, they find themselves in various situations that causes them to lash out in violent behavior starting with a Middle Eastern gas station attendant who is wrongly accused of ripping off the teens who ends up getting beaten up by Roy. When Bo talks about what had happened later on and mentions that Roy almost killed him, Roy nonchalantly says that “almost isn’t enough”. While Bo is no saint himself, Roy begins to change and starts to go off his rocker and this is when the film takes an even darker turn, becoming more and more violent as the two go on a killing spree.

In one sequence that I don’t think would be in any movie today, the two unknowingly end up at a gay nightclub where Bo willingly picks up a gay man purposely to murder him, much to the horror of Bo. Neither teen realizes the severity of their crimes and when Bo tries to meet a girl he likes at an arcade who happens to have a boyfriend, Roy murders the two in cold blood much to Bo’s horror.

The Boys Next Door does get bogged down by a subplot of two police officers (one a very young Christopher McDonald) who come off almost as a greek chorus as the voice of reason, discussing these two teens thought process and how they are behaving. While the two officers are sympathetic towards what is happening, the film moves quickly and is much more entertaining when it focuses on Roy and Bo.

Another detractor of the film is that some of the acting isn’t all that great. Sheen is great and Caulfield has some rather good moments but he seems to chew the scenery too much when he should have dialed it back. His quieter moments are more chilling with his icy stares and moments where he speaks to himself is both sad and scary. The rest of the supporting cast is…well…not very good and the movie comes off as cheesy and cheap. This was something I never picked up on until now. While the film does have some black comedic moments (“Lets go somewhere nice to eat like the Sizzler.”) I noticed I laughed a few times where I shouldn’t have laughed (the old lady getting hit with a beer bottle kills me every time, sorry to you sensitive readers).

I was so happy when I heard Severin was releasing the film as my old Anchor Bay DVD can now be sold off at Disc Replay or Half Price Books. While the blu ray is a step up from the DVD, don’t expect much from the picture. The film is rather grainy and at times murky. The daylight sequences also look too bright, with the colors looking dull. Rather shocking coming from Severin. In fact, this may be the worst blu ray transfer that I have ever seen by Severin. The blu ray only offers the original mono soundtrack, so don’t expect much from your speakers here. Purists will be happy though.

The special features though do make up for the poor transfer as the audio commentary from the DVD is ported over along with some rather lengthy interviews with some of the cast and it’s director Penelope Spheeris, who admits the film is too violent and she would never make this movie now. Some of their stories of Charlie Sheen on set is quite funny as well, one involving his father who did not want Charlie to make the film despite starring in Badlands, a film much like The Boys Next Door.

The Boys Next Door is a forgotten gem from the 80’s. It’s too violent and dark to be remembered like The Breakfast Club or Stand By Me and it isn’t funny enough to be remembered like Weird Science or Sixteen Candles. It’s a shame too as the film is very entertaining and quite good with black humor and some rather shocking acts of violence that would cause Martin Scorsese to wince.

Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?

Jamie says: Hidden Treasure!

Jamie's Take:	(4.0 / 5)
Blu-ray Extras:	(3.5 / 5)
Average:	(3.8 / 5)

• Special Features: 
  • Audio Commentary with Director Penelope Spheeris and Actor Maxwell Caulfield
  • Blind Rage: Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of Nightmare USA
  • Both Sides of the Law: Interview with Actors Maxwell Caulfield and Christopher McDonald
  • Give Us Your Money: Interviews with Street Band Performers Texacala Jones and Tequila Mockingbird
  • Caveman Day: Cinemaniacs Interview with Director Penelope Spheeris and Actor Maxwell Caulfield
  • Tales from the End Zone: Interview with Actor Kenneth Cortland
  • The Psychotronic Tourist – The Boys Next Door
  • Alternate Opening Title Sequence & Extended Scenes (Silent)
  • Trailer