Neighbors (1981)

People are voting emotionally.

A Masterpiece!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A quiet man (John Belushi)'s peaceful suburban lifestyle is threatened by the new, obnoxious couple that moves in next door.I feel like this was a precursor to "The Burbs". Not as funny, definitely not as weird, but some of the same concepts about the horrors of the suburbs. John Belushi excels here because he is given an opportunity to be the normal guy rather than the "wild and crazy one". Aykroyd is okay, though this is far from his best.And Cathy Moriarty? I still have to wonder how she never got any bigger. She seemed to start off so strong, fade away, briefly come back for "Casper" and then... where did she go? Cathy, we need more movies with you, please.

Earl Keese (John Belushi) is a humorless conservative guy living with his wife Enid in a cul-de-sac. Their quiet life is turned upside down when sexually aggressive Ramona (Cathy Moriarty) and oddly blonde Vic (Dan Aykroyd) move in next door. Daughter Elaine Keese comes home after getting kicked out of school.This movie is doomed from the start. John Belushi is hopelessly playing against type. He may as well have his hands tied behind him. Dan Aykroyd is capable of playing the wild man but he's doing some kind of animated cartoon character. Cathy Moriarty may be the only one who is doing anything remotely funny. The glaring miscast mistake is followed up by an utterly unfunny movie. It is not surprising to read about how the stars had trouble with director John G. Avildsen in the problematic production. It is sad to know that this is John Belushi's final movie.

Is it too soon to say I wish George Zimmerman lived on this city block? I guess so, since Georgie Boy wasn't even born when this movie came out.Neighbors is a movie I vaguely recall from my childhood. I might have seen it with my parents at a Drive-In as one of those double features. Back in 1981, I could've cared less what we were going to see, just the fact we were seeing something on the big screen.That said, probably, I would've been bored with this feature of battling neighbors as it was 100% adult humor, way over my 7-year-old head. The only thing that changed back then and now, is that now I get the humor but…I'm still bored.This movie was all over the place and was an obvious attempt to get Blues Brothers Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi back together again. Bad for us due to the rush, but good for them to green lit this speedily as Belushi wouldn't be with us much longer. (In fact, he would die roughly four months after this was released.)If the writer, Larry Gelbart, was going for an odd-couple type of movie pitting straight-laced vs. a bum, he was slightly off. Sure, Belushi and Aykroyd reversed Blues Brother roles here, with Belushi barely playing the straight man to Aykroyd's weirdo, but Belushi's Earl does such outrageous actions that, for the most part, doesn't even make any sense. At least Aykroyd's Vic is supposed to be psycho, giving him full range of craziness."Normal couple" Earl and Enid live in what seems to be the dead-end cul-de-sac of Nowhere, USA, and the 6-month vacant house next door is being occupied by a sex-crazed (but wonderful Cathy Moriarty) woman, Ramona and Vic who invite themselves into Earl's home. Well, that "self-invite into the home" is putting it mildly. Pretty soon, it's as if the foursome have known each other their entire lives. Or sadly, it feels like we've known them for far too long.It's hard not to put ourselves in the shoes of these characters, namely Earl, and see what we would do in the countless of scenes of weird behavior Vic and Ramona cause on their new neighbors. If you did that, like I did, you'll find practically every single decision Earl makes 100% opposite of what you'd do.Slap stick comedy is like that. Dark comedy, too. So, I guess you kinda have to give it to them, but that doesn't make the endless mess of a movie any better. Or any less painful to watch as the majority was.It's a 31-year-old movie that's long since forgotten and probably should stay that way. Even fans of Belushi would be disappointed. I know I was…well, except whenever his shirt was off.Side Note: I have an update! Today is Father's Day, and I asked him at dinner if he just HAPPENED to remember our family going to the drive-in 30 years ago and seeing Neighbors. Unbelievably, HE DID. I said I didn't think he liked it, and he said he didn't but we saw it because he liked the Saturday Night Live actors at the time "when it was funny." That was funny.

One of those divisive films that you either can enjoy somewhat or utterly despise. It's without any doubt one of the most hated dark -- and I mean DARK -- comedies of all time, and for that reason alone it's worth at least one watch just to see which side you stand on. It's the last film made by 'Saturday Night Live' veteran John Belushi (who died of drug abuse only a few months after its release), along with his Blues Brothers partner Dan Aykroyd. It's at least an interesting turnabout in character for Belushi, who plays a straight, stuffy middle-aged couch potato named Earl who's leading a humdrum existence with his bored housewife. Their empty life at this point consists of never speaking, watching television, and defrosting frozen waffles for dinner. One evening their stagnant routine is shaken up when a strange and boisterous neighbor called Vic (Aykroyd) and his slutty woman Ramona (Cathy Moriarty) take residence in the only house next to them. Immediately Vic and Ramona set about teasing and tormenting poor Earl with twisted gags and practical jokes, and it isn't long before even Earl's wife gets hip to the act. The humor throughout is very black comedy, very one-note, very much like Earl is a victim lost in a bizarre Twilight Zone episode. The laughs are not drop-dead funny, nor are they abundant, but there are some choice moments that spark (the "spaghetti dinner" scene, the "quicksand", and "the coffee cup"). It helps to have some idea of what you're in for, such as Belushi playing straight man to Aykroyd, and you definitely need to adopt a certain offbeat mindset to get anything out of it. It can have its moments, or it can be unending torture. ** out of ****