Next Door (2005)

When this gem came out in 2005 I noticed a review that it was a chiller, a cult one. So I started searching for Naboer, as is the original title. Also noticeable is the fact that it got a rating +18. Never before this movie it was ever given to a movie coming from Norway (in the genre). Here in our region there is a label coming out as Mr Horror bringing out the gems that weren't released and guess what, nr 14 on his list is Naboer. Bought it straight away and watched it immediately. Well, this flick is a beauty. It isn't really a horror movie it's more a psychological one. But it has his gory moments. One of those moments is the scene that has given it the +18. The love scene really get's bloody in some way. I won't spoil the plot but I can tell that some of you out there will have to watch it twice to get it. It's really in the Lynch style, beautifully filmed and really believable actors. Once again a low budget gem. You see, it doesn't have to come from Hollywood to be a good one. Now available here in the Benelux, watch out, it's spoken in the Norwegian language and only has dutch/french subtitles. Normally I don't give that easy a 7/10 but this is the real stuff...

Fmovies: Sex, violence and psychosis - what more could you want for a down and dirty late night horror movie? Even if when you get them all together it may set off censorship bells . . .

John has split up with Ingrid, his girlfriend of two years and, as she calls to gather her stuff from his flat, we gather that the split was not entirely amicable. Soon after, John's vampish neighbours, the older, slightly dominating Anne, and the young, sexually impulsive and vulnerable Kim, persuade him into their flat. They know all about his break-up with Ingrid (they heard it through the wall) and are a bit creepy - for instance, they keep a wardrobe pushed against the door to the flat.

John is not exactly an easy-going laid-back guy. One of the girls tells him a sexually explicit story to arouse him after trapping him in the flat. When he finally starts to succumb, she initiates a violent sadomasochistic game, drawing him in with the promise of sex. After some brutal lovemaking he is shocked when he looks in the mirror and sees the amount of blood on his face. Strange coincidences start appearing and flashbacks suggest John is turned on by violence. Kim and Anne tell different versions of events and John soon feels trapped mentally as well as physically. Like all good horror movies, it ends up nastily and we breathe a sigh of relief as all is explained and we can catch the friendly night bus home, secure in the knowledge that nothing is going to jump out at us.

Next Door pushes limits by including the sex and violence together. The fairly liberal British Board of Film Censors, for instance, says it may, "intervene with portrayals of sexual violence which might, e.g. eroticise or endorse sexual assault." The fact that the sexually violence that we see is largely consensual may allow it to creep through uncut. In its home country of Norway, the film is the first to get an 18 rating in 17 years. You would be right in thinking it is not for the squeamish.

The film has a clever idea as the basis of all the goings on, but if you watch without the recommended several glasses of strong lager you may find you guess the ending all too easily. It is slightly stifled by a derivative feel - like a bad copy of David Lynch of Alfred Hitchcock - and could have benefited from some better pacing to allow the audience to catch its breathe between shocks. For all Next Door's ingeniousness, the camera-work hardly makes the most of the subject matter - although more careful framing and dramatic editing might have notched up the chances of the censors demanding cuts. On a more serious level, the film is quite a reasonable allegory on repression and erotic psychosis. One way or another, it may well earn your grudging attention - just don't try the techniques with your date.

This movie is really cool. It's a mixture of David Lynch's Mulholland Drive and The Machinist (the movie which Christian Bale performed in). If you like the movies with subliminal scripts and drama, murder, sadomasochist concepts, than this movie is really for you.

Don't let any people tell you the end of the movie or read any spoilers, as this would break all the surprise.

Really very good movie. A beautiful proof as if you combine good script, good acting, good art directing and directing, then you may have a beautiful movie with an average budget. One of the most surprising movies of 2005.

Next Door fmovies. I saw Naboer on French TV with French subtitles, and joined the movie after it had started, but was immediately captivated by the low-key approach to John's character, the almost abstract quality of the set with its insistence on corridors and scenes glimpsed through doorways, and the eerie music, which reminded me a little of the haunting motif of "Basic Instinct". All of this screamed that it was a psychological thriller, that something horrible was going to happen - and this is before I had picked up the threads of the story. Comparisons with David Lynch happily never occurred to me, as I find his work pretentious, and this film felt honest. I can imagine that the dialogue may not have appealed to an American viewer, especially via subtitles, but its understatement was to my mind well judged and the repeating motifs reinforcing the idea of isolation and alienation. The concluding scene brought together all the threads of mystery and wove them into a final image that I shall never forget. In all, I thought it was excellent.

What we have here is a simple, claustrophobic little movie that works thanks to its focus on nastiness on an intriguing surreal atmosphere that constantly intrudes on the sex-charged plot line. The film is a Scandinavian co-production, and this makes it all the more interesting as there aren't a great deal of successful horror movies hailing from this part of the world. The film is short running at just seventy two minutes, but this is definitely a good thing if you ask me as too many films bog themselves down with any number of needless subplots, whereas Next Door keeps it short and sweet, with just the central major subplot taking a central role. The plot focuses on John, a man who has just been left by his girlfriend, for slightly hazy reasons. Left alone in his apartment, he soon bumps into his neighbours - a couple of sexy women who seem all too interested in him. As things start to get more and more weird, it soon becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems...

I'd heard that Next Door was one of the nastiest films in years - and while I now think that was said by someone who hasn't spent a lot of time checking out the pleasures of cult exploitation cinema, it has to be said that Next Door isn't really for the feint of heart. The film features sex and violence, and some of the time it features together - which will no doubt please the BBFC no end when they get their filthy mits on the film. The production values are high quality, however, and while the film doesn't feature anything that would cut into a low budget - the crisp cinematography wins it an extra helping of credibility for sure. The acting is also rather good, and the central four actors fit into their respective roles nicely. Director Pål Sletaune obviously has a respect for this sort of film, and the fact that he is keen to implement as much tension and mystery as possible is definitely to the film's credit. Overall, I wouldn't go as far as to say that Next Door is to the standard of a lot of the classic exploitation films – but it's very good for a modern film, and horror fans won't want to miss it.

and I quite liked the music, but I didn't know the composer. One to check out to be sure. Like the other reviewer I would compare it to Polanski, I kept thinking about 'The Tenant' watching this. The atmosphere are a bit of the same, claustrophobic and strange. We don't know whats going on in there, but it sure doesn't feel right. That said, the script isn't all original, but its still a very good take on it.

Actors are well chosen and did it very well. The two girls in particular create some really uncomfortable situations and are a great team. Kristoffer Joner is an excellent actor also and does a fine job here. The Swede deserves a mention as well.

Director PÃ¥l Sletaune is one to watch. He is soon changing status for me from talented to a very good director. The future of Norwegian film looks very bright.

It has some very minor flaws which you barely notice as the movie speeds away.