The Boys Next Door – Review

Handsome, charismatic, young, white, male… murderers. They begin to kill in their 20s and 30s, despite seeming normal and even intelligent. It baffles friends, neighbors and relatives. They do not see fellow humans as anything of worth, and do not feel empathy or have a conscience. They can act like anyone however, a teacher, a friend, a guy next door.

Such is the true world we all live in, and the opening credits of this film remind us of multiple real-life serial killers and their crimes. Disturbing and eerie feelings set the stage for what comes next. Despite a bit of 80s camp, this film brings some serious and dark storylines.

Roy Alston (Caulfield) and Bo Richards (Sheen) play a “joke,” with Bo lying in the street and Roy outlining his body with chalk, right outside their high school, so it can be found in the morning. Hilarious. Their year is almost over and the boys can’t wait to be free of education’s chains. The kids seem to be outcasts and are not part of the cool kid crowd. They are focused on violence and disturbing behavior, unable to fit in.

As Bo gets hit with $200 from his grandparents as a graduation present, the pair’s night is about to take off. They know their classmates are throwing a shindig, which they did not receive invites for, but they crash it anyway. They quickly ruin the night as Roy pisses in the swimming pool and Bo asks his crush dirty sexual questions. It is clear why the other kids don’t like them. Maybe a trip to Los Angeles is in order.

As the boys lean more and more into their depraved and violent tendencies, they go off the rails. Roy admits he has “stuff inside of him,” such as fantasies of hurting others, all the time. Bo is into the vibe. Bloodshed is just around the corner.

The Boys Next Door features some horrific and realistic behavior from emotionless killers. As violent sociopathic kids face a future of low paying work or the army, they lash out against the world. This film pushes a fairly accurate narrative for how easy it is to go full psycho, especially for those that feel left behind and zero empathy.

The Boys Next Door is well acted and holds a decent script for its simple story. It does not glorify violence and instead makes an uncomfortable atmosphere with its main characters. Sheen and Caulfield are pretty believable and entirely soulless. They fixate on sex with no real emotion, as well as their urges to hurt people and the world around them with indiscriminate violence. This may not be a nice picture or a fun time, but it feels credible in many ways. Not everyone will find value in this one, but it’s worth a watch for those into realistic societal horror stories.