Search - The Dead Next Door on DVD

Daryl H. (captdisgusting) from RIVERSIDE, CA
Reviewed on 1/31/2010...

This movie has everything: terrible acting, terrible dialogue, a silly, almost incomprehesible plot, lousy camera work, and amazingly great and sick gore! This movie is incredible funded by Sam Raimi with his advance for Evil Dead 2, J.R. Bookwalter managed to make the low-budget, splatter masterpiece The Dead Next Door. Featuring a cast of unknowns and literally more than 1,000 zombies. A must for splatter or zombie movie collectors. Good luck though, most people that buy this have no intention of ever letting it go!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

WE KID, BECAUSE WE LOVE

Thomas E. O'Sullivan | Knoxville, Maryland United States | 08/10/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes things get better with age - wine, cheese... zombie movies. Although I'd never seen THE DEAD NEXT DOOR (or even heard of it, actually) until now - it's still a good zombie film... so good in fact that it almost knocks a lot of current zombie films off their soap boxes. While it can't touch SHAUN OF THE DEAD, although both films share the same obsessive love when it comes to zombie films, it does leave the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake in the dust... more violent, more fun, more in tune with the times (which is itself strange since this film was made in 1986) it packs punch after punch, most of which hit their target.

Granted the budget was low, and most of the money went into the zombie effects (good call) and the acting ranges from "not bad" to "please, please - somebody stop him/her" and the film itself looks as cheap as only Super-8 can look - it actually all adds up to something like gravity and atmosphere that helps to ground THE DEAD NEXT DOOR and gives it some of its power. While the story runs from right to left, it does take some time for a few twists and turns and ends on a highly promising (but downbeat) note. You can see all the parts in this film - from using all the famous names (and famous titles and famous clips from other undead/zombie films), from directors to SFX wizards - to using setups and payoffs of all the zombie films that have come before it. It's a film of parts, of moments, of gags and reflexes that now have become the LAWS of zombie films... and while we can see the jumps and surprises a mile off, it does not lessen the impact of the film. There are flashes of the original here, touches of creativity, and some outright gory SFX (and one all natural man made effect that truly is one of the grossest moments of the film - when it happens you'll know).

This edition comes with all the bells and whistles - touched up print (which looks very nice), commentary (which is fast, funny and informative - great stuff here) and more, more, more - so much more that again, like a lot of zombie films released on DVD, it blows them away. Love and a lot of sweat went into making this the best edition possible for this film.

Those too new to the zombie genre will find THE DEAD NEXT DOOR a bit hard to take - the jokes will fall flat, and while the gore is top notch, clever and wildy camp, the lack of MTV editing, pop tunes, slow motion, jerky fast motion, running zombies and catch phrases will leave more than a few wondering just what all the fuss is about... while those who've been along for the ride for the long haul time will find a lot here to laugh at and chew over.

THE DEAD NEXT DOOR works - and it's worth watching, owning and turning all the newbies on to."

A crowd pleaser

Lunar Strain | United States | 04/27/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought The Dead Next door because I love zombie movies. Dawn of the Dead is my favorite horror film of all times and I like to hunt down other rare zombie films. If you thought Night of the Living Dead was a low budget film, wait till you get a load of The Dead Next Door. This is perhaps the most low budget film I have ever seen, yet it impressed me. I first watched it with a group of my friends, and we had a great time. The credits to the film are real cheesy, but if you can get through that, the film turns out pretty good. The story has enough plot for ten zombie films and the gore F/X are excellent for it's budget. The picture quality is a let down, but you can get past that by image controls on your television. The acting is so horrendous that it made all my friends laugh their heads off, adding to the fun of the film. Overall, it is absolutly amazing what 19 year old director J.R. Bookwalter was able to accomplish with a shoe string budget. Any zombie fan should hunt this rare title down."

I'm Having Flashbacks!

Brian and Angi | Akron, Ohio | 12/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I laughed, I cried, and in the end, I learned a little bit more about myself. The Dead Next Door is a heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog. In this case, the boy is Zombie Patrol 205 and the dog is everything else. The movie seems to revolve around a yellow hat which has taken control of a scientist's mind, driving him insane with lust and power. A motley crew of zombie hunting mercenaries are at the mercy of the yellow hat's whims and fancies. The movie reached its climax eight minutes in when the unfortunate zombie hunters sat back and enjoyed watching Evil Dead in the lounge. Cult icon, Bruce Campbell, is involved in the sound for some reason, yet makes no appearance in the movie causing most viewers spontaneous hives. The movie took an unfortunate downward spiral when the bastardized human zombie cop stole the maniacal yellow hat, but did not put it on his head. The movie has a stellar sing-a-long soundtrack rivaled only by The Little Mermaid and The Sound of Music. The random dubbed insertion of "Damn it" seemed nothing more than a flimsy ploy to distract viewers from what is nothing short of a Shakespearean script. My personal favorite part of the movie was when Terri screamed at the sight of a sudden onslaught of zombies. I have one major criticism with this film other than the fact that Zombie Patrol 205's cumulative IQ is less than 205, and that is ZOMBIES CAN'T RUN! Everyone knows this and the sight of running zombies seemed more like a dream sequence than reality. Kudos to the set designers for a magnificent pine zombie cage. Why the ingenious alien yellow hat would order its minion scientist to hide in this flimsy cage is beyond me. Still it made for bone-tingling thrills watching the bastardized zombie cop threaten to eat the yellow hat symbiotic slave's tongue. I am eagerly looking forward to the exciting sequel Yellow Hat Strikes Back. Hopefully this time the hat will find its way onto the head of my hero Bruce Campbell. "Hail to the king, baby!""