The Neighbors from Hell

 

 

This is my entry in The Neighbors  Blogathon hosted by Taking Up Room and yours truly.

OK.  So here's a premise.  You've got a low-key, sedate and almost milquetoast man.  He lives a day-to-day life with his equally mousy wife.  Until a loud brash and overly invasive neighbor and his sexpot wife move next door.  Now you cast Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as the male characters.  So which one is the obnoxious one and which one is the guy you would be comfortable with because you know he is a quiet kind of guy?

It's just quite possible you've got those two roles switched.  At least, if you are like me and remember Belushi as Bluto in Animal House or Jake Blues in The Blues Brothers. If that's the case you probably think Belushi is playing to type and is the radical invasive new neighbor.

But here's the kicker.  It's Belushi who is the laid back quiet guy and it's Aykroyd who is the neighbor from Hell.

If you've ever wondered what kind of future Belushi might have had if he hadn't let drugs take priority in his life, Neighbors is an insight into his potential.  Aykroyd lived long enough to show a wide range of possibilities as an actor Sure he made a mark in some off-key roles in movies like Doctor Detroit and, of course, Ghostbusters, but he also had some straight-laced roles like the son of Jessica Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy. I like to think that Belushi might have made some similar roles work, too.  And as Earl Keese, I think he showed some potential to move that direction.

For instance, Eating Raoul, which involves a couple of would-be swingers who put in want ads for sex couplings in the personal ads with the intention of luring them in and killing them to supply food for a struggling restaurant.  (It's funny, trust me, if you can get past the somewhat off-setting initial premise.)

Neighbors was based on a novel by Thomas Berger.  Berger is probably best known as the author of the novel Little Big Man, which was filmed starring Dustin Hoffman.  The  script for Neighbors  was written by Larry Gelbart, the man behind the scenes writing for the TV series M.A.S.H. The movie was directed by John G. Avildsen, the Academy Award winning director of Rocky (as well as having directed the first three Karate Kid movies).  The soundtrack was written by Bill Conti, himself an Academy Award winner (The Right Stuff).  As you can see, the movie has enough of a cache of talent that it should have been a winner.

Oh, and by the way, just a point of pre-history.  The original casting of this film did have Aykroyd and Belushi playing the opposite roles.  Would it have been the same?  Or would this be a movie buried even farther into the dark past as just a knock-off follow up to previous Belushi/Aykroyd endeavors?  Who knows?

So here we go with Neighbors (not to be confused with the movie of the same name with the same name from 2014 with Seth Rogen and Zach Efron).

 

Neighbors (1981):

One of the hallmarks of what I refer to as dark comedy is that expectations are never what you get. Watch out with this one, though.  Just when you think you've finally got a line on it, the fish wil slip the hook and leave you wondering where it went.

Earl (John Belushi) and Enid (Kathryn Walker)  Keese are a typical suburban couple who live on a cul-de-sac in which there are only two houses.  

 

The Keese household looks pretty sedate, although the neighboring house is kind of run-down.  (To me it looks sort of like a reject for the Bates house in Psycho... which may or may not be fitting considering what is to come.

 

The neighbor house has been empty for a few months, but there are new neighbors moving in.   Here comes the neighbors.  Vic (Dan Aykroyd) and Ramona (Cathy Moriarty).  Earl observes they've got new neighbors and they are not shy at all. 

 
First to show up is Ramona, who basically makes herself at home (in more ways than one).  

Then Vic shows up. 

 

Both of them are uninhibited.  As to why, well, that's a secret we don't find out until late in the movie.  Suffice to say, the (mostly) proper Earl is a bit put off.  Especially since his wife doesn't seem to ever see much of the strangeness, and that which she does see is taken for charm by Enid.

At the outset, Vic invites himself and Ramona over for dinner.  He volunteers to go get take out from an Italian place in town, generously offering to drive Earl's car for the job. And use Ear's money.  (Geez, what a stand-up guy...)

Except Vic takes the money and then goes over to his house and cooks up a spaghetti meal in his own kitchen.  Earl spies on him and, apparently, decides that is not too kosher.  So he decides to play a trick on Vic and move his truck.  Except the truck has no brakes, so it ends up at the bottom of a swamp. (Why is a swamp in this cul-de-sac in suburbia?  Who knows?)

Things go back and forth between Earl and Vic.  And Earl also has to deal with Ramona who seems determined to put Earl at ill ease by coming on to him.  Which Earl is not entirely put off by.  (Maybe Earl isn't the dedicated husband he tries to put up a front as, after all..)

Interspersed with this is the arrival of Earl and Enid's daughter,  Elaine (Lauren-Marie Taylor), home from school because she has been kicked out of the private school she was attending.  Elaine also likes Vic and Ramona and doesn't see any of the shenanigans.

 

One of the highlights of the film is the appearance of Pa Greavey (Tim Kazurinsky), a crotchety old geezer who operates an all-night auto shop and towing service who shows up to get Vic's truck out of the swamp.  Of course, initially, he thinks Earl's car is the one he has been called to tow, and is quite put out when he finds absolutely nothing wrong with it.

 

Eventually Vic's actions end up with the house next door catching on fire and burning down.  And the truth comes out.  Vic and Ramona did not actually buy the house.  They just commandeered it from their nurse at the mental institution they escaped from.  Vic and Ramona are not married, they did not have insurance on the house and they are basically on the run from the insane asylum. And are going to hit the road (because what other choice do they have?)

They return, however and invite Earl to go with them.  And because Earl's boring life has been dramatically changed (for better or worse, you decide), he decides to go with them.

 

There you go.  As much as this movie had going for it, it did manage a profit (probably due to expectations from fans of Belushi for another madcap performance from the star of Animal House). But it never really was  a big hit. Of course, dark comedy is what might be called an "acquired" taste/ but if you like movies like Heathers and War of the Roses this film might appeal to you.

Well folks, if your neighbors are not like these guys, you probably owe a prayer of thanks.  Or maybe, just maybe, you could use something to shake up the dull life.  Either way, be sure to drive safely.

Quiggy