BY ROMEY NORTON JANUARY 11, 2024
Have you got annoying, noisy neighbours? This film will teach you to just ignore and not to fight, impale and decapitate them. Destroy All Neighbors stars Alex Winter and Jonah Ray Rodrigues and is 85 minutes of gory mayhem going from one zany extreme to another.
SYNOPSIS
William Brown is a struggling prog-rock musician whose life is turned upside down when he accidentally kills Vlad, the neighbour from hell, and now he’s got to cover it up!
REVIEW
Now, If you enjoyed the scene with Eddie in Stranger Things, you know which one, then you’re going to love this. It’s one of the trippiest self-discovery films I’ve seen, with rock music and pools of blood. It goes without saying this twister slasher has an awesome soundtrack. There are small random details like Darren the pig that give this film many levels of absurdity and make it special.
There’s a great pace, and I put this massively down to the script and how well it’s executed. Each actor plays an excellent part - comedic timing is on point. Winter’s geeky, shy, kind and desperate character makes him the perfect victim/underdog turned mass-murderer. Especially compared to crazy Vlad - who is freaky in all the wrong ways. Vlad doesn’t “die” but stays in William’s head, along with a few others he kills as his day goes from bad to worse.
Vlad (and others) represent everything that’s holding William back, and he’s got to fight these fears before he can move on in his life. Talking to dead people usually helps with the grieving process - in this case, it’s helping William move forward by finally completing his album.
Gore fans, don’t you worry, whilst this might seem like Bill and Ted meets The Muppet Movie there are plenty of sections to make you cringe and vomit in your mouth a little (I might be more squeamish than some of you). Body parts are thrown across rooms, innards are used to tie people up, all in the name of finishing this damn album.
I do find it funny how William is influenced by watching a podcast/inspirational music influencer on his phone every day. Almost acting like a guardian angel, or helpful spirit guide. We all might be one podcast away from losing our shit and killing someone.
The end ties this crazy story up nicely, it’s as if Jim Henson’s puppets decided to make a band. Then our protagonist has to fight a boss battle to complete his album. William realises that he just needs to ignore his demons, his anxieties and annoyances, and not let those stand in his way. It’s a sweet message given to us in the creepiest of ways.
Overall this is a great splatter-horror-comedy trip which I highly recommend watching. To quote the film “not everyone will get it, but the right ones will” and that is the perfect way to summarise Destroy all Neighbors.
STAR RATING
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