Destroy All Neighbors review.
Shudder brings us a firm entry in what we’re going to dub “Obnoxious Horror”. It’s not without its charms…as long as your ear canals are large enough to use earplugs.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Destroy All Neighbors
Directed by Josh Forbes
Written by Mike Benner, Jared Logan and Charles A. Pieper
Starring Jonah Ray, Thomas Lennon, Kumail Nanjiani, Alex Winter, Jon Daly, Renee Heller, Chase Kim and Ryan Kattner
Destroy All Neighbors Review
Okay…so there isn’t a subgenre called “obnoxious horror”. After watching new Shudder release Destroy All Neighbors, however…there needs to be. We’ve dabbled in original labels for horror movies before. We’re going all in on this one. An obnoxious horror movie is designed to annoy you. It throws a lot of sounds at you…aiming for a headache instead of a thrill. All the conceits of the larger horror genre are present, of course. Kills, gore, undead beings…whatever you want. Destroy All Neighbors has it all. And it purposely drowns them out with its goal of annoying you. Obnoxiously.
William Brown (Jonah Ray) just wants to finish his opus. A prog rock song to progress the prog rock scene. Prog rock squared. He finds himself stuck in a dead-end job, taken advantage of by anyone he comes across and, thanks to a new neighbor, unable to get a good night’s sleep. Things go from bad to worse when finally decides to confront the noisy neighbor. The bodies start piling up…and William finds his muse.
The first act of Destroy All Neighbors can best be described as intolerable. The movie wants you to feel what William feels…and it is wildly successful at it. By the half hour mark, you’ll want to kill someone too. Of course, your anger is directed firmly at the film itself. That’s probably not what they intended. Whatever you want to say about the choice to drown the first act of the film in noise and annoyance…the one thing you must admit is that you are happy when it stops. William…not so much. He finds his first moments of peace after accidentally murdering his neighbor Vlad (Alex Winter). His new set of problems may be quieter…but they aren’t lesser.
Vlad may be gone…but he is not forgotten. Or…one, really. His decapitated head becomes an uninvited companion for William. His death is just the first accidental murder that William will find himself on the hook for. For lack of a better phrase…he’s putting a band together.
There is a lot to like about Destroy All Neighbors. Jonah Ray plays a great straight man for all the chaos around him. Winters’ Vlad may be exhaustingly annoying, but the actor really goes for it. Practical effects are all over the screen. Some very fun gore is unleashed during William’s unintended escapades. If you’re a fan of practical gore…you’ll find plenty to love here.
Some of the other positives on display point to one of the bigger issues that plague Destroy All Neighbors. There are a lot of funny supporting characters here. While it’s great to have Thomas Lennon and Kumail Nanjiani pop in for a laugh or two…and Jon Daly steals every scene he’s in as a prerecorded instructional musician able to help with everything from song composition to disposing of dead bodies…none of these people really factor into the main story. A story already held down by obnoxious choices…also outdone by brief scenes barely related to it.
Part of that is the plot’s own fault. Namely…because there isn’t much of a plot in Destroy All Neighbors. William accidentally kills people, they haunt him…and he wants to finish his masterpiece. That’s about it. The movie wants to get by on its comedy…but most of that doesn’t really work. While it sometimes strikes a fun tone…usually it just reinforces your headache.
It’s a shame that the overall package struggles as much as it does. There was a lot of good work here. Fun performances, those excellent effects, a largely unpredictable (if slight) story. Destroy All Neighbors has a lot of the pieces to put together a fine movie. But it never fully recovers from the first half hour of noise and junk hurled at the screen repeatedly. If you can get past it…you’ll find enough fun to have an enjoyable time. Unfortunately, you may find yourself ready to commit your own accidental manslaughter long before you can.
Scare Value
More goes wrong in Destroy All Neighbors than works in its favor. It can be headache inducing. If you manage to battle through an intolerable first act…you’ll be treated to some wonderful practical effects. Unfortunately, the comedy misses more often than it hits. The cast does what they can. They have a lot of forces working against them. Worth watching for fans of practical effects. Just be sure to turn the volume way down.
2.5/5
Destroy All Neighbors Link
Streaming on Shudder
