Destroy All Neighbors
Directed by Josh Forbes
Written by Mike Benner, Jared Logan, and Charles A. Pieper
Starring Jonah Ray, Alex Winter, Jon Daly, Kiran Deol
Runtime: 85 minutes
Streaming only on Shudder on January 12th

by Joe Carlough, Staff Writer

Every so often, it just feels like your bad days are accumulating into something bigger, something meaner, doesn’t it? That’s the story of Destroy All Neighbors, a charming, faux-budget (portraying itself as lower-budget than it probably is) horror comedy about one man following his dream while inadvertently killing all of his neighbors that brings the laughs, the gore, and the personality, even if it doesn’t often give them adequate room to breathe. 

Destroy All Neighbors follows William Brown (Jonah Ray, Mystery Science Theater 3000), a semi-loser obsessed with finishing his prog-rock magnum opus in his home studio. The crux of his problem? When his goofy neighbor moves out of the apartment next to his for hitting it big and selling a major script, new-neighbor Vlad (Alex Winter of Bill & Ted fame), a hard-partying Eastern European nutjob, makes such incredible racket every day that not only can William not work on his music, but he also can’t sleep, becoming increasingly obsessed with the noise from next door.

When he finally attempts to step up to the plate and confront Vlad in person, he accidentally beheads the man, leading to a series of unfortunate events in which he kills many of his neighbors. While the spirits of his dead neighbors won’t let him rest, he eventually lucks out because they all have one thing in common: prog-rock. The ensemble cast does a good job of bringing the comedy (even if I can hardly understand a word that Alex Winter’s Vlad says, which was funny at first, but became irritating because of how many lines he has), and includes some big names like Jon Daly (Kroll Show, Big Mouth), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!), Ryan Kattner (Man Man’s Honus Honus - try saying that three times quickly!), and Kumail Nanjiani, who contributes what is (to me, at least) the funniest performance of the entire film.

I found Destroy All Neighbors really fun to watch, but there were a few points where the action lagged, the jokes missed their marks, and I found myself wondering if this was more of a wouldn't it be awesome if kind of movie than a real movie - you know, when you’re hanging out with your friends, and you’re like, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if this guy was trying to finish an album of a really funny kind of music (NOT ska, Renfield already “did” ska), but his neighbors were such a pain in the ass that this guy, who’s kind of a weenie, accidentally killed them all?” And you all laugh, and try to outdo each other with ridiculous scenarios (“What if a young, neurotic, pedantic poet decides to start writing porn films just so he can act in them and feel like a sex god?” WAIT, dibs, I’m immediately copyrighting that idea, back off), but no one ever actually makes that movie. Well, every so often a movie like that gets made, and they’re usually just not that great. Once the schtick starts to wear off, you’re left wondering, Is this a good movie, or just a funny idea? Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of wouldn’t it be awesome if movies that totally work: Renfield, Mayhem, heck, even Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a wouldn't it be awesome if movie. But the problem with most wouldn’t it be awesome if movies, and my main beef with Destroy All Neighbors, is that the plot begins to feel superfluous at a point, and there’s just so much room to fill in a movie when the idea is a joke. Movies like this are hemmed in by the confines of traditional film. As a 40 minute short? This would’ve been great! As a full length feature? You’re losing me a little. 

But I digress. That’s kind of the problem with even reviewing a movie like this, isn’t it? I had a good time watching Destroy All Neighbors, I laughed a bunch, and I even covered my eyes at a few of the gnarly, gore bits. And if that isn’t a horror comedy accomplishing its goals, then what is?