‘Good Neighbours’ Review
Stars: Karl Kennedy-Williams, Param Patel, Judson Vaughan, Dani Thompson | Written and Directed by Richard Antony Dunford
Low-budget horror is often a subgenre in itself that many people seem to love – the latest big hit, The Terrifier franchise, very much started off as this – but low-budget sci-fi doesn’t quite have the same reputation. This is a little bit of a shame because I have found that writers and directors often come up with some really clever and special ideas when they have a limited budget for their science fiction movies.
It’s obvious from the start that Good Neighbours has a low budget and these limitations may hold it back a little but it still shouldn’t put you off. A woman’s first interaction with her new neighbours is an unusual one, as when she calls around to introduce herself, she finds they answer the door while completely naked. It doesn’t put her off immediately like it would most people though and she continues chatting to them for much longer than I personally would have (while not bringing up the nudity) and invites them over for dinner. And that’s the basic set-up for the entire film.
With a short runtime of about eighty minutes, the first half isn’t great. And unfortunately, this might put some people off entirely. It involves mostly the dinner invite and then the awkward dinner itself. The neighbours do turn up with clothes on but (no spoilers but this movie isn’t subtle in how it presents its characters) they take most things literally and clearly don’t understand much of this world. The problem is that the movie doesn’t really go for comedy with this awkwardness – or at least if it did, it didn’t make me laugh at all – it tries to go with making things feel a bit uneasy or scary. But this doesn’t work either and you get these very generic, mostly uninteresting scenes. The actors do their best with the script but things only really liven up when the more horror elements of this sci-fi story start to unfold.
As I said previously, the budget maybe limits the director’s ideas but the practical effects and makeup here do at least look good. And I’m not entirely sure if the script improves massively for the second part but it does give the actors something more exciting to get into and they step up with the material. The four leads, Karl Kennedy-Williams (The Responder, Rise of the Footsoldier 3), Param Patel (their first movie role), Judson Vaughan (The Caller, The Cellar) and Dani Thompson (Christmas Slay, My Bloody Banjo and many more low budget horror) are all enjoyable at times throughout the movie. When the roles become more serious, they all seem put in better performances.
It’s a shame that the first forty minutes is such a drag to get through because the second forty flies by and just about makes up for it. Writer and director Richard Antony Dunford has a host of shorts and feature lengths to his name and I’m sure his work will only improve. And although Good Neighbours doesn’t feel massively original, I’d like to see what they could do on a slightly bigger budget.
Good Neighbours is available to stream on Amazon Prime now.
