The Neighbor is is a 2016 American horror movie directed by Marcus Dunstan.
John (Josh Stewart) lives in the quiet town of Cutter, Mississippi with his girlfriend Rosie (Alex Essoe), reluctantly working for his uncle’s drug-smuggling operation. He’s just about to fork out the cash he needs to run away with her and start a new life, but then one day he comes home to find Rosie gone, and sets out to investigate his suspicious neighbor (Bill Engvall) …
Tropes present in this film:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Cooper always came off as the more sympathetic of the baddies, and his pleas for mercy and his cries for his father are actually rather sad.
- Anti-Hero: John hovers between Pragmatic and Unscrupulous. He’s a drug peddler and can be pretty moody at times, but at heart, he’s actually a good man who just wants to live a happy life with his girlfriend. That being said, he isn’t above killing people when it’s needed.
- Asshole Victim: Neil is probably the nastiest person in the movie. To say he had his death coming can't be stressed enough.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Troy acts like a nice enough fellow. He shares a beer with John and has a friendly conversation with him, and claims not to judge him for his illicit activities. In secret, he’s actually a criminal so desperate for money he’ll kidnap people from wealthy families and hold them for ransom and considers raping Rosie.
- Dirty Cop: Officer Burns turns out to be working with Troy and his sons.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: John kills Troy and leaves the town of Cutter with Rosie to live a normal life, with his uncle dead and unable to chase him. Then again, this is only assuming that Troy's warnings weren't just empty.
- Enemy Mine: Neil catches up with John when he discovers his plans to skip town, and is prepared to kill him and Rosie until John tells him about the immediate threat Troy poses. He promptly starts trying to drive away with them.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all his faults, Troy genuinely loves his sons, and is livid when he finds Cooper’s body in the pit of rabbit corpses.
- Evil Uncle: John’s uncle, Neil, runs a drug ring and refuses to let his nephew out of the business. When he learns of his plans to skip town, he tries to kill him.
- Expy: John — played by Josh Stewart — is a sympathetic criminal played by Josh Stewart trying to keep his loved one happy while facing problems from his not-so-sympathetic employers and a masked man. Sounds a lot like Arkin.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Is it really a surprise that a town called Cutter is home to drug dealers, crooked cops, and money-seeking psychopaths?
- Kick the Dog: Troy claims to be against resorting to murder when it’s unnecessary. However, he sees no issue with planning to rape and kill Rosie, seeing it as being little more than "taking out the trash". There doesn’t seem to be much reason behind this decision except to firmly establish him as the bad guy.
- Malevolent Masked Man: Troy and his sons wear papier-mâché masks made of newspaper clippings to cover their faces so their captives don’t see them.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Or so Troy tries to say he is. But seeing how he's not above raping any "pretty girls" who come through, it's tough to tell with any certainty.
- The Savage South: It’s set in Cutter, Mississippi, home to drug dealers and masked madmen.
- Villainous Rescue: Also an Enemy Mine. Neil saves John, Rosie, and Sarah from Troy and Harley, attempting to drive far away from them. It’s short lived, however, as he is shot to death by Officer Burns.
