The Dead Next Door (1989) User Reviews

"Can't you do anything right, Savini?"

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 20 April 2014]

Clearly this low budget, regional zombie film hasn't pleased everybody, but, honestly, what did they expect? Something of this nature is, more often than not, pretty crude, amateurishly acted, and downright silly. But that's part of the charm of these efforts. Filmed over a four year period, J.R. Bookwalter was given uncredited assistance by a certain major Hollywood director, and also works here with some of his associates. The gore is plentiful and often quite fun, and funny. A criticism I see here is that "The Dead Next Door" is boring, and sure, it's not the most exciting zombie story one will ever see. Bookwalter and company may not be that technically proficient, but one quality they undeniably possess is heart. That's what endears films like this to this viewer. In any event, any production like this that manages to get a shot of zombies trying to climb the fence to the White House lawn is worthy of *some* respect.

Zombies are now over running the world, and a special "zombie squad" is created, consisting of jut jawed Raimi (physically portrayed by Pete Ferry, who's dubbed by somebody whose voice you'll immediately recognize), Mercer (Michael Grossi), Kuller (Jolie Jackunas), and Captain Kline (Floyd Ewing Jr.). They end up required to make the trek to a distant location where a serum devised by a Dr. Bow (Lester Clark) just may be the key to reversing zombie symptoms. In their company is a wack job scientist, played by Bogdan Pecic, who's clearly a nod to the memorable Dr. Logan of "Day of the Dead".

As I said before, the acting may not be that competent, but like so much here, it is good for hearty laughs. The characters aren't that bright, though: witness what happens to Richards (Scott Spiegel). The story does have its comfortably familiar elements, such as a cult dwelling in the woods. This particular cult seeks to protect the zombies for their own demented reasons; Robert Kokai is good as their leader, Reverend Jones. A fair amount of the cast were also crew members, and it definitely looks like they had a good time making this. Naming some of the characters after famous people is rather an obvious thing to do, but some fans may get a kick out of that.

Overall this is solidly entertaining - no more, and no less - for living dead cinema junkies.

Seven out of 10.

The danger of fools with video cameras!

[Beowolf2001 · 1/10 · 10 October 2005]

This was one of the worst pieces of crap I've ever seen. This Bookwalter person is worse than Todd Sheets and that's saying a lot. He's not even creative enough to be Ed Wood! The story, a mix between Jonestown, Dawn and Day of the Dead is just terrible, but this mish most of stupid ideas is downplayed by the stupid characters contained within it! Some of the SFX were tolerable but most of this was really just bad. One character decapitates a zombie then puts his fingers in the heads mouth! They get bit off and his pals leave him to be eaten by other zombies! The acting is beyond amateur. I wish I could remove the memory cells that contain this film from my brain! This was just bad, bad, bad! Avoid at all costs! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Oh and how the hell did Sam Raimi get involved with this crapfest? Was he feeling generous? There isn't one original or inventive thing in this whole mess. Ugh! I need an aspirin!

Pathetic

[david-345 · 12 October 1999]

Back in the early to mid 1980s, word spread around horror fandom that an enterprising young filmmaker was putting together a low budget but ambitious zombie film in Ohio. Monetary setbacks kept the film from being completed for years but it finally saw the light of day on video late in the decade. The film that many thought would be another cult masterpeice like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Basket Case turned out to be a truly pathetic time waster that proves that anyone, no matter how untalented can make a movie and waste the veiwer's time. Yes, the film is quite ambitious but that means nothing if the filmmaker has no talent and Bookwalter has no talent in spades. The film seems to be a case of two ideas getting mashed together, the zombie plague and the Guyana like cult. But neither idea is very well meshed into the other and the result proved not to be worth the wait. Watch it for it's decent makeup effects. That's all that can really be praised. JR Bookwalter was once thought of as a great white hope who might put some gusto back into low budget genre films. How wrong we were.

A man's reach should exceed his grasp...

[poe426 · 6/10 · 13 October 2012]

It's not so much that this one's a low-budget Super 8/Hi 8 hybrid of questionable quality that makes it worth watching, it's the fact that this guy stuck with it for four years and got it DONE (not unlike John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon with DARK STAR, or Dennis Muren with EQUINOX, or David Lynch with ERASERHEAD, etc.). At a recent comic convention, I asked a panel of experts- John Russo, Russ Streiner, and George Kosana- about the difference in QUALITY between NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and its bastard offspring (like THE DEAD NEXT DOOR). Russo explained that, while NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was a low-budget movie, it was made by a group of working professionals with years of experience under their collective belts: it wasn't just a knock-off of something else by somebody with a camcorder. (Not that there's anything wrong with that...) It's this experience that Bookwalter clearly lacked when he made THE DEAD NEXT DOOR- but at least he TRIED. As Russo says in his FILMMAKING SEMINAR (which also features Bookwalter): "At least make something. Don't do NOTHING!" Sound advice for anyone in any field, but especially true when you're dealing with no-budget filmmaking. I've spent FAR more time trying to talk people into making movies than I've spent actually MAKING them- and that's saying a lot: at last count, I realized that I'd started but had been unable to finish more than SIXTY shorts (thanks primarily to actors who bailed out on me for one reason or another- including the ENTIRE teen-aged cast of an X-MEN type of Public Access series I'd started, who walked out on me when I refused to buy them a case of beer after the first day of shooting)(I may have been desperate, but I wasn't THAT desperate). Bookwalter himself says: "Take what you have, do the best you can with it." Words to live by. Roger Corman (from HOW I MADE A HUNDRED MOVIES IN Hollywood AND NEVER LOST A DIME): "It is possible to go up against the system and win." NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is THE Prime Example of beating the odds, and even Bookwalter has gone on to carve out his own particular niche in the world of low-budget indie productions. I've always wanted to get at least ONE thing done that I could point to, that I could be proud of. It hasn't happened yet (and may never happen), but I'm reminded of something else Roger Corman said: "Is there tangible proof of your existence? When you make a movie, at least there is tangible proof. You create something." Like THE DEAD NEXT DOOR or not (and I DO), Bookwalter is a CREATOR- and that's saying something.

The government sets up a group of people to destroy all zombies.

[jmbo-jons · 3/10 · 15 January 2006]

The "Dead Next Door" was an OK movie for myself, but i have herd that many people enjoy the film and recommend it. I don't think the plot is very good, but i do realize that it was a low-budget movie. i did like the gore however (there is plenty of it) and the violent effects are not that bad, so if you are a gore-hound then you might want to pick this movie up.

i do own this movie and bought it for a fair price; i don't recommend paying an arm and a leg for this movie unless you have seen it and enjoyed it enough to shed some cash. if you're not one for mediocre acting then i also don't recommend this movie.

There's no budget, there's no talent either

[josh nolan · 3/10 · 24 April 2001]

This movie can claim to be a low, low budget gore movie without any attempt to actually any talent even though it thinks it has. The plans were just too big for the director J R Bookwalter to handle, he also covers most of the other production roles from cameo to credits designer, evidently everything he touches, he has no talent to back up whatsoever. The movie has no pace, tension, shock value, nothing at all. The ideas are great but Bookwalter, one can only assume was exercising sloppiness, chose not to care much about them. 85 minutes long and it feels like three hours; the acting is truly awful Scott Spiegel turns up in a small role, ruins the scene and then years later directed From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, easily one of the worst movies ever made.

I may be a tad harsh, after all these types of horror movie aren't meant to be serious, but that's the rub, I think Bookwalter is so convinced that he was making a classic that he, and the large cast could not see that he couldn't handle the scope and the end result is so bad it's bad.

The gore parts, which is why most people watch these types of movies are good for the tiny budget, every penny spent us up there on the screen, but that is it's only saving grace. Mr Bookwalter, go and learn how to make movies before actually making one, The Dead Next Door entertained me for all the wrong reasons turning what was meant to be a serious stab at filmmaking, into a camp classic for the 'Don't care' generation. Sorry mate.

Go away before they get you!

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 22 July 2008]

You know that something different is coming when the zombies try to rent Dawn of the Dead.

Scott Spiegel has a long list of credits, but he sure was a lousy actor here. Glad to see him leave early. Of course, he wasn't too much worse than the rest of the zombie squad members, whose carelessness always seemed to get themselves in situations where they were bitten.

This was an enjoyable zombie movie, with some great makeup and plenty of gore. Someone should have told the director that when the cult sacrifices someone, they should be naked.

Loved the wacko reverend, his mullet-headed enforcer, and the religious cult. Seeing the rev get his just desserts was a thrill, all all mullet-heads should be eaten by zombies.

If you can tolerate a low budget, and like creative effects, shlock, and zombies, grab this

[mr_Goodbomb · 8/10 · 20 October 2007]

I really enjoyed this film. I watched it once or twice before I hit the special features and watched the featurettes with interviews from the cast and crew. I think those interviews really helped me appreciate this film more. The director had no budget and no idea how to really operate a camera (it seems the first time they shot a lot of the effects and various scenes, the light meter was trusted less than the untrained eye, and many shots came out so dark that they were unusable). With some creative and sometimes silly, schlocky ideas for gore and effects and an interesting, even compelling follow-up to both Romero's Dead films (the original three which had been released by that time) and Sam Raimi's Evil Dead I and II, I really think this film had some interesting points to it. There are no incredible special effects, the acting is silly (the main character's voice has now been replaced with Bruce Campbell's), the budget was extremely low (though it was funded by a "Mr. X," who kept his identity a secret... do a little research on that one, the answer is surprising), and I think they made something campy, fun, and even, at times, creepy. I liked it a lot for a no-budget midnight flick.

This is NOT a long lost zombie classic...

[DevilPaul · 1/10 · 11 October 2006]

Saw this one over at the local electronics store for $10.99 with a recommendation on the front that it was a "worthy addition to any gorehound's DVD shelf" by Rue Morgue. So I figured I couldn't go wrong on this one. I shoulda put it back on the shelf and invested in that 6 DVD "Lone Wolf and Cub" collection instead. Where do I start? OK, the plot. Well, the plot isn't much of a plot. It's in a world where zombies are overunning society and our story centers around a group of police like soldiers called the Zombie Squad. They're guarding a facility where some scientists are working on a cure for the epidemic. Meanwhile in another part of town a cult run by a guy wearing old people's sunglasses, you know those huge black ones, is doing human sacrifices and worshipping the zombie epidemic mainly because the cult leader's son was turned into one. The cultists are causing problems with the Zombie Squad and scientists over philosophical differences and that's where trouble begins. So, that's the story really. The major characters are named after famous horror directors like Raimi, Romero, Carpenter, etc. (Side note: The box claims that this film was made with the help of a LEGENDARY Hollywood Director. This is misleading. It turns out that Sam Raimi of "Evil Dead" fame merely helped finance this pile of dung.) The acting ranges from competent to "go back to the drama club... PLEASE". I mean some of these performances are just god awful bad and it's apparent why when you look through the DVD extras. There's an audition section on there where they show that everyone in the movie were just walk on's whose only requirement in the audition was to tell an interesting story about themselves and scream. No acting out any dialogue or anything. Well, you get what you get I guess. The special effects were pretty cool in some parts of the flick and lame in others. I've read some reviews that said the effects were awesome. Believe me, they are not. They're not even really that gory except for a shot here and there. Factor in that this film was shot in Super 8, a filming format not even up to stuff with an average $300 video camera you can get today, and you get the picture.

The box claims that this film was digitally remastered. I hate to break it to the film makers but transferring the original Super 8's to DVD does not constitute digital remastering. There's also a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack but it doesn't enhance the experience. I barely noticed anything significant coming from my rear speakers. The DVD is loaded with extras but they are pretty boring. One amusing extra is the "Frightvision 2000 Reunion" clip. It shows some of the original cast members and director talking about how looking back on it again they've realized what a wonderful film they made. I guess time really does make you forget. There are maybe 15 or 20 people in the audience listening to them talk one of which is some goth guy whose face says "please shoot me now".

All in all this one isn't recommended kiddies unless you are into self-torture.

For zombie fan only

[phanthinga · 6/10 · 31 August 2017]

Yeah just like the title of my review if you a hardcore zombie lover tired of mainstream stuff you can watch this movie to see some cool looking zombie and gore for the sake of gore.The story is not that bad it have a interesting look on zombie but because the poor written it come out very dull and stupid at time.The nice low budget feel and the practical effect is really good is all plus point i can give for this movie.Btw you can watch the movie for free on Youtube so no need to find a copy

fun low budget zombie opus

[ManBehindTheMask63 · 7 February 2011]

This is a clever and pretty straight foreword zombie flick shot on 8mm (think of the first evil dead). J.R. Bookwalter was able to create a gory and entertaining zombie flick with a relative low-budget and local actors. Unlike hack job Todd Sheets (see Zombie Bloodbath trilogy), Bookwalter created a zombie film that gives you everything you want...Heaps of low-budget gore, a satanic occult, the "zombie squad", an unresolved ending, "Evil Dead" references, and Bruce Campbell dubbing over the main actors role(?). The Dead Next Door's video quality is somewhat poor, but looks like the first "Evil Dead" basically. Kinda grainy and low-budget, but not unwatchable like "Zombie Bloodbath". Many of the characters are named after horror directors or writers and there are some pretty cheesy dialog scenes. But overall, the movie works and keeps you satisfied due to the gore and somewhat innovative scenarios. This is an odd little zombie flick that is clever and interesting. Sam Raimi backed the film and later disowned it having his named removed from the credits. I have no reason why he would do that, considering it's pretty cool and as entertaining as the first "evil dead". The "making of" on the DVD is good and the commentary is worth listening too.

Probably the dullest and worst zombie film ever.

[fedor8 · 8 January 2007]

There are no words to describe just how low-budget this boring piece of garbage really is. In fact, just by renting this tape I have probably spent more money than the film's producers on the film itself. (I, and the other ten people who saw this film made quite a good profit for the producer, who happens to be Raimi, allegedly; if that is true, why the hell is he wasting time with this kind of crap? A favour for a (talentless) friend?) This lower-than-low-budget snooze-fest was financed by somebody's failed garage sale. Or was a cast member's kid-brother's piggy-bank raided in the middle of the night? Who knows. And it's not just the fact that the "film" is to the most part incredibly dull: it's supposed to be like an indirect "homage" to Romero's zombie trilogy and other horror-movie greats; hence the rather trite "idea" of naming the idiot characters after real-life directors, actors, or horror-film characters. Ha-ha. Hilarious. Don't you just love movies with film-buff "in-jokes" and references? So very original and interesting… But what really annoyed me is the way the movie managed to brake just about every basic "zombie rule" that there is: 1) zombie's never run - but they do here, 2) zombies do not understand languages - but they do understand English here, 3) zombies cannot be trained (like dogs) - but here they can, 4) zombies cannot be trained to be selective about whom they attack, for they are indiscriminate about whom they want to rip to pieces and eat - yet here the zombies are trained to attack their trainer's enemies, and, 5) uninfected, non-zombie humans should not be dumber than their distant zombie relatives - but in this movie the zombies aren't the main idiots. Some homage.

The humans in the film really are as dumb as the zombies. But not in a funny way. For example, there is a "zombie squad" (ha-ha) which consists only of cops who are repeatedly careless about what they do in the company of zombies and hence constantly get bitten (and turn into zombies - at least THIS zombie rule still applies). And then there is the main "plot" which reduces zombies to side characters! For some reason the "writer-director-actor" Bookwalter ("Call me Ed Wood") thought that viewers are more interested in seeing cops fight some silly little religious cult than zombies themselves. Big mistake. (Still, not that a different plot would have mattered; this film was destined to fail: its humble piggy-bank origins combined with the talentlessness of its witless creator would have seen to that.) The acting is ATROCIOUS. The dialog is so inept and dull that it would have been re-written even by the what-does-"rewrite"-even-mean Ed Wood. The only thing that was handled well is the special-effects gore. (I guess even piggy-bank money can buy enough red paint.) Another positive thing about the movie is its mercifully short length - and that's not counting the 10-minute(!) end-credits. The end-credits look like a kind of post-production celebration party by all the idiots involved, in which they indulge themselves shamelessly, and with some rather pathetic attempts at humour. For example: the movie's "accounting" is listed as "pseudo-accounting". What they forgot to do is replace "direction" with "pseudo-direction", "cinematography" with "pseudo-cinematography" (or "non-cinematography", or "some guy holding the camera"), and so on. The music was "pseudo-composed" by Bookwalter, the songs being so bad and under-produced that they can be easily mistaken for the sound of a big pile of s*** getting flushed down a toilet.

The Dud Next Door.......

[davendes · 1/10 · 16 August 2005]

With a voice dub from the always awesome Bruce Campbell, oodles of "cult classic" comments/reviews, and a DVD release from Anchor Bay, you'd be led to believe this is truly a lost gem resurfaced. Wrong, wrong, WRONG.

Give a 18-ish man-boy (J.R. Bookwalter) two weeks worth of grocery money and let him indulge his crippled "genius" through a Super-8, and this is what you get. Every minute of this movie is saturated in ineptitude. The plot is unimaginative to the extreme, the gore is laughable, the acting is beyond HORRIBLE, and the original actors voices have been clumsily dubbed back in (why???) complete with loads of woodenness.

Looking for something more specific? How about that most of the characters in this movie have names like Raimi, Carpenter, Savini, etc., and get this- The zombie loving cult leader's name is Rev. Jones. Wow, how original; must have taken weeks to come up with that one. The "sets" are a real joy to behold too. Double-wides, abandoned houses, and a high school serve oh-so-realistically as hi-tech labs, government offices and a cult headquarters. Get the idea?

"TDND" isn't low-budget- It's NO-budget and worthless in every aspect. Bookwalter is still at it today, nearly twenty years later, and is just as talent deprived (ie- Ozone) as he was when this piece of trash first came out. Surprise, surprise.

(The 1 star- It's for Campbell.)

Gore and nothing else. Nothing.

[gridoon · 2/10 · 24 March 2003]

"The Dead Next Door" is a nearly plotless exercise in extreme gore. Certainly the entire miniscule budget must have gone into the creation of the gore effects (which are juicy, to say the least), because all the other technical aspects (lighting, visual clarity, staging of the action scenes) are atrocious. It's hard to really hate the film, because you know it means well....but that doesn't mean that you won't be looking at your watch frequently, even though it runs only 80 minutes. (*)

Lots of imagination, Low Budget

[spacemonkey_fg · 6/10 · 23 August 2005]

Title: The Dead Next Door (1988)

Director: J.R. Bookwalter

Cast: Pete Ferry, Bogdan Pecic, Michael Grossi, Robert Kokai

Review: When I was starting out as a horror fan, I tried to get myself up to date with as many horror films as I could. I wanted to become an expert so I quickly rented/bought as many horror films as I could get my monkey paws on. In my research across the net for films that I had not seen, one name constantly came up whenever zombie films were mentioned: The Dead Next Door. So boy was I ever happy when I head this film would finally make its way on to DVD! My curiosity for this hard to find zombie flick would finally be quenched!

As in many if not all zombie movies, the world is being inexplicably overrun by hoards of the undead. As a counter measure the government of the United States creates a "zombie squad". A group of heavily armed government funded soldiers who's mission is to go around destroying as many zombies as they can. But hold on. Not everyone in this world wants zombies to be destroyed. There's this religious cult who wants nothing more then to let the zombies roam free in the world. And if God wants to exterminate humans by sending the zombies to do the job for him...then so be it!

OK, first off. This movie is low budget. And I'm not talking House of the Dead low budget, where a director gets a few million dollars to make his zombie opus. I'm talking really low budget. The type of low budget were everybody works for free (even the actors!) and the extras are all your friends. I'm talking about those independent films where one ambitious fan boy (in this case director J.R. Bookwalter) will do anything to make his own horror film as a homage to all his horror heroes. Its very similar to other ultra low budget horror fare like The Deadly Spawn and Leif Jonkers Darkness. Films that were made solely because there's people out there who love horror films, want to have some fun and have tons and tons of imagination.

The fan boy element can be seen right from the get go, where the movie opens up with an actual zombie going into a video store...selecting Dawn of the Dead, The Evil Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Creepshow from the store shelf, going up to the video store clerk and eating him alive. Also most of the characters in the film are named after a famous horror director. Be ready for most of the characters calling each other Raimi, Carpenter, King, Jason, Vincent and so on. So its obvious that the makers of this film are horror buffs.

In spite of its meager budget the film managed be very interesting. There's a lot of cool little ideas thrown here and there that I had not seen on any other zombie flick. For example before Land of the Dead ever came up with their own little zombie killing squad, this movie had already thought it up. I loved the idea of that. I also loved the idea about a religious cult who think that zombies should be left alone since they were sent by God to destroy humanity and make them pay for their sins. And I had never seen zombies with restraints in their faces so they couldn't bite you! Cool ideas even though you have little money to make your movie.

I also liked the make up effects which were actually pretty cool. He is uncredited but director Sam Raimi secretly funded this movie pitching in with a little money...and its obvious that that little bit of money went to the zombie effects. There's some cool looking rotting corpses in here and I gotta give the movie kudos for that.

On the downside the film looks like if it was lit with a flashlight. And I'm not exaggerating, sometimes actors are on the scene and they don't even show up because its so dark! The quality of the lighting was what really messed up this film. If only it had been well lit, it wouldn't feel so amateurish. As it is, you can tell that these were just a bunch of kids learning how to make a movie. Which isn't bad because as a result the film has a certain energy and imagination that other films lack, but on a technological level the movie suffered.

The acting is pretty bad as well. I'm not going to go into just how bad some of the performances are cause it kind of gives the film a certain fun element of goofiness. I actually dug the bad dialog and the bad acting.

All in all, not a bad zombie film. There's a lot of gore and zombie action to keep any zombie fan happy. I mean every five seconds there's a zombie related incident that usually ends up with some one getting their throats ripped off in a very Tom Savini kind of way. You know, lots of tendons and muscles. So anyhows, even though this film is so very low budget, the love and energy and imagination put into it shows. And it translates into an enjoyable and fun (yet cheap) zombie film.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Secret Comedy Gem

[otsenrah · 7/10 · 8 May 2010]

Based on many of the other reviews that have been posted, you may think that this movie sucks. In a way, you're right. If you're looking for a good scary movie to add to your collection, this movie is not for you. However, if you're in the market for an unintentionally hilarious flick disguised as a zombie-bomb, then look no further. This movie had my friends and I laughing every few seconds throughout. The dialog in this movie is rib-ticklingly awful, but the execution of the dialog is even worse. One member of the zombie squad unconvincingly tells a zombie to "have a nice day" before cutting its obviously puppetish head off with a machete. I think Bookwalter must have made this movie so hilariously bad intentionally. Mr Bookwalter, if you're reading this, I just want to tell you that you're a genius and that I appreciate your skill and sense of humor.

This movie was a terrible waste of my life!

[wangchung8080 · 1/10 · 25 December 2005]

I went to "Best Buy" one day browsing through the horror section and I happened to glance at the movie "The Dead Next Door" and i had before read reviews on numerous websites that stated it is a fun and enjoyable cheesy horror b-movie...BIG MISTAKE buying this movie...The Budget not only made the movie cheesy and sh$#ty but the acting was Horrendous!!! I almost could have believed that a few young kids made this movie with ketchup and other home appliances...Basically, the plot was lacking and the acting stank-ed.

I would never recommend anyone to go out and buy/watch this movie on account that you will feel used and bored half of the time.

The worst movie I've ever seen. Don't miss it.

[guru-12 · 3 November 1999]

If you have a love of godawful horror movies, unending patience, and a large supply of alcohol, watch The Dead Next Door. "The Most Expensive Super-8 Film Ever Made." Need I say more? If so, how about the fact that Bruce Campbell--Ash himself--makes an uncredited voice appearance? Or...how about the fact that the movie really has absolutely zero redeeming qualities? That must surely make it a winner!

So bad it's NOT good

[Thom-P · 1/10 · 17 September 1999]

Depressingly awful. Looks like the director cast his mechanic, postman and a truck stop waitress in the lead roles, resulting in the type of performances typical of porn movies. I've seen more atmosphere in my father's 8mm home movies. Even hardcore horror fans will be pressed to find anything enjoyable about this bottom-feeder. It's actually packaged as a "Collector's Edition" and includes a "Making of..." documentary tagged on at the end, as if to suggest this is a "classic" to be cherished for the ages. Hopefully the director was able to get his job back at the bottle-capping factory after the shoot. Nobody should see this movie.

simply a bloody good time (for zombie fans)

[movieman_kev · 7/10 · 27 April 2007]

Deep in Akron, Ohio a father and his daughter board themselves up into their cellar to escape from the dead who've been brought back to life. Thus begins J.R. Bookwalter's first and arguably best film to date. Having to do with a group of government-sponsored 'zombie squad' and their adventures defeating the hordes of the living dead as well as a fanatical religious cult, this is actually pretty good. Now please understand that good is a very subjective term, most non-horror fans will openly dismiss this film as poorly acted, highly derivative crap. And yes they would have a point about the acting as well as it having more than a passing resemblance to "dawn of the dead", "Evil Dead" and a few other films. However one can plainly see that this movie has heart. I'm more apt to forgive the film for it's shortcomings simply because I was entertained for the duration of the very low budget zombie homage. Plus Bruce Campbell always rocks (even if it's just his voice)

My Grade: B-

Poorly made and shabby, but fun, low budget zombie rubbish

[The_Void · 6/10 · 5 September 2005]

If you don't like zombie movies, you'd be best off making sure that you never see The Dead Next Door...but if you do like zombie flicks, this might provide some amusement. While the film is never exceptional (even in the low budget zombie sub-genre), it does have some positive aspects, which pull it out of the truly abysmal. Despite it's more than obvious low budget, it's clear that the producers of this flick wanted to do some things with the genre that haven't been done before. Of course, by 1988; zombie films had pretty much been explored to the max, but fairly original ideas such as the religious cult that want the zombies protected and the thing with half-human, half-zombie give this film some things to call it's own. The plot is a straight Romero-rip off, and it sees the world being plagued by zombies. We follow a team of government agents calling themselves 'Zombie Squad', whose task it is to, basically, kill zombies. Their job is made more difficult by a cult of religious weirdo's, who strangely think that the zombie is worth saving...

On the technical side, everything about this film is rubbish. The script is ridiculous, and little gems like "I'm a zombie now" show this. The acting matches the script, and once again is a load of rubbish. Someone called Pete Ferry takes the lead role, and does his best impression of Bruce Campbell. He's not the king of B-movies, but his performance does ensure that it's obvious that this movie isn't to be taken seriously. The closing credit of 'you have just witnessed the awesome talents of:' is a nice touch, and shows that the crew were only having a laugh while making this film. The special effects are gory and disgusting, but also very stupid and impossible to take seriously. Still, they beat lazy effects like those of Resident Evil (the movie) hands down. The way that a lot of the characters have been given horror director names, such as Raimi, shows that the makers are fans of this sort of film, and that fact might even be inspiring if this production wasn't so unprofessional. On the whole, there's no denying that this isn't very good; but on the other hand, it's a decent waste of time and there's definitely something here for zombie fans.

An unassuming zombie flick brought to fruition on zip budget, admittedly had its occasional moments.

[quadbastard · 3/10 · 29 July 2007]

When I first approached this, I was not half expecting something more crude and nasty, but instead I found this to be mildly entertaining and an inoffensive ode to the classics of the genre, e.g. 'Night of The Living Dead', 'The Evil Dead', et all.

Something about this I particularly enjoyed was the tongue in cheek, often self-mocking sense of humour, with such things as a zombie frequenting a video store, and its subsequent choice selection of tapes to rent, and there is a plethora of other in jokes which should please real fans. Other more satirical things like protesters congregating for the civil rights of zombies, and also a religious cult of fanatics which believe it is Gods' will that the un dead becomes the successors to the human race. I suppose many of these little touches go to lengths in characterising the movie.

As for the acting here, every player gives Oscar winning Jack Nicholson style performances, um, er, . . . I jest of course, seriously though, all of these willing unknowns do try, and seemingly give their best, and granted the somewhat underdeveloped threadbare script to work with, I think in most case's make up for general lack of natural talent with more gumption and enthusiasm.

The director\producer\writer here gives many of the characters names of established horror directors, like calling the main protagonist Raimi, and another one is called Doctor Savini. , And so on. On a side note, Fred Dekker took a similar approach with 'Night of The Creeps' released a couple of years later.

One of the problems that pull the rug from under this movie is that there is just too many characters, and none are really fleshed out properly, and there isn't really anything under lying the story to get your teeth into (sorry) making this rather chaotic and boring at times.

Effects wise, this has a few good moments, with occasional scenes which sport a zombie that has proper prosthetic makeup, which does look quite good taking into account the minimal resources. Also, some limited special gore effects, such as blood squirting and twitching body parts, which are done here in the style of Sam Raimi's aforementioned sleeper. Other than this however, most effects constitute just extras running around with some green paint smeared on their faces, as you might come to expect.

Overall, 'The Dead Next Door' remain a fairly decent zombie outing, and given the production values and time spent in development, can be looked at as a sort of achievement in its own right. Some chuckles and decent effects save it from being a complete waste of time, and I think it is more worthwhile than many modern horror efforts.

I can't recommend this one to everybody, but non-discriminating horror movie goers, and real splatter aficionado's will most likely get a bit of a kick out of it.

An independent classic

[fulcigore · 9/10 · 29 April 2007]

The Dead Next Door is one of hundreds of zombie splatterfests that are churned out by indy directors every decade. Most of these movies fall into obscurity, only to be discovered by the curious horror nut looking for some z-grade zombie gore. While I don't consider my self an expert on these such films, I have seen my fair share. And I have to say, this film is the best of the best.

The Dead Next Door is first time director J.R. Bookwalter's Super 8 zombie epic with the modest $80,000 budget backed by Sam Raimi himself, with voices dubbed by Bruce Campbell and countless zombie film references slipped in everywhere.

It follows the story of a force constructed to resist an outbreak of the living dead briefly explained in the beginning of the film. The force captures zombies for study by Doctor Savini (Zombie movie reference #2435) in order to find a cure. The main plot of the film is about the corps discovering a mad cult led by mysterious sunglass – clad Reverend Jones. The cult protects and practically worships the living dead and our heroes have to go through them to kill the zombies.

There are definitely some memorable images, such as zombies on the capital steps and a group of protesters campaigning for zombie rights – who all get devoured by zombies. Altogether it is a great film with cool gore effects and an OK storyline for a B movie. Some of the actors are alright, and the references are priceless. If you enjoy a good zombie flick, check this out.

Hum, don't judge a movie by it's cover...

[buchass · 4/10 · 22 September 2005]

Well, what can i say, it was one of the most low budget films i ever seen before,not the best footage and the acting is poor, but it was an original "zombie" film, full of gory scenes, and reasonable story, but the budget is too low, its a pity.. One more thing, why the hell Pete Ferry's (the main character) voice is dubbed by Bruce Campell(Evil Dead 1, 2 and 3)? I think we never know :p only Jr.Bookwalter(the director). "Dead Next Door", its a ultra "Z" movie, very cheesy.. I recommend only for the "big" Zombie flick fans. If you like this movie, i recommend:

"Chopper Chicks in Zombietown" (troma movie) and "Zombie Cop" (another one from Jr.Bookwalter)

There is NO EXCUSE for this Crap!

[Frosty_RSIFX · 1/10 · 7 September 2010]

This movie is stupid. For real. And not the good kind of stupid, either.

I understand that it is a low-budget film (Not a No-Budget film, like JR Bookwalter might want us to believe.) And that means that there are inherent restrictions, when it comes to production value. But that doesn't even BEGIN to explain what went wrong with this heap. Even if you don't have a budget, it doesn't mean that your plot has to make NO sense. It doesn't mean that your dialog has to be unimaginative. It doesn't mean your characters have to be one-dimensional and forgettable. It doesn't mean that your film has to lack any semblance of pace, tension or originality. You see, talent doesn't cost a penny. Not even in 1989. And it is clear that JR Bookwalter couldn't buy talent if he had ALL of Sam Raimi's cash. This guy had a camera, film, a group of actors and a sizable chunk of capitol from Mr Raimi. There is no reason he couldn't have come up with something better than this. Raimi was wise to keep his name off of this disaster.

And before you think that I'm taking this movie too seriously, let me tell you a little story. It might adequately illustrate how awful this movie is. And it might keep you from doing something stupid, like purchasing this movie.

I have a group of friends who are film-geeks, like myself. Every week, they have a "Bad Movie Night" where they drink beer and watch bad movies for the sole purpose of making fun of them. I told them that this was the worst ever and let them borrow the disc. The next day, they returned the movie, and they were actually MAD at me for loaning it to them! Apparently, this movie was SO BAD that it RUINED BAD MOVIE NIGHT! One of them told me that they couldn't even enjoy making fun of it, because it was like making fun of a developmentally challenged orphan. These people went into this thing with the lowest expectations possible. They weren't taking it seriously at all. And they disliked it that much. Get the picture?

I am giving this movie one star, because that is the lowest rating available. In reality, I give it -10 stars. Its just plain terrible.