Movies / Movie Reviews

The Boys Next Door (1985)

By Hervé St-Louis
June 19, 2022 - 11:08

Roy Alston and Bo Richards are graduating high school seniors who decide to go on a road trip to Los Angeles feeling that no one understands them at home, after one prank too many. But quickly the violent and psychopathic Roy starts beating innocent people the pair stumble upon leading them to a serial killing spree after an encounter with a gay man at a gay bar. While Bo would like to put an and to the murders, his sexually repressed pal wants to go on. How will this end for the small town suburban boys?

This movie was considered a tragic and horror film at once. It’s more of a thriller-slash movie with an underlying theme which is not often brought up. Perhaps it is to do with the times, but Roy was clearly a closeted homosexual who could not deal with his sexuality and attraction for Bo and other men. So decided to lash out and destroy everything in his path. When he sees Bo enjoy sex with an older woman, while he could not, he murders the woman in a fit of jealousy. The man was broken and his self-image so twisted, that he preferred becoming a predator and a serial killer instead of embracing his sexuality. Poor Bo had no clue about what was going on, except for his hero worship of his buddy.

This is a 1980s film, with shopping malls, bad film grain, and weird fashion choices, when the leads are not wearing blue jeans. This film has been compared to Natural Born Killer and a glorification to serial killer culture and as a morale panic tale about rowdy white suburban kids. This is not how I perceive this movie. The crucial drama was Roy’s repressed feelings and dissatisfaction with himself which was expressed through rage and murder. It is in some way a precursor to incel culture 40 years later.

Rating: 6.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12