1993 American film
| The Neighbor |
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| Directed by | Rodney Gibbons |
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| Written by | Kurt Wimmer |
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| Produced by | Tom Berry |
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| Starring | Rod Steiger
Linda Kozlowski |
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| Cinematography | Ludek Bogner |
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| Edited by | Robert E. Newton |
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| Music by | Milan Kymlicka |
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Production
companies | Allegro Films
Image Organization
Téléfilm Canada (produced in association with) Westwind |
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| Distributed by | Academy Entertainment |
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Release date | November 3, 1993 |
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Running time | 1hr 33min. |
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| Countries | United States
Canada |
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| Language | English |
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The Neighbor is a 1993 horror thriller film directed by Rodney Gibbons, starring Rod Steiger, Linda Kozlowski and Ron Lea.
Plot
The film is about an aging gynecologist (Rod Steiger) with a "killer instinct"[1] who terrorizes his urban neighbors (Linda Kozlowski and Ron Lea) in a rural community in Burlington, Vermont.
Production
While filming, Steiger commented on his character: "He¨s a person whose acts are villainous and sad, a sick person. Otherwise, I couldn't play him. I don't know how you do a villain. But I can understand a person having the psychosis". Opining that contemporary films were "all too violent for no reason", he iterated that The Neighbor was a thriller, "not a bloodbath".[2]
Reception
The film was not well received by critics. Dennis Schwartz considered it to have been one of Steiger's creepiest roles, believing that the poor script had rendered the role awkward and "mildly entertaining in the sense that Steiger is asked to carry the film and hams it up".[3] "Despite slick production values and some clever Hitchcockian touches, there is little to distinguish The Neighbor from formulaic made-for-TV fare", writes Cavett Binion for Allmovie, giving 3 of 5 stars.[4] Rod Steiger's performance has been described as "decent", though the movie is "extremely predictable".[5] In the Canadian press, the film was described as "an unpleasant Canadian effort" which for "some obscure reason ... made a brief pit stop in theatres last month before heading for video".[6]
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