The Disturbing Horror Flop Getting A Second Chance On Amazon
It's just a prank, bro. That's the excuse many people use when they're up to no good and get in over their heads. Of course, those aren't the harmless pranks on The Office or the prank wars that were waged on the sets of Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead; we're talking about pranks that can actually hurt people, or worse. Someone turned that premise into a horror movie, which didn't receive as much attention as envisioned until it released on streaming platforms. As such, viewers are now checking out 2016's The Good Neighbor, starring Logan Miller (Benjamin on The Walking Dead) and Keir Gilchrist (Paul on It Follows) as Ethan and Sean, teenagers who want to prank their neighbor Harold Grainey (James Caan).
But instead of falling back on simple pranks like placing a rubber snake in Grainey's mailbox, they sneak into his house and rig it up to fake a haunting. Except, despite pushing 80, nothing fazes Grainey. In fact, he reacts in such a hostile manner that Ethan and Sean are convinced Grainey might be an axe murderer. While the movie's scares and story ramp up from there, it initially failed to impress audiences. But streaming services such as Amazon have proven they can breathe new life into box-office flops, and The Good Neighbor is no different.
The Good Neighbor was murdered by critics and box office returns
When The Good Neighbor was released in theaters, critics were less than thrilled. Many reviews cited a lack of suspense and unfavorably compared the film to a similar movie. For instance, The Los Angeles Times' reviewer said "The dreary lack of suspense in this tweaked Rear Window scenario, and our inability to care one whit for two cruel, arrogant bullies operating under a perceived notion that they're social scientists, makes this one tough going." Meanwhile, Variety's reviewer explained "There's not much real suspense stirred here by a premise that straddles recent found-footage thrillers and Rear Window."
While a low review score doesn't necessarily guarantee a movie's flop status (The Good Neighbor sits at 33% on Rotten Tomatoes), the film was killed by its box office returns. You don't really need to know The Good Neighbor's budget when you see that the movie's worldwide returns are a downright microscopic $90,573, according to Box Office Mojo; unless The Good Neighbor had the budget of Paranormal Activity ($15,000), there's almost no way it made any sort of profit. Still, the film is doing pretty well for itself on Amazon Prime and has accrued a solid four-star rating.