The Good Neighbor (film)
| The Good Neighbor | |
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| Directed by | Kasra Farahani |
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| Music by | Andrew Hewitt |
| Cinematography | Alexander Alexandrov |
| Edited by | Kathy Gatto |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Vertical Entertainment |
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Release date
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Good Neighbor is a 2016 American thriller film directed by Kasra Farahani and written by Mark Bianculli and Jeff Richard. The film stars James Caan, Logan Miller and Keir Gilchrist. The film released on September 16, 2016, by Vertical Entertainment.
Ethan (Miller) and Sean (Gilchrist) are tech-savvy high-school teenagers who decide to prank their neighbor, Harold Grainey (Caan), by convincing him that his house is haunted. When Grainey leaves home one afternoon, the two set up equipment to simulate the haunting, as well as hidden cameras which will broadcast Grainey's reactions.
As the basis for a school project, Ethan requests Sean's assistance in setting up hidden cameras at Grainy's home so both can view a person's unfiltered reaction to being haunted by a poltergeist, despite Sean's initial reservations. The cameras are set up so that both can monitor Grainey's reactions for 6 weeks live from computers in Ethan's bedroom. Grainey has a reputation for being hostile, a recluse, and a "creepy old man" in the neighbourhood, which makes it easier for Ethan to justify choosing him as his subject.
Ethan starts to initiate activities aimed at unsettling Grainey, to make him believe the house is haunted, including making the kitchen door bang loudly in the middle of the night, disabling the heating system (which causes the bedroom window to shatter because of the freezing temperature), and activating the music player in the middle of the night.
But both Sean and Ethan are mystified by Grainey's ability to withstand all these strange occurrences. In one instance, they observe Grainey being disturbed by all the strange noises and then going down to the house's basement. The duo are not able to observe what he does, as they were not able to set up a camera there. Grainey goes down at about 11:30 p.m. and only emerges after 7:30 a.m. This leaves Ethan perplexed, and he vows to determine the reason.
Throughout the movie, we are shown flashbacks of Grainey and his wife. These flashbacks are all linked with the "paranormal" activities that the boys try to use to unsettle Grainey. For example, a flashback shows Grainey's wife dancing to music at 3am and crying and one of the activities the boys do is play the same music at a similar time. Another example is how Grainey's wife used to complain about the door not shutting correctly and banging. The first activity the boys did was slam the door continously, leading to Grainey destroying it with an axe.
In the meantime, Ethan throws a Halloween party, and Sean and his new girlfriend decide to make out in a spare bedroom. His girlfriend notices a camera installed on top of the bed, which leaves Sean enraged. In an argument with Ethan, Sean discloses to Ethan that he knows the true reason why Ethan has targeted Grainey: Grainey was responsible for sending Ethan's father to jail many years ago. Ethan's father was an alcoholic who beat his wife regularly. During one such episode, Ethan's mother ran up to Grainey seeking his help. Grainey informed the police which led to Ethan's father being jailed and ultimately getting divorced from his wife. Ethan believes Grainey is responsible for destroying his family and making him lose his father.
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