Neighborhood Watch
screener submitted by Greame Whifler, director of the movie
Featured at BIFFF 2006
According to the press kit, Neighborhood Watch is one hell of a sick movie. It has had people faint on the spot. Razor Reel saw the screener for this ambitious horror flick and can only agree to that. Yet, the horror is not to be found in litres of blood, extreme violence or sexual abuse. No, Neighborhood Watch is real, it shows your childhood fears.
The idea is very simple. A young couple, Bob and Wendi settle in a company home in a peaceful suburban street. Bob will start his dream job at Zeecor, while Wendi takes care of the house. Everything looks perfectly normal. When Adrien Trumbull a seemingly friendly neighbour welcomes the new couple with a box of chocolates nothing seems wrong. However behind every perfect Neighborhood hides a dark secret. Touched by his kind words Bob & Wendi accept his token of friendship. Little do they know that behind his welcoming grin lurks a dark obsession with poison and self-mutilation. For Bob & Wendi the neighborhood will become a living nightmare, and when Wendi becomes Adrien’s object of desire, all hell is loose.
Neighborhood Watch is a psychological thriller, written by debuting feature film director Greame Whifler (best known for his videos for the Residents). The leading roles are taken up by Pell James (The King) as Wendi, Jack Hudson (Spartacus) as Bob, Meredith Morton (Octopus II, Alien Fury) as Evelyn Kurts and the unforgettable Nick Searcy (7 days, From the earth to the moon, One Hour Photo, Cast Away) in the role of the twisted and evil Adrien Trumbull.
According to Greame Whifler this story is based upon some true facts (the obsession with poisoning people & the self mutilation), that he combined and served as the basis for the plot. While the movie is very dark & often disturbing as hell, oddly enough, both cast & crew enjoyed themselves very much during shooting and had some very good laughs. It took Graeme no more then 18 days of shooting to complete the film which was entirely shot on location in Victorville, California. Director Greame Whifler’s intentions were clear, he wanted to make an entertaining movie as gross and frightening as possible with almost no actual violence.By doing so, the film becomes a disturbing suspense movie with a very realistic tone.
Think slicing open your own belly with a scalpel, tearing out & exploring your own organs, stabbing yourself (in the genitals) with hypodermic needles and you’ll come close to the gut- turning images of Neigborhood Watch. Totally disturbing and sick if you ask me, but very clever at the same time. According to the filmmakers there is at least one disturbing image of every bodily fluid a human can produce.
However don’t let this all frighten you. If you come to think of it, it’s all very hilarious and non gratuitous.
With this achievement, debuting feature film director Greame Whilfer is one step closer to stardom in the small world of independent fantastic movies and earned himself an entry ticket to BIFFF. I’m very curious about the reactions of the viewers at the BIFFF theatre. I won’t miss it for the world. Would it be the first BIFFF with fainting people…
more info on :
http://www.neighborhoodwatchthefilm.com
http://www.bifff.org