Neighbors

Neighbors (1981)

Lock the doors... here come the Neighbors

One man's quiet suburban life takes a sickening lurch for the worse when a young couple move into the deserted house next door. From the word go it is obvious these are not the quiet professional types who *should* be living in such a nice street. As more and more unbelievable events unfold, our hero starts to question his own sanity... and those of his family.

Date of release
1981-12-18
TMDB
5.6 / 10 (163)
Runtime
1h 35m
Genres
Comedy
Director
John G. Avildsen

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Neighbors
  • Filmed in: New York City

Neighbors is a 1981 American black comedy film directed by John G. Avildsen and starring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cathy Moriarty, and Kathryn Walker. Based on the 1980 novel Neighbors by Thomas Berger, the film's plot follows the mild-mannered and conservative Earl Keese (Belushi) as his suburbanite life is upended by the arrival of his new neighbors, the chaotic and eccentric Victor Zeck (Aykroyd) and his sultry wife Ramona (Moriarty). The film takes liberties with Berger's story and features a more upbeat ending. The screenplay of the film is officially credited to Larry Gelbart, although it was extensively rewritten to Gelbart's public disapproval.

Production

Thomas Berger's best-selling novel, Neighbors, was published in 1980. Columbia Pictures acquired the rights to film the novel and assembled a high-profile cast and crew: Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown had produced Jaws (1975); John G.

The production of Neighbors was troubled. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd switched their roles in pre-production, acting against type (usual-wild man Belushi played the meek Earl Keese and usual-straight-arrow Aykroyd played the obnoxious Vic Zeck). Belushi and Aykroyd also argued constantly with director John G. Avildsen (as they believed that he had no understanding of comedy), and lobbied to have him removed from the picture.

Tom Scott was originally assigned to compose the score for Neighbors but was replaced by Avildsen's frequent collaborator Bill Conti. John Belushi unsuccessfully tried to have the film finish with a song written and performed by the punk rock group Fear (Belushi had discovered the band and brought them to Cherokee Studios to record songs for the film).

A comprehensive look at the troubled production of Neighbors can be found in the books Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi by Bob Woodward (1984) and Belushi: A Biography by Judith Belushi Pisano and Tanner Colby (2005).

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