The Boys Next Door (1985 film)

The Boys Next Door
DVD cover
Directed by	Penelope Spheeris
Written by	Glen Morgan James Wong
Produced by	Sandy Howard Keith Rubinstein
Starring	Charlie Sheen Maxwell Caulfield
Cinematography	Arthur Albert
Edited by	Andy Horvitch
Music by	George S. Clinton
Distributed by	New World Pictures
Release date	October 1985 (1985-10)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million

The Boys Next Door is a 1985 American adventure-crime drama film about two boys who leave their small town home on the day of their high school graduation and embark on a crime and murder spree.

Plot

Roy Alston (Maxwell Caulfield) and Bo Richards (Charlie Sheen) are two outcasts of their high school community. Bo receives $200 as a graduation gift from his grandparents. Facing a lifetime of working blue-collar factory jobs, the boys spontaneously decide to use the money to go on a vacation to Los Angeles.

During the drive to Los Angeles, Bo and Roy rob a gas station and beat the attendant with a crowbar. The next day, the boys go to a beach boardwalk, where Roy throws an empty beer bottle in the air and it hits an elderly woman on the forehead. Three young women see this, and chase Bo and Roy to the parking lot. The women yell at the boys and damage their car. Enraged, Roy starts the car and drives around in circles in the parking lot with the woman still on the hood. After several loops, Roy throws the car into reverse, throwing one of the women from the hood of the car. After the incident, one of the women finds Bo and Roy's dog, Boner the Barbarian, and reads his dogtag, which leads to speculation of where Bo and Roy are from.

During a visit to La Brea Tar Pits, Bo expresses his wish that the world could just "go caveman" for one day, abandoning all rules and order. Roy agrees, and they hit the streets of Los Angeles for the night.

Several additional encounters lead to more deaths, including a gay man named Chris, a young couple, and an older woman named Angie Baker (Patti D'Arbanville), whom Roy kills and rapes while she is having sex with Bo. Eventually they are tracked and found by the LAPD and chased into a shopping mall. After unsuccessfully trying to steal some guns, Bo tries to talk some sense into Roy about surrendering. Roy refuses, and orders Bo to give him the gun so he can go out in a "blaze of glory". Bo refuses and shoots Roy when he tries to take the gun away. The police surround Bo and ask him why he killed his friend. Bo replies, "Because I had to." Bo is then arrested and led away while reporters take his picture.

Cast

• Charlie Sheen as Bo Richards
• Maxwell Caulfield as Roy Alston
• Patti D'Arbanville as Angie Baker
• Christopher McDonald as Detective Mark Woods
• Hank Garrett as Detective Ed Hanley
• Grant Heslov as Joe Gonzales
• Moon Unit Zappa as Nancy
• Dawn Schneider as Bonnie Roberts
• Kurt Christian as Shakir
• Blackie Dammett as Bartender

MPAA Cuts

According to director Penelope Spheeris' DVD commentary, The Boys Next Door had to be cut and submitted to the MPAA 10 times to get an R rating. Scenes that were cut or changed include; Scene where gas attendant is beat up was shortened to lessen the intensity and sound effects were toned down. A scene depicting the murder of gay man was cut down (mostly sound effects were heavily toned down). A scene in which Roy shakes and kills a woman was heavily cut down, with various shots removed to lessen the intensity.

Also Known As

• Big Shots
• No Apparent Motive (Australia/New Zealand video title)
• Blind Rage (USA) (working title (video title))
• Death Takes a Holiday (USA) (working title)

External links

• The Boys Next Door at IMDb