The Neighbor No. 13

We all have them, neighbors who are the height of irritation. Personally, I have had neighbors who've done everything from party all night long on work-nights to the guy who apparently doesn't know how to start his lawnmower. But, I just saw a movie about a neighbor that makes them all look like just petty annoyances! It's called The Neighbor No. 13 and it's a pretty good J-Horror movie!



Like most J-Horror movies, this one is far more layered than an American horror movie, the emphasis is on story over gore or effects, and that's what makes this movie scarier. The basic story is of Murasaki, a boy who has been bullied relentlessly in school. We meet him when the bullies are tormenting him with acid, and, after what seems to be an accident, the acid is spilled in Murasaki's face...flash forward to years later and Murasaki is living in a rundown apartment and who happens to move in above him? You got it, his bully! Murasaki then gets a job working construction with the bully, Akai, and sets about getting his revenge.

Now, what keeps this from being just another revenge movie is the character of Murasaki...or rather characters. You see, the trauma of being scarred has caused Murasaki to develop a second personality, Neighbor No. 13, and when it's time for a little violence or if Murasaki gets too angry, it's Neighbor No. 13 who comes to the front, killing even people who are friendly to him, if they're endangering his agenda.

The real beauty of Neighbor No. 13 is the writing, the view is first led down the path that Murasaki is just a wronged kid looking for avenge himself, then, as the movie moves on, we're asked to sympathize with Akai, the bully. It's one of the really great things about J-Horror, the stories are always pretty good, and they have something to them other than people being strapped to a chair and tortured! Neighbor No. 13 is a commentary on violence of all ages, it shows us that, yes, Akai is wrong for bullying when he was a kid, but Murasaki isn't any better now that he's grown up and bullying the bully...in other words, it's the old story of two wrongs not making a right, but with a better story! And, there's a twist ending that makes you question everything that happened during the entire movie!

I'm giving The Neighbor No. 13 four out of four cigars,

because it's not just a great suspense movie, it's also a great movie that could be used as a lesson to kids today. Let's just hope that when they make the American version (which you know they will) that they keep the same themes from the original and maybe go with a good writer over some pretty WB kids as stars! So, until next time, when I'll tell you about my school bully and the shallow grave that my friends helped me bury him in, remember that the best movies are bad movies!