Directed by Josh Forbes and written by Mike Benner, Jared Logan and Charles A. Pieper, struggling prog-rock musician William Brown finds himself in a living nightmare when he accidentally kills Vlad, the neighbour from hell. Starring: Jonah Ray, Alex Winter, Kiran Deol, Randee Heller, Pete Ploszek, DeMorge Brown, Jon Daly, Thomas Lennon and Ryan Kattner.

Some films are simply destined for a specific audience and Destroy All Neighbors is one of them. It’s not your average, accessible film, it has a very particular style that feels as though it was made for, and by, a generation who grew up enjoying Troma releases. Going into it completely blind, as a person who doesn’t enjoy gross out, over the top or outlandish horror, is definitely not advised.

Your whole enjoyment of the film is going to be based on that premise, if you love your horror the more ridiculous the better, then this is for you. For the wider audience, it can be overly absurd, play out rather messily and struggle to hold your attention. It feels as though it only truly finds its footing in the ending, the tone firmly establishes itself after testing out a few different options. It embraces the comedic side more and has a certain confidence, it’s just a shame that everything earlier feels unsure what it’s going for. For the most part it can be enjoyable but quite forgettable.

Similar could be said of the performances, Jonah Ray is absolutely solid in the lead but William is a fairly average character for most of Destroy All Neighbors. He finds himself in an utterly bizarre and unravelling situation but the situation itself has more personality and energy than he does as a character.

Alex Winter is unrecognisable as Vlad, he’s loud, in your face and freaky which feels like a perfect fit for Winter, who seems to have a great time with the role. The blend of different characters works well, the ensemble brings more personality into the mix but it’s in a very nonsensical manner. Although, there is a particularly good cameo from Kumail Nanjiani, which hits a great comedic note.

Destroy All Neighbors is entertaining but won’t work for everyone, it’s absurdist and trying to throw as much at you as it can, which has a mixed success. The story trips and falls through some violent accidents, feeling fairly random and non-committal before it arrives at its big finale, which is well done. The performances are good, the direction is filled with colour and boisterous personality but everything doesn’t quite come together until its final moments, and by then it’s a little late.

Verdict: ✯✯✯ | 6/10

Available now on Shudder