The best and worst movies and TV shows about feuding neighbors

Poor L.B. Jefferies. He’s a well-paid professional photographer. Grace Kelly really wants to marry him. It’s a hard life. Okay, so during this film, he is in the last days of being stuck in his apartment, in a wheelchair, due to a broken leg. In Hitchcock’s thriller, that leaves Jefferies occupied with what is largely benign voyeurism. When he comes to think that one of the people across the street has murdered his wife, though, a battle begins.

When we meet the folks living on the cul-de-sac at the center of Joe Dante’s “The ‘Burbs,” they are dealing with some of the traditional, minor grievances of neighbors. However, in their restless Suburban life, some of the people on the street come to wonder about the Klopeks, a family that keeps to themselves. When one of the neighbors goes missing, suddenly paranoia about the Klopeks reaches epic proportions.

Is Charley Brewer a teenager who has watched too many horror movies? Or is his new neighbor actually a vampire seducing and killing women to feast on their blood? Well, it wouldn’t be much of a horror movie if it were the former. Charley, his friends, and a horror host roped into the proceedings, have to stay one step ahead of Jerry. After all, not every bad neighbor is liable to drink your blood.

The Bramford seems like a nice building, and New York City real estate is not easy to come by. Poor Rosemary, though, never could have imagined what kind of neighbors she would have. Let’s just say that Satan has a lot of sway in the Bramford. “Rosemary’s Baby” was a big hit, and it was also critically acclaimed. That was before people were talking about “elevated horror” as well.

“Neighbors” is probably just on the right side of “good” on this list. Obviously, we wanted to include a movie literally called “Neighbors” if at all feasible. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play a couple with a baby who sees a fraternity move into the house next door. That leads to a feud, then a war, between neighbors, with Rogen and Zac Efron in particular going head-to-head.

“Neighbors’ was a big hit, and Rogen and Efron were bankable stars at the time, so we get why they decided to make a sequel. The problem was what, exactly, could they do for said sequel? The best they came up with is “What if it were a sorority this time?” They even had to figure out how to shoehorn Efron (and Dave Franco) back in. This isn’t a terrible movie, but it is definitely not good, so we included it to pair with “Neighbors” and to remind us that a sequel isn’t always the best idea. After all, “Sorority Rising” cost twice as much to make and generated less than half the box office.

On paper, “Arlington Road” doesn’t seem like it would be included here as one of the worst movies about warring neighbors. Jeff Bridges plays a history professor in Washington, D.C. who comes to believe his seemingly ideal neighbors, Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack, are domestic terrorists in hiding. Maybe the issue is that the screenwriter has largely done action movies (including a few “Transformers” films) and the director is a guy you’ve never heard of. “Arlington Road” is an unsatisfying ride. The twists are dull, the atmosphere airless. Somebody should take another crack at a movie like this.

Christmas movies about conflict, be it between family, neighbors, or Grinches, are common. It’s a juxtaposition between holiday cheer and harsh feuds. “Deck the Halls” is the worst version of this we can think of, a failure both critically and commercially. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito (a real red flag in 2006 right out of the gate) as neighbors in a fight to have the most extravagant holiday decorations on their house and in their yard.

Some John Grisham adaptations have been successful. You know, the ones based on his legal thrillers. “Skipping Christmas” is a comedic novel by Grisham. A middle-aged couple, played by Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, decide they aren’t going to celebrate Christmas. This, for whatever reason, irks all their neighbors. There are less plausible premises for comedy movies, but usually they have something fun and dynamic going for them. “Christmas with the Kranks” does not.

Director D.J. Caruso has a rough filmography, but “Disturbia” stands out on the positive front. Maybe the fact it is heavily indebted to “Rear Window” helps. Shia LaBeouf (back when his presence in a film was neutral to positive) plays a teenager on house arrest. Like L.B. Jefferies, he takes to watching his neighbors. Also like Jefferies, he comes to believe one of them has committed murder.

Here, again, we have a movie that lives up to the premise of this list as well as any. It’s a movie about feuding neighbors literally called “Neighbors.” Our only problem was deciding which side of the ledger it belongs on. John Belushi, in his final film role, plays the straight man to Dan Aykroyd’s doing-a-lot-of-business character. The dark comedy was based on a successful satirical novel, and they got “MASH” scribe Larry Gelbart to write the screenplay. Then, Belushi and Aykroyd turned the production into a chaotic mess, heavily rewrote the script, and constantly tried to get director John G. Avildsen fired. Ultimately, that leaves the film too uneven and probably lands it in the “worst” category.

When “European Vacation” failed, they decided to bring the Griswolds back, but this time the “vacation” would not be a trip, but the time of year when people get off from work and school for the Christmas holiday. Much of “Christmas Vacation,” the choice of many for the best film in the franchise, is about the Griswolds. However, don’t forget the ongoing battle with the Chesters next door, a recurring element of the movie that is enough of a part of the plot to get “Christmas Vacation” included.

For two talented guys, Ben Stiller and Jack Black have made a lot of forgettable comedies. “Envy” is best forgotten, though, and we had indeed forgotten it until looking up movies for this piece. Stiller and Black play two guys who are friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Black gives Stiller a chance to invest in a new product he’s invented, and Stiller turns him down. When the product is a hit, and Black gets rich, well, Stiller deals with having a friend and neighbor who is now more successful than him. Not a terrible premise, but the execution in “Envy” is bad. The whole thing is a snooze and an abject flop.

Hey, Ben Stiller is back! So is Danny DeVito, who directed “Duplex” and served as the narrator. Stiller and Drew Barrymore play a couple who buy the bottom floor of a duplex, assuming the elderly woman upstairs will die soon, and then they can buy the whole house. However, the old woman proves to be a nightmare neighbor, leaving the couple to wonder if they can hold on waiting for her to die. It’s one of those classic DeVito “dark comedies” that are dark, but not actually funny.

Onto television. Only a few shows made the cut. “Dennis the Menace” is an early sitcom (1959-1963) based on the comic strip. The thing everybody remembers about “Dennis the Menace” is how much his neighbor, Mr. Wilson, gets aggravated with him. Of course, this feud is not typical. One, it is unidirectional, as Mr. Wilson is constantly irked with Dennis, but Dennis is well-meaning and doesn’t realize the frustration he causes. Plus, Dennis is a child, and this was a 1960s sitcom, so the feud can only be so intense.

“Family Matters” was originally about the Winslow family. Then, one day, the neighbor Steve Urkel stopped by. Soon enough, the show would be so centered on Urkel that one of the Winslow kids would straight-up disappear from the cast. By the end of the show, Urkel and Winslow's patriarch, Carl, would be, like, traveling through time and fighting cavemen. Like Dennis, Urkel was an unintentional menace, but the show became all about him annoying the Winslows. We’d consider this in the “worst” category, by the way. Urkel is iconic, but he isn’t funny.

There are basically three factors driving most episodes of “Bewitched.” One: Darren does not want Samantha to do magic, but she does it anyway. Two: Samantha’s mother, Endora, showing up and messing with Darren. Three: The Stephens’ nosy neighbor, Gladys Kravitz, sees somebody doing magic and tries to expose Samantha’s secret. Neither the Kravitzes nor the Stephenses are terribly malicious in their intent; the conflict is constant. Also, Dick York over Dick Sargent all day.

We end with the best show about neighbors in conflict. After all, somebody in the Arconia has always murdered, and is usually still looking to murder. Meanwhile, our podcasting trio is trying to catch said murderer. Also, Uma is always annoyed with somebody in the building, even if homicide isn’t involved.