Synopsis

In Southern California, high-school student Todd Bowden discovers that his elderly neighbor is Kurt Dussander, a former Nazi war criminal living under an assumed name. Rather than exposing him, Todd blackmails Dussander into describing his past. Their increasingly disturbing relationship turns into a contest of manipulation, as the teenager's fascination with evil begins to erode his conscience.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film adapts Stephen King's novella from Different Seasons, the same collection that also includes the stories that became Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption.

• A previous attempt to film the story began in 1987 but was abandoned after its production company ran out of money. Approximately forty minutes of usable footage was left behind.

• The later production was filmed on location in Altadena, California, with a reported budget of $14 million.

• The adaptation shortened King's story, reduced some of its violence, and changed the ending for the screen.

• The filmmaker had read the novella at age 19 and pursued the project after the success of The Usual Suspects, choosing the darker material over other directing opportunities.

• The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 1998 before opening in the United States and Canada on October 23, 1998.

• The production received several genre and critics' awards, while the film itself became a commercial disappointment, earning approximately $8.9 million in the United States and Canada.