Typical Teen Fare
 Jan 27th, 2008
Advantages:
Pretty decent performances, suspenseful at times,
Disadvantages:
Predictable, formulaic teen movie, apparently tries to be funny but I didn't feel that worked
Recommendable:
No
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to similar films?
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  IzzyS
About me:
Thanks for all r/r/c's everyone! Roll on the summer, say I! im off to Croatia and Slovenia to stay w...
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- Introduction - Disturbia is a suspense thriller that was covered in the media quite alot when it was originally released in the cinemas last year. Starring the up and coming actor Shia LaBeouf (who you may have also seen in Transformers), I'd heard that this movie was somewhat similar to Vacancy, which I quite enjoyed and so I decided to add this to my rental list. It just came out on DVD on Monday I believe, so I was lucky to get it so soon, though I have to say, I did find it a fair disappointment and im glad I purchased Vacancy on DVD and only rented this one! Maybe im being a bit unfair but I'll explain what I thought of this further on in the review, so keep reading to find out and feel free to leave comments if you agree or disagree... (I'm doing this as a film only review again because I haven't viewed all the bonus features)
- Main Credits (non-actors, which are mentioned further on in the review) -
Source:- IMDB (see:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486822/fullcredits) Director - D.J. Caruso
Story - Christopher Landon
Screenplay - Christopher Landon, Carl Ellsworth
Producers - Jacke Marcus, Joe Medjuck, E. Bennett Walsh
Associate Producer - Kwame L Parker
Executive Producers - Tom Pollock, Ivan Reitman
Cinematography - Rogier Stoffers
- Story (incl. main acting cast) - Disturbia starts with a car crash, where a car containing father and son crash, killing the father but the son survives. Next, the son (Kale, played by Shia LaBeouf), is shown at school some time later, during a Spanish lesson he proves less than enthusiastic and hits out at a teacher, leading to him being put on house arrest. He gets bored being stuck indoors and starts to spy on his neighbours from his room, first watching the new family move into the house next door, where he spots the daughter, Ashely (played by Sarah Roemer), who he has the hots for.
One night while spying on the neighbourhood, he spots the guy who
lives in the other house next door, who arrives home late at night with damage to his car and brings out a big black bag. Next day, his friend Ronnie (played by Aaron Yoo), tells him about the mysterious disappearance of a local girl, that could be linked to the death of many other girls in the area recently. Soon Ashley joins Kale and Ronnie and they embark on a stakeout in Kale's room, to see if they can spot anything else going on next door and see if there is something sinister going on.
Of course, you'll have to watch the movie to find out what happens next door and what they discover.
- Genre/Themes etc. -
This is a very typical teen suspense thriller movie. The themes are of privacy and voyeurism and of friendship to an extent.
- My Thoughts/Opinions -
This movie is, as mentioned above, a pretty typical teen suspense/thriller fare. It starts pretty slowly, making you wonder where (if anywhere) its going. Its got the usual elements, a guy who's bored and spots a 'hot new chick' that he fancies, who he tries to get close to and that also gets caught up in what happens.
The horror, where applicable, is pretty crude too, so I certainly wouldn't say that its breaking new ground. I didn't find it all that scary for a 15 rated movie. Vacancy is a similar movie that was recently released on DVD too and I have to say, I prefer that to this.
Once the suspense or horror part really kicks in, its not too bad, thought it is pretty predictable, its just about good enough to keep you watching until the end. There is, as you may expect, quite a voyeuristic aspect to the movie. Kale uses a/v (audio/visual) equipment in his room and Ronnie uses a camcorder to record what happens when he trespasses into the house next door, then later Kale watches the footage and at that time, its up to the viewers to guess with him, what he saw and so on.
It did seem a bit too formulaic I felt. One thing is that there just happened to be thunder and lightning on the night when everything suddenly happened. That was, I suppose, atmospheric but kind of cheesy and a bit laughable, which I guess makes sense as I did read that it was made to be viewed as part comedy, though I didn't really feel that, that worked properly. It is suspenseful enough once it gets going, as I say but it just seemed a bit overdone, if that makes sense and it doesn't really take a genius to guess the storys outcome either. It seems a bit too daft, for example to have the main horror scenes so over the top, when I thought it was supposed to be based on a clear reality, a voyeuristic reality, that led to it, if that makes sense.
There isn't a great deal of substance behind it either, I felt, with more questions being raised from the story than answered. I know, like I say, that its supposed to be sort of comedic in that way which I guess it kind of is, maybe I take it too seriously but I didn't feel that it really worked to be honest. I think if your a teen and you don't analyse it much, or at all, you could get a laugh out of it and enjoy it to some extent but I was left disappointed overall, I thought it was distinctly average and more teen oriented than I suppose I was maybe expecting, from the movie poster and the genre and everything.
Its marketed, I believe, as a horror/suspense/thriller but I didn't feel overly impressed with these elements, it just didn't seem to work entirely for me.
- Certificate -
Disturbia is rated 15 in the UK. This is due to some sequences that contain terrorisation and violence and there's some sensuality too. There's no drug references or nudity and no really strong language either, so its not too offensive. The content is pretty much what you'd expect, given the genre really.
- Website -
The official wesite for Disturbia can be found here:- http://www.disturbia.com/
Here you can view the trailer and other video clips, find information about the DVD and the movie, view a photo gallery, download wallpapers, a screensaver, buddy icons and banners. 'Disturbia Suburbia' appears to tell you information regarding where you live but as it asks for a zip code, I guess this only really works for people who live in the US.
The 'Dark Secrets' section is where you can submit and read others stories about your strange neighbours. You can register for a mailing list, apparently for a newsletter about the movie.
As ever, the site is quite fancy and graphically intensive, using Flash (Macromedia Flash Player) and so it will take a while for the pages to load on a slow connection.
- Conclusions -
I think that teens who watch this for a bit of a laugh and the odd cheap scare, should enjoy this, especially if they haven't seen many other similar movies and won't know what to expect so much. So, for that audience or purpose, I'll give it a somewhat generous 3 star rating. I felt that the similar suspense/horrow/thriller movie Vacancy, which was also released on DVD fairly recently, was better, not perfect at all but it was more atmospheric and suspenseful and for some reason even more believable in a way but this movie still works to some extent, though I can't help but feel that it could have been alot better.
I think that it works to a certain extent and does provide some interesting thoughts (the issue of what goes on next door and so on) and there is a part which is pretty suspenseful but it still felt a bit too weak, perhaps I have high standards in such movie, I don't know. I think im becoming a little too old for teen movies perhaps lol. Overall, I wouldn't particularly recommend it, unless your a teen interested in it, given when I've said so far. To confirm, I do realise that there is a comedy element to it and that in a way, it doesn't take itself too seriously but I still didn't feel that it worked too well.
I felt it could have been done better and was a bit of a disappointment. Distinctly average, thats what I thought. Teens will probably enjoy it for a laugh, as a teen suspense movie to watch with friends but really its nothing more than that and I didn't feel too impressed with it but of course, make up your own mind, given what I've said, as to whether you may enjoy this. Different people have different opinions, this is only mine. You know, I can't help but feel that perhaps I missed the point of this, I'm sure it will be enjoyed to some extent by some but for me, it just didn't really seem to work. I guess I was expecting something more horror based, more fast paced and kind of more adult too. I should maybe look in more detail at reviews for movies before deciding whether to see things, I got this kind of wrong but im still rating it with 3 stars as im sure some people will like this more than I did. Maybe im getting old! lol I saw mention of similarities with Hitchcocks movies, maybe thats true, I have to say as shocking as it is, I haven't seen many of those either, so I guess I can't really comment on whether I'd go with that line of thought or not. I do feel there should have been more emphasis on the suspense and horror aspects, they seemed a little neglected for the lesser interesting elements such as Kale's interest in Ashley and so on, for a bit too long... anyway I think this is all I can think to say about this particular movie.
I hope you found my review useful in deciding whether to watch this movie, thanks for reading!
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by (10%):
10.04.2009 12:15
Only recently watched this so thought I'd check out reviews and should have known you'd written one! I have to agree it was disappointingly formulaic. Well reviewed though.
24.08.2008 20:44
great review, well worthy of an e! Havent seen this as of yet! x
03.02.2008 13:31
Good review as always, shame though ive heard good things about this