Disturbia (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Morse, Aaron YooDirector: D.J. Caruso
Studio: Dreamworks Video
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release: August 7th 2007
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DVD Review
Alfred Hitchcock fans may experience déjà vu upon exposure to this voyeuristic thriller. That's because director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) and co-writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) use Rear Window as a jumping-off point before cherry-picking from more recent scare fare, like The Blair Witch Project. In the prologue, 17-year-old Kale (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) loses his beloved father to a car crash. A year passes, and he's still on edge. When a teacher makes a careless remark about his dad, Kale punches him out, and is sentenced to house arrest. After his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento) takes away his Xbox and iTunes privileges, the suburban slacker spies on his neighbors to pass the time. In the process, he develops a crush on Ashley (Sarah Roemer, The Grudge 2), the hot girl next door, and becomes convinced that another, the soft-spoken Mr. Turner (David Morse, The Green Mile), is a serial killer. With the help of the flirtatious Ashley, practical joke-playing pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and an array of high-tech gadgets, like cell-phone cameras and digital camcorders, Kale sets out to solve a major case without leaving his yard (a feat that would prove more challenging for a less affluent sleuth). In the end, it's pretty familiar stuff, but there are plenty of scares once Turner realizes he's being watched, and rising star LaBeouf, who next appears in Michael Bay's Transformers, makes for an engaging leading man--despite his character's propensity for slugging Spanish instructors. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Beyond Disturbia
 Why We Love Shia LaBeouf |  The Soundtrack |  Rear Window |
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User Reviews
(3.5 STARS) Entertaining Teenage Verison of "Rear Window" - Rating: 4/5
A troubled teenage boy Kale is under house arrest after hitting a teacher at school. He has to stay in his own house with a special device attached to his leg when Kale discovers that he may or may not be living next door to a notorious serial killer. But how can he prove it when his mother wouldn't listen and the police are unsympathetic? He can trust only his best friend Ronnie and a new girl (and love interest) Ashley.
You will find the basic situation of "Disturbia" is too similar to that of "Rear Window," in which James Stewart's hero is trapped in his room because of his broken leg, but that doesn't mean that "Disturbia" is a worthless clone of Hitchcock's masterpiece. Well, you may call it a rip-off, but "Disturbia" succeeds as thriller (not completely though) and it also has some really funny moments. The main characters, three teenagers in particular, are memorable, thanks to the fine acting from the stars Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer and Aaron Yoo. If you say Shia LaBeouf is on his way to be a big star, yes, I think so too. The film is also shot with stylish camera, but not in the showy way.
Sadly, like Director D. J. Caruso's previous films, "Disturbia" loses its narrative power in the final chapter where things happen in a more conventional way. Another disappointment for me is Carrie-Anne Moss, whose character as Kale's mother becomes a cipher in the film's second half. And at some point some characters behave in a too incredible way - David Morse's character, I think, talks too much - but maybe you find it differently. Please see it for yourself.
"Disturbia" may not be a great thriller, but it is still more entertaining than many of its ilk.
Not your average teen flick - Rating: 4/5
Disturbia is one of those rare suspense movies that I actually enjoyed. I am not one who typically likes Teenager movies, although this year has been the exception. First the Invisible, and now this one.
In essence, it's a remake of an old classic Alfred Hitchcock movie, called the Rear Window.
Both movies have several themes in common - someone essentially trapped inside their home due to circumstances, and out of boredom they begin to spy on their neighbours.
Growing up is difficult for everyone. I remember how tough my teenage years were. You've got pressure from your family to do well in school (that is, if you have a family that cares), you have to deal with peer pressure, bullies, and of course the worst part of growing up - raging hormones.
To make things even worse, throw a tragic loss into the mix and it is nothing more than a recipe for disaster.
That's what happened to the Kale Brecht (portrayed by Shia LaBeouf). In high school when he loses his father right before his eyes in a tragic car accident, he ends up retreating into himself.
His marks in school suffer and after his Spanish Teacher ends up making a comment about his father, he loses his temper and hits the teacher.
That ends up leading to him being charged for assault and placed under 3 months house arrest.
Now, as a parent of a teenager myself, I know how tough things are. The hormones are especially difficult to deal with, and they turn even your best child into a rebellious monster.
Well, not monster, but you get the picture.
I know that when my kid disobeys, I punish him by taking away his privileges. And that's exactly what happened to Kale. His mother (portrayed by Carrie-Anne Moss) cuts off his I-tunes and Xbox live.
And to make a point, she even cut the power cord to his television. Thus increasing the tension between the two of them.
So, boredom sets in and he begins to spy on the neighbours in order to keep himself from going crazy. In a few short weeks he discovers how interesting his neighbours are - trouble makers, obsessive compulsives, even infidelity!
Now, the movie is quite entertaining, with several scenes of laugh out loud humour, and even a little bit of sensuality when new neighbours move in and Kale notices the beautiful and very well built daughter. She does spend a lot of time lounging in the pool, after all.
The suspense begins to build after Kale listens to reports about missing girls and suspects it's because of his one neighbour, after realizing that the car he drives matches the description of the vehicle last seen with one of the victims.
With the help of his best friend Ron and the lovely girl from next door, he ends up setting of a chain of events that culminates in one very intense confrontation.
Oh, and his friend Ron pulls off one hell of a practical joke - something that I'd love to do myself!
So, as a teenage flick goes, I enjoyed it and found it to be worth seeing.
I also took the time to watch several of the bonus features that were included on the disk. It had your typical deleted scenes, of which none really helped progress the plot, so I can see why they ended up on the cutting room floor.
I did enjoy the outtakes, the second one in particular. I was disappointed though that the Serial Pursuit trivia pop up game didn't work on my disk. It kept brining me back to the main menu.
The music video for the song `Don't make me wait' by This World Fair was ok.
Speaking of music, I didn't really care for the soundtrack. Hey, I'm more of a heavy rocker than pop, and the music didn't really catch my interest. But as I've stated many times in the past - this is strictly my opinion, and no one else's.
The DVD is worth checking out.
4 out of 5
The serial killer next door? - Rating: 4/5
A well-done movie featuring the standard troubled youth, the ethnic sidekick, the spunky girlfriend, the longsuffering mother...and that mild-manner next-door neighbor who just might be a cold-blooded serial killer. An interesting mix, with the plot based on the classic "he just did something that makes him look guilty" followed by "he just did something that makes him look innocent" back-and-forth until the climax. No spoilers in this review. Find out for yourself if Mr. Turner is a latter-day Arthur "Boo" Radley, or Hannibal Lector.
This one's a stinker. - Rating: 1/5
Good grief, what an awful movie. After seeing the mess that was Transformers, I went into this movie merely hoping Shia wouldn't let me down again. Honestly, that was the only expectation I wanted fulfilled. Not that I think this kid's a bad actor or anything, but his character, Kale, is exactly like Spike from Transformers: a rude, disgusting, horny prick who frankly deserved to be knifed by the end of this flick.
I find it amazing that we're supposed to believe Kale's been constantly suffering after a tragedy early on in the movie, but by the very end, it's like nothing's happened to him at all! This movie is filled will holes and scenes that ultimately add nothing to the plot. My biggest gripe: Haven't ANY of these characters heard of 9-1-1? Everyone has a cell phone that practically lives on them like a symbiotic parasite, but suddenly nobody can call the police. Gimmee a break. And I have a hard time believing the tech-savvy Kale in the film wouldn't have had the entire incriminating video of the killer on YouTube by the time the badguy made it to his front door. I try to check believability at the door, but Disturbia pushed and pushed until it broke at the scene where the girl very obviously follows the killer and we're actually supposed to believe he doesn't see her snapping photos of him at the hardware store. (As if a killer like that wouldn't already own a shovel. Why would he need to buy one right after the murder? Ridiculous.)
Unless you reeeaaally like Shia, skip this turkey and go with Rear Window instead.
A Lot Better Than You'd Expect - Rating: 5/5
Newer horror films are a seemingly endless string of cliches nowadays. They all follow the same pattern involving silent (or wise-cracking) serial killers and stupid (potentially naked) teenagers.Well, "Disturbia" departs from that and delivers a funny, suspenceful, exciting, and very entertaining movie that defies typical convention. I want to call it original, but seeing as how it's an update of Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and the subject of voyeurism has been quite common in movies since Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom." Despite these factors, "Disturbia" is very original when compared to the pile of crap that's been spewed out by studios for the last 10+ years. Shia LeBeouf (whom I remember from the Disney channel series "Even Stevens") turns in a terrific performance as Kale, who early on in the film loses his father in a car accident. Now, he's going down a wrong path and, pretty soon, is sentenced to 3-months house arrest for assaulting his teacher. With his X-Box Live cut off and his Itunes account gone, Kale resorts to watching his neighbors...He slowly begins picking up on suburban affairs, including sexual affairs across the street and his beautiful new neighbor (Sarah Roemer) next door. But the other next door neighbor is beginning to scare him. The man, Mr. Turner (a delightfully sinister David Morse) catches Kale's attention and Kale is soon convinced that the man is a serial killer. With his friend Ronny and the aforemention hottie neighbor (Ashley), he begins staking out the man as his evidence mounts. For a movie in which the outcome is known from almost the beginning, it's amazing how suspenseful this film is. It's entertaining from the get-go, even before the serial killer aspect turns up. The movie portrays a different kind of teenager than we see in modern movies now. Kale is not stupid, he's got raging hormones (which, without them, these teenage movies would be unbelievable) and an obsession with junk food and video games...But he's not the typical mindless stoner teenager we see in all these movies. The neighbor, Ashley, is beautiful...But she's not bitchy or stupid. There are scenes in which she seems to have a rather overly slutty mentality, but she's overall a good love interest. LeBeouf is turning up in movies all over the place now, but this film really gives him some merit. He's very funny, but also very believable and proves that he can actually act. Who would've thought that a movie (cleverly) titled "Disturbia" would be a showcase for young acting talent. David Morse is terrific, being charming and extremely sinister while never sleepwalkig through the film as he has in others (Morse fans, don't get mad...He's a terrific actor, all actors tend to sleepwalk through a movie at some point). Carrie-Anne Moss turns in some really good supporting work as Kale's mother and the solid script and directing all equal a terrific movie. I've enjoyed this movie more than most films I've enjoyed this year; Don't look for it on any top 10 lists and don't expect its name to pop up on any Oscar telecasts, but this is one of the most entertaining movies I've seen this year. Who knows how it will go during a 2nd viewing, but the first one was terrific and I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this movie.
GRADE: A
