The 'Burbs
Directed by Joe Dante
- comedy
- horror
- thriller
The story
When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
What it’s like
Bright, sun-bleached suburban daylight over trimmed lawns and cul-de-sacs, with the menace creeping in through the shadows of two gloomy, gabled houses that look like they belong to another movie. Joe Dante's camera stays busy and playful: wide, slightly canted frames, tracking moves down the street, and gleeful bursts of dolly-zoom and cutaway gags, all underscored by Jerry Goldsmith's brassy, mock-ominous score that swings between goofy and gothic. The palette is warm and synthetic, with a lot of orange-brown sunset, cheap-looking night fog, and garbage-strewn yards. Vibe: cheerfully paranoid, sweaty-palmed suburban absurdism. It suits a lazy summer afternoon, a late-night watch with friends, or a comfort rewatch when you want the feeling of a long weekend gone sideways. Pacing is brisk and cartoonish, with escalating set pieces and a steady stream of physical slapstick, and the emotional register stays light even as the body count of imagined crimes rises. The arc is a complacent middle-aged man dragged out of his recliner and into a fevered investigation of his neighbors. Violence is comic and mostly off-screen or cartoonish, with occasional chainsaw and grisly-dinner gags and some crude language; there is no sexual content and the fear is played for laughs rather than real dread. For people who want a goofy, mildly dark comedy about neighborly suspicion.
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