The 'Burbs (1989)

An overstressed suburbanite and his paramilitaric neighbor struggle to prove their paranoid theory that the new family in town is a front for a cannibalistic cult.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writer:

Dana Olsen

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Ray Peterson
Bruce Dern	...	Lt. Mark Rumsfield
Carrie Fisher	...	Carol Peterson
Rick Ducommun	...	Art Weingartner
Corey Feldman	...	Ricky Butler
Wendy Schaal	...	Bonnie Rumsfield
Henry Gibson	...	Dr. Werner Klopek
Brother Theodore	...	Uncle Reuben Klopek
Courtney Gains	...	Hans Klopek
Gale Gordon	...	Walter Seznick
Dick Miller	...	Vic, Garbageman #1
Robert Picardo	...	Joe, Garbageman #2
Cory Danziger	...	Dave Peterson
Franklyn Ajaye	...	Detective #1
Rance Howard	...	Detective #2

Storyline

This story takes place in a typical American neighborhood, when some new neighbors come to live in the house next to Ray Peterson. These new people are really strange; nobody has ever seen them, their house is a real mess, and during the night you can hear weird noises from their basement. The only thing they know is their name: Klopeks. One day Walter (an old man of the neighborhood) suddenly disappears and everyone starts to suspect the Klopeks...

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Plot Keywords:

neighbor | neighborhood | suburbanite | basement | new neighbor | 

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Taglines:

He's a stranger in an even stranger land... Suburbia

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 February 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les banlieusards

Filming Locations:

Colonial Street, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$36,602,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The street was shot on location in the Universal Backlot. It's been used in many films and TV shows, including Desperate Housewives. Some of the buildings have changed over time, but Walter's house is the only building on the lot that hasn't changed at all.

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Goofs

Carol goes away with Dave (Carol and Ray's son) about halfway through the movie so that Ray, Mark and Art can carry on with their plan to find Walter at the Klopec's house. Later, after the house explodes from the gas main that Ray broke, Carol returns without their son who left with her hours earlier. Presumably, he stayed behind with the relatives they were mentioned as going to visit.

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Quotes

Ray Peterson: No, Art, see, they're gonna think that I did it. Yeah, they are...
Art Wiengartner: Why?
Ray Peterson: Well the old guy... He saw me write a note and put it under Walter's door SO NOW THEY'RE GONNA THINK THAT I DID IT!
Art Wiengartner: ...You wrote a note?

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the Universal logo, the camera zooms into Earth and to where the film takes place.

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Connections

Features The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg (1936)

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Soundtracks

"The Showdown"
(uncredited)
Written by Ennio Morricone

User Reviews

another Joe Dante classic!

Joe Dante easily rivalled the likes of John Carpenter in the 1980's for making clever, imaginative, unique and fun films, and The 'Burbs is one of his best. Ray's just a regular guy, he's got the week off work and he just wants to spend it lazing about at home, maybe drink a few hundred beers, listen to the ball game and snoop about in the hope of finding out more about his new neighbours, the Klopeks...

Who are they? How come they never say hello? How come they never leave the house? What on earth are those strange noises emanating from their basement? Ray's not alone in wondering, though he's not too keen on finding the truth; as he lives right next door to them, he'd be the one who would have to deal with whatever he found. More enthusiastic in their concern are the slobbish Art and the patriotic and tightly wound Mr. Rumsfeld. When Ray notices black garbage bags being viciously disposed of and the Klopek's back garden being dug up in the middle of a storm he gets suspicious....when grumpy neighbour Walter disappears one morning, he starts to seriously wonder...are the Klopeks murderers? Dante is clearly a movie fan, and The 'Burbs delightfully betrays his adoration with some cute references to older films (The Sentinel? genius!) and some offbeat camera-work. The script is fast-moving, funny and maintaining a perfect balance between humour and ghoulishness. A great example of this is the scene between Art, Ray and Ricky (Corey Feldman), when Art tells the others about the horrific story of Skip, which is brilliantly unsettling.

Ah, remember the days when Tom Hanks was a wonderful comic actor and not the walking mullet trying to solve the Da Vinci Code? Hanks is brilliant here, it's easy to see from his 80's work why he was only going to get even bigger in the 90's, if not necessarily better. Rick Duccummon and Bruce Dern are great as Art and Rumsfeld, while the Klopeks are wonderfully cast when we finally get to see them. Jerry Goldsmith's excellent score is kooky, spooky and very enjoyable; he even steals his own Patton score for whenever Rumsfeld arrives, and a hilarious first attempt to greet the Klopeks is accompanied by a selection from Ennio Morricone's score for Once Upon a Time in the West.

The 'Burbs is a real treat and an overlooked film in Tom Hanks' career. As for Joe Dante, it continued his run of superb 80's films (The Howling, Gremlins, Explorers and Innerspace), while his most bonkers film (Gremlins 2) was yet to come.