Disturbia (2007)

Director:

D.J. Caruso

Writers (WGA):

Christopher B. Landon (screenplay) and
Carl Ellsworth (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Every killer lives next door to someone

Plot:

A teen living under house arrest becomes convinced his neighbor is a serial killer.

Plot Keywords:

Neighbor | House Arrest | Arrest | Serial Killer | Killer

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Shia LaBeouf	...	Kale
Sarah Roemer	...	Ashley
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Julie
David Morse	...	Mr. Turner
Aaron Yoo	...	Ronnie
Jose Pablo Cantillo	...	Officer Gutierrez
Matt Craven	...	Daniel Brecht
Viola Davis	...	Detective Parker
Brandon Caruso	...	Greenwood Boy
Luciano Rauso	...	Greenwood Boy
Daniel Caruso	...	Greenwood Boy
Kevin Quinn	...	Mr. Carlson
Elyse Mirto	...	Mrs. Carlson
Suzanne Rico	...	News Anchor
Kent Shocknek	...	News Anchor

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 on appeal for sequences of terror and violence, and some sensuality.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:15A | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-15 | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Germany:16 | USA:R (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Italy:T | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:15 | France:-12 | Chile:14 | Brazil:14 | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U | Philippines:PG-13 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Denmark:15 | Norway:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating on appeal) (certificate #43260) | South Africa:13V (theatrical rating) | South Africa:16LV (DVD rating) | New Zealand:M | Iceland:14

Filming Locations:

Bishop, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Disturbia was filmed on location in the cities of Whittier, California and Pasadena, California. The homes of Kale and Mr. Turner, which were supposed to be next door to each other, were actually located in two different cities.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Kale presses the menu button on the Xbox controller, he's supposed to be offline, but you can see that he has 2 new messages button and that there are 2 friends online, so he's still online.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Kale: Do you think he sees us?
Daniel Brecht: No, he can't see us. But trust me, he can feel us watching.

Movie Connections:

References Underground 2 (2004) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 5

Best thriller I've seen in a while.

Disturbia tells the story of a teenage boy named Kale who is sentenced to three months house arrest after punching a teacher in the face for making a comment about his recently deceased father. When his mother takes away his TV and his computer, he resorts to spying on the houses surrounding him. Things begin to get frightening when he begins to suspect one of his neighbours is a serial killer. He gets his friends involved with his impromptu investigation, and soon the neighbour realizes he's being watched...And he's not too happy about it. Disturbia is loosely based off the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic Rear Window, but it is still a film all in itself, and it is the best thriller I've seen in a while.

What makes this movie better than most horror movies that are released today is that is doesn't rely on excessive gore and gross out tactics to frighten you. It relies on mood and suspense, and that works so much better. As the film went on, the tension got so high that I was literally on the edge of my seat rubbing my hands together because I was so anxious to see what was going to happen next. I actually felt the adrenaline rush that the characters in the film must have been feeling when they were snooping around in the neighbour's garage. The movie has a realistic feel of how creepy it would be to have a serial killer living across the street from you and you had no way to prove it. Everything in this movie is done well. The writing, the directing, the way it all pans out. I was actually shocked when I left the theatre over how good this movie really was.

The acting was very good from everybody involved. Shia LaBeouf has come a long way from Even Stevens. Something tells me that he has a nice career ahead of him. David Morse is perfectly sinister as the neighbour. He's just one of those actors that you might not know who he is to hear his name, but he pops up here and there and you always say, "Cool, it's that guy." Overall, this was an amazing thriller, and I'm glad I went to see it because I really wasn't expecting that much. It leads me to wonder why Hollywood continues to pump out absolute garbage like the Saw trilogy, Hostel, and Dead Silence when they could be making movies like this instead.

8/10