DVD Release
We all know that, eventually, horror would begin slowing down at the box office (it already is) and the quality would drop drastically (it has). Supply and demand baby! When the world demanded horror and showed their love for it by pulling out their wallets, the studios knew they had a cash-cow on their hands. It was only a matter of time before the product outweighed the demand and the bottom would begin to sag though.
Admittedly, we haven’t seen the bottom completely drop out but, trust me, any day now the theatrical releases and quality direct-to-video releases will dry up. I’m not going to predict any dates or anything because I’m not Sylvia Brown but I will say this…the nineties are coming. Mark my words; we’ll see that same draught that hit us in the nineties hit us again. This may not happen for another 5 years but it will happen. Cinema moves in cycles and horror is coming close to receiving its walking papers.
I know this is a bit out in left field but I wonder if we’ll see a major drop in the genre’s popularity once Bush leaves office?
Anyhow, despite the slow decline in quality, we do sometimes get some pretty fucking cool flicks that surprise us. Take for instance Disturbia; I must admit I never went to see this while it played in theaters because I really couldn’t bring myself to watch something with the latest fad actor Shia (Transformers) LeBeouf. I didn’t see the point in going to see something that was nothing more than a modern retooling of Hitchcock’s Rear Window. I mean if I want Hitchcock, I’ll see Hitchcock.
I broke down and watched this simply because it needed to be reviewed for the site but I gotta tell ya…I’ll be purchasing this. I thought it was pretty good. It wasn’t mind-blowing and it certainly wasn’t as good as Rear Window but damn it I was entertained and sometimes that’s all a reviewer can ask for! When you see as many films on a weekly basis as I do, trust me, anything decent goes a long way.
Kale (Shia LeBeouf) is dealing with some major emotional issues after the tragic death of his father in a car accident in which Kale was behind the wheel. Instead of learning to cope with his feelings of guilt and anger, Kale lashes out and begins getting into trouble despite the emotional distress he’s causing his mother Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss) . One particular incident in which Kale punches his Spanish teacher (Rene Rivera) in the face earns him a court date and a summer vacation on house arrest. He’s outfitted with an ankle transmitter and warned about straying too far from the modem.
With his friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) away on vacation and his mother restricting his home entertainment, Kale is forced to while away the hours by monitoring the comings and goings of his neighbors including those of the new girl next door, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). Aside from Ashley, Kale has also taken a pointed interest in his mysterious neighbor Mr. Turner (David Morse) and his curious schedule.
When Ronnie finally returns from vacation the two goofs begin watching Mr. Turner and Ashley together until they’re caught spying by Ashley. No sooner does she catch them spying on her does she begin spying with them on Mr. Turner. Kale begins to suspect that Mr. Turner may be that psycho the town’s been hearing about on the news that’s been killing women! There’s only one small problem…the evidence Kale keeps believing he’s discovered constantly vanishes. He decides the only way to expose Mr. Turner is to send Ronnie to break into his car while Ashley tails Mr. Turner in the mall and keeps tabs on his movements. Ronnie’s job is to locate Mr. Turner’s garage door opener and snag the code so they can check out a suspicious bag they believe is a body.
Is the bag in the garage a body? Could Mr. Turner actually be a killer or does Kale have nothing more than a bad case of cabin fever? One more incident involving Kale leaving his home and out of the house arrest modem range and he’ll go to jail. Can the three teens pull off this mission impossible before Mr. Turner catches on?
Disturbia was one hell of a thriller! All of the acting here was top-notch. Shia LeBeouf and Aaron Yoo were likeable, Sarah Roemer was curiously hot (despite the flesh raisin on her face), Carrie-Anne Moss was looking good for her age and it’s always nice to see “Boomer” Morrison. Having grown up watching St. Elsewhere and David Morse, it’s cool to see him doing something on a larger scale than his usual small screen roles.
This flick’s got a ton of little twists and turns that really made this an enjoyable experience and, believe it or not, they had some grody, moldering corpses on display as well! Yay! Grody corpses! Really though, give this flick a shot. It probably won’t change your life but it’s the kind of entertainment the whole horror-lovin’ family can enjoy. It didn’t need nudity nor did it require hardcore gore to work and that was a pleasant surprise. You don’t need blender scenes or chicks lying naked beneath geysers of blood to make something worthwhile.
Course…it don’t hurt but…uh…yeah. Check this out!
