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435 comments in total

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223 out of 328 people found the following comment useful :-
Best thriller I've seen in a while., 15 April 2007

Author: theshadow908 from London, Ontario

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

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185 out of 268 people found the following comment useful :-
A Terrific PG13 Horror thriller, 15 April 2007

Author: Dave (freaky_dave) from United States

Disturbia is one of the best PG13 thrillers that I've seen in a long time. After all the other rated PG13 thrillers that have come out in the past six years or so, DJ Caruso, who directed, proves that it has always been possible to make a good suspenseful thriller these days without all the gore.

Shia Labeouf plays Kale Brecht. After witnessing the death of his father in a car accident, he becomes sullen and withdrawn. This leads to him being put under house arrest after he punches out an unsympathetic teacher. Imprisoned in his own house, and unable to go beyond 100 yards, he finds himself turning into a peeping tom and spying on all the neighbors. One of them is the attractive new girl in town named Ashley (Sarah Roemer) and another may be a killer named Mr. Turner (David Morse). With the help of the new girl Ashley, his friend Ronnie (a great comedic turn by Aaron Yoo), Kale goes about investigating Mr. Turner to see if he is the killer or not. The three teenagers use cell phones and the internet as well as video cameras in the investigation, and DJ Caruso shows some of his sly wit by using these same devices in the film to not only investigate the spooky neighbor, but also to create some humor to go along with everything else.

The plot is a familiar one. That would be because the great Alfred Hitchcock used it first with his famous suspense thriller Rear Window. Yes Disturbia is a blatant rip-off of that movie, but it is done with skill, and the acting by all, including Carrie Anne Moss as Kale's mother, was very good. All the characters are likable, and David Morse's turn as the creepy Mr. Turner was well done as well.

Disturbia may not be a great movie, but it is definitely one of the best PG13 thrillers in years. It outshines such horror thrillers as Cursed and Pulse, as well as the recent horror thriller The Messengers. Disturbia also once again proves that you don't need a bunch of gore to make an effective horror thriller. Horror directors take note.

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225 out of 369 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Movie!, 21 March 2007

Author: NiQki Hill (NiQki) from Los Angeles, CA, United States

I saw the advanced screening of the movie last night in Hollywood. My friends and I went expecting something decent, but our expectations are never high with thriller/ suspense films. The movie started out strong; immediately you could get a sense of what it would be about, and how entertaining it would be. Throughout the movie, there were very little moments where you weren't in suspense. There were perfect moments in the film where you feel like, it could end right now, and you wouldn't feel cheated at all. The movie was well-written, no confusing plot, no unnecessary scenes, good comedic moments. It does a perfect job of making you slightly nervous and anxious at the same time. This isn't a horror flick, but I'd say it gave e more of a fright then a lot of horror movies. ( P.S. I'm not saying it's scary, I my point to be made was I was more nervous in his movie than in movies like 'Dead Silence' that were actually supposed to scare me ) I gave this a 9 out of 10 because it was entertaining; point blank. I'd recommend going to see this!!!

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126 out of 177 people found the following comment useful :-
Solid and Entertaining, 16 April 2007

Author: xander34 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Disturbia star Shia LaBeouf appears to have a great future ahead of him. In the past few years, amidst forgettable roles in I, Robot, and Constantine, he contributed strong performances in films like A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and now in the thriller Disturbia. Although it is basically a remake of Hitchcock's Rear Window, Disturbia is unique in that it mixes elements of teen comedy, romance, drama, and gripping suspense in an entertaining way. Not to say the film is perfect, as it definitely isn't, but it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do and then some.

All of the acting is decent and believable, with standout performances by the aforementioned LaBeouf as Kale, and David Morse, as the suspected villain, Mr. Turner. Serving as great comic relief is Kale's friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) while the new girl next door, Ashley (Sarah Roemer), provides a romantic interest. Also notable is The Matrix's Carrie-Anne Moss as Kale's mother who is great as always, yet underused.

Kale gets put on house arrest after punching his Spanish teacher in class. It's his third run in with the law since his father died in a car accident a year earlier. Under house arrest, he begins to learn the secrets of everyone surrounding him through the use of binoculars and video cameras. His most important realization in his voyeurism is that his somewhat reclusive neighbor shares many suspicious similarities to a wanted serial killer whom the police have not yet identified.

It's generally difficult to create such suspense under the restrictions of a PG-13 rating (do not watch this at the theater between 7-9 PM to avoid the loud middle school crowd), but instead of just trying to shock, the film conveys paranoia and fright through the use of mood and mere suggestions of menace. The script could have used another rewrite to further develop the cast of characters, as the only one who is fleshed out at all is LaBeouf's.

LaBeouf, who turns twenty-one in June, is looking to join Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ryan Gosling as one of the few great actors under the age of thirty if he keeps turning in strong performances in interesting projects. His star is certainly rising with Transformers due this summer and the fourth Indiana Jones film in the summer of 2008.

We have to realize that even though there is so much that makes Disturbia unique, at heart it is a very commercial effort. The twists are quite obvious, many characters are underdeveloped, and there's product placement everywhere (which is realistic nonetheless). However, at a brisk 104 minutes, it would be a lie to say the movie wasn't extremely satisfying, and an undeniably entertaining film.

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122 out of 193 people found the following comment useful :-
A Solid Thriller, 8 April 2007

Author: rumli from United States

This movie was extremely well paced -- there was very good character development without excessive dialog. The story is exciting and thrilling: a modernized Rear Window. The acting was very solid, and every actor, major or minor, sold their part. Shia LeBeouf was a likable protagonist, Carrie-Anne Moss did a great job in her role as the mother, and David Morse played an exceedingly ominous and creepy neighbor. The climax is very suspenseful, although it did contain a few minor lapses in rational behavior by both the heroes and the villain, but I suppose that could be written off as desperation. Overall, it was refreshing to see a well-paced thriller with great suspense, humor, and character development.

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82 out of 120 people found the following comment useful :-
A major disappointment, 9 April 2007

Author: shiner310 from Hollywood

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The first half of this movie is really promising with its solid establishment of the characters and plot. yes, it's a rehash/ripoff of "Rear Window" but that's okay. And for those of you who haven't seen that classic, rent it immediately.

The last 30 minutes of this movie feels like another movie. The filmmakers abandoned their slow and methodical escalation of suspense and throw us a wicked and stupid twist. All of the sudden, without any provocation or motivation (spoiler alert), the David Morse character goes ballistic. He goes on a senseless rampage which allows the filmmakers to give us some gratuitous and ridiculous "shock sights", such as the bodies in the pool of water under the basement.

what's even more ridiculous is the fact that Morse was all along a very smart if brutal killer and yet, at the end, he acts totally irrationally. Why? because the filmmakers couldn't think of anything clever to do.

a waste of the talents involved.

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82 out of 126 people found the following comment useful :-
Everyone over 18 is a moron, 20 April 2007

Author: badfrankie from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Apparently... in Disturbialand, all adults are idiots. As a teenager, you can point out direct evidence of a murder and the adults will simply laugh at you. Your mother will insist on going over to the murderer's house and apologizing for you. The murderer will suddenly and stupidly (after years of calculated planning of all his murders) start attacking all of his neighbors.

What could have been a decent homage to Hitch, is instead, a direct descendant of John Hughes. There's the misunderstood (but extremely perfect) lead, who lives in a perfect house in the perfect neighborhood, and who has a crush on the perfect member of the opposite sex. Amazingly, he has the perfectly funny Asian sidekick and he's a perfect outsider at the perfect teen party (he's so perfect that he can't attend!), and he has the perfectly, ever absent parents (a dead father and mysteriously disinterested mother).

They should have made Molly Ringwald the killer. That would have made perfect sense.

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53 out of 83 people found the following comment useful :-
Awful, disastrous movie, 7 June 2007

Author: sidereus_lyric from Buffalo, NY

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Are you serious? I wonder why this stupid movie has made even a penny. This movie would have been a thousand times better without the stupid teenage lust fest. It was not my turn to pick the movie, and I had no curiosity to see "Rear Window Jr." and boy I wish I listened to the inner voice!

There seems to be an alarming trend that I call "through the eyes of a teenage boy vision" You think from the way the director ordered so many shots of the teenage girl, that he had some crush on her! How about making a suspenseful movie that appeals to everyone, and not just males who have just exited puberty? Great job alienating your "broad" audience.

WAAAAAY too many shots of the "hot" girl next door doing Yoga, slow-mo swimming, sun bathing, and your teenage angsty stuff. I like Shia, he was great in "Holes", I even liked his cameo in "I, Robot." Poor David Morse, he's a tremendous actor, but given NOTHING to do here. What a waste of Carrie Ann Moss! There are a couple of "shock" moments, but they appear and leave in the first 5 minutes of the film, after that, the teenage love puppy story sprinkled with tepid moments of "tension". This is a predictable, silly, unrealistic and awful movie. To quote another IMDb user….."why would someone who was so calculated and precise just start sloppily and obviously killing neighbor's?" Couldn't wait to leave, Giving a generous 2 stars for my respect of Mr. Morse and Ms. Moss, Shia, shame on you for being in a mess like this, you're much better.

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72 out of 123 people found the following comment useful :-
Not very original but better than most of the teen horror/thrillers recently, 20 April 2007

Author: Darwinskid from United States

Disturbia may seem like a send up of Rear Window, Fright Night, and a few others(that I forget at the moment) but if you can ignore that for once and see it with an open mind you'll enjoy it(can't guarantee that because we all have different tastes). But all in all Disturbia succeeds, the acting is alright, and good at some moments. The story isn't like-lets all do it and get killed instantly by Mr. killer! It actually thinks before it leaps. It's not all about the gore or blood factor, it actually has some soul into it, though not a lot. It has a few funny scenes and couple of thrilling moments.

Disturbia is a good send up of classic thrillers and some B movies. Props to D.J.(The director), the cast, and Mr. Spielberg for giving us something that isn't entirely predictable like most of the teen horror/thrillers are today.

So again, see it with an open mind, forget everything else. But if you hate it, you hate it.

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46 out of 76 people found the following comment useful :-
A new introduction of a terrific story, 25 April 2007

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

The first time I saw this preview, the first thought that came into my head was "Oh, my God, how could they rip off Rear Window?", Rear Window is one of my all time favorite movies. But my boyfriend and I had nothing better to do last week and decided to see it, I have to say that actually, it wasn't as bad as I expected, I have to admit that it was a pretty good re-introduction to one of the greatest thrillers of all time. It had a new and fresh feeling with teens and it worked, despite how it seemed a bit more predictable than Rear Window, it still was pretty clever.

Kale has had a rough year, while driving his father back from their father/son fishing trip, they get into a horrible fatal car accident, the Father dies, but Kale is alive trying to deal with the guilt of what happened. But a teacher pushes him too far in his high school Spanish class and he hits the teacher, putting him on house arrest, he cannot leave outside his property. But he's in luck when a hot young girl moves next door, they quickly develop a peeping tom type of relationship, they spy on the neighbors, but when they see the neighbor across the street on a date, but the date "never leaves the house" and they want to prove him as a cold hearted murderer, but is he? You'll have to see this movie to find out.

So Distubia was a pretty good movie, I would recommend it, although before you see it, I would highly recommend seeing Rear Window, but this was a good updated version that I'm sure you'll enjoy. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and will make you ask questions over and over again, those are always the thrillers that are worth seeing.

7/10

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