Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Carrie Ann Moss, Sarah Roemer, David Morse

Director: DJ Caruso

Screenplay: Christopher Landon

Running time: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Thriller/Teenage


REVIEW:


By the looks and sounds of DISTURBIA, we know we’ve seen and heard it before. Disturbance in a suburban neighbourhood – now that could be a whole new genre of its own. With the quirks of title fusion, it may well fully represent the film itself; hip, self-aware and a good addition to the list of the new generation lexicon. The film, however, is a pedestrian affair. Some thrills might be present but it doesn’t come quite close to what it really want to achieve at the first place, whether it’s a sophisticated thriller or a teenage misadventures-cum-romance. The result is a confused caper with uneven tones all over.


Partly, it delivers a Hitchcockian atmosphere (some even calling it an uncredited obvious remake of Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW). An alienated teenager, as it starts with the unlikely hero Kale (Shia LeBeouf), whose grounded status only pushes him to pick up his telescope and start watching the neighbours’ daily lives, including a hot girl-next-door. A murder mystery then ensues as missing women started hitting the newspaper front page, and one coincidental fact: the loner bloke next door puts blood-spattered body bags in his garage. It’s truly a scary concept, to realise that the person next to your house is actually killing people as easy and as naturally as eating meals. But as the story unfolds, the group of teenagers started strutting around a la Sherlock Holmes, the more holes appear in the plot with the psychopath played by David Morse suddenly turns up in places as though he’s über-psychic-aware , like Big Brother. It’s no denial Morse plays him with calmness and grace, but one couldn’t help but pity the character’s two-dimensionality. DISTURBIA only becomes worse when it climaxes into the old-school horror territory, cue disappointment, where it abruptly turns into a slasher flick. DJ Caruso managed the thrills with skill, but certainly no Hitchcock art of scare.


While it goes downhill on its extended denouement, where DISTURBIA really excels is in the cautionary tale territory. Hormonal rampages and urges are hard to resist, but when one starts go beyond watching that turns into voyeurism, just watch your back.


VERDICT:


Except for the implausible climax, it’s an effective thriller. However, it cannot compensate its lack of consistency. DISTURBIA is mainly a fleeting experience, mostly shouldered by Shia LeBeouf’s presence, and only leaves a caution to peeping toms for the Youtube generation.


RATING: B