Movie Review - "The Burbs" 02/17/89

This is a movie review for "The Burbs" released February 17, 1989. I watched this on VHS.




Trailer:

Cast:
Tom Hanks ("Forrest Gump" (1994) Forrest Gump, "You've Got Mail" (1998)
Joe Fox) - Ray Peterson
Bruce Dern ("Nebraska" (2013) Woody Grant, "The Hateful Eight" (2015)
General Sandy Smithers)  -      Lt. Mark Rumsfield
Carrie Fisher ("Star Wars" franchise movies as Princess Leia Organa, "The Blues Brothers" (1980) Mystery Woman) -     Carol Peterson
Rick Ducommun ("Groundhog Day" (1993) Gus, "Die Hard" (1988) Walt, City Worker)  -  Art Weingartner
Corey Feldman ("The Goonies" (1985) Mouth, "Gremlins" (1984) Pete Fountaine)  -     Ricky Butler
Wendy Schaal ("Innerspace" (1987) Wendy, "Small Soldiers" (1998) Marion Fimple)  -     Bonnie Rumsfield
Henry Gibson ("The Blues Brothers" (1980) Head Nazi, "Charlotte's Web" (1973) Wilbur (voice))  -  Dr. Werner Klopek






Plot:
Ray Peterson and his neighbors live on a fairly quiet cul de sac in a suburbian area, but they cannot be at ease. There is a new neighbor that none have the guts to welcome, even after a month. Finally, after one of the elderly neighbors turns up missing, they decide to meet the new family. Are the Klopeks merely antisocial or are they more benign?







Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.



4/5 - This is a very good movie, though it disturbed me to see the "normal" citizens assuming about the neighbors. Just because someone is antisocial doesn't mean that you have to go digging through their garbage, breaking into their house, and assuming they murdered your missing elderly neighbor. As an antisocial person, I would be EXTREMELY offended by the actions taken by the neighbors. Maybe that's why I tend to live more out in the rural area, away from suburbs? Yeah, that would be one reason. Suburban residents are strange.....

The ending of the movie was slightly expected but at the same time shocking. It was a good ending but it shouldn't have ended so abruptly. *SPOILERS* : I think that the Klopek family should have hid their "dirty laundry" a little better. It would have been better if they would have been just normal folk and that the neighborhood destroyed their house for no reason. But that would be too tame, wouldn't that?

Scary? No. Not meant for everyone, though, because of the satanic references and the violence between neighbors.