Disturbia (film)

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Disturbia

Theatrical release poster
Directed by D. J. Caruso
Produced by Ivan Reitman
Steven Spielberg
Written by Christopher B. Landon
Carl Ellsworth
Starring Shia LaBeouf
Sarah Roemer
Aaron Yoo

David Morse
Music by Geoff Zanelli
Editing by Jim Page
Distributed by Paramount Pictures for DreamWorks Pictures
Release date(s) April 13, 2007
Running time 105 min.
Country Flag of the United States
Language English
Spanish
Budget $20 million
Gross revenue $117,573,043
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Disturbia is a 2007 thriller film starring Shia LaBeouf as a teenager who thinks he witnesses a murder while spying on his suspicious neighbor while being placed under house arrest.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Kale Brecht (Shia LaBeouf) and his father, Daniel (Matt Craven), are involved in a car accident while returning from a fishing trip, which takes Daniel's life. A year later Kale is reprimanded by his Spanish teacher, Señor Gutierrez (Rene Rivera). When the teacher asks Kale what his father would think if he could see him now, Kale punches him in the face. For this assault, he is sentenced to a three-month house arrest period with an ankle monitor and a proximity sensor, which prohibit him from roaming beyond the boundaries of his lawn. He learns that one of the police officers monitoring him is the teacher's cousin (Jose Pablo Cantillo), who delights in humiliating Kale, such as one occasion where he accidentally goes past the limits of the yard while chasing some neighborhood pranksters.

His mother, Julie Brecht (Carrie-Anne Moss), cancels his subscriptions to the iTunes Music Store and Xbox Live, as well as cutting the power cord of his television, to force him to help around the house. He begins to spy upon the surrounding neighborhood. One night, Kale becomes suspicious of his neighbor, Robert Turner (David Morse), who returns home in a 1960 Ford Mustang with a dented fender, matching the description given on a news report detailing an errant serial killer from Austin, Texas. Kale and his best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) spy on his teenage neighbor, Ashley Carlson (Sarah Roemer), swimming in a bikini. She subsequently decides to join them in their stake out.

Ronnie and Ashley dismiss Kale's suspicions initially, regarding them circumstantial coincidences. But they become more involved when Kale observes a woman Turner had picked up from a nightclub trying to escape the house in a panicked state before being apparently killed by Turner. Later on, Turner brings a bag to his garage.

Kale insists that Ronnie break into Turner's car to get his garage door opener to continue investigating. While Turner is at the store being monitored by Ashley, Ronnie retrieves the garage door opener code but unfortunately leaves his cell phone behind. That night, when Ronnie discovers his mistake, they attempt to get it back. Inside the garage Ronnie finds the bag containing strak and other meats. The garage door is suddenly shut and Ronnie hides in the house while Kale attempts to rescue him, in the process alerting the police to the breach of his house arrest. After the police arrive they search the house and discover that Ronnie is nowhere inside. They discover that the bag in the garage contains the remains of a deer that Turner hit on the interstate. Kale fears Ronnie is dead, but later finds out that he escaped unharmed.

Kale's mother goes across the street to talk to Turner, in hopes avoiding criminal charges. While she is there, Kale watches the tape Ronnie recorded during his escape from Turner's house. Kale's mother, unbeknownst to him, is suddenly attacked by Turner and taken into the depths of the home. Kale continues to view the tape that Ronnie shot in his haste, showing that he inadvertently filmed something hidden behind an air vent - the face of a dead woman.

Kale goes to search for his mother in Turner's house with Ashley. Turner attacks them, driving them over a roof and into Ashley's pool. Kale orders Ashley to get the police, while Kale returns to the house to retrieve his mother and Ronnie. His monitoring officer, eager to humiliate Kale, arrives at the house only to be killed by Turner. Kale then stumbles upon an operating room with a wig and a woman's driver's license, the same woman that Turner had killed earlier. He then discovers a secret passageway to the home's foundation, decorated with paraphernalia from Turner's previous victims.

He suddenly falls through a crack through the floor, splashing down in a murky pool filled with human remains. Although he is initially terrified, Kale comes to his senses, attempting to find a way out when he hears a low whimpering. He staggers through the pool and finds his mother, restrained but unharmed. The two are then viciously attacked by Turner, who appears from the shadows. Amidst an intense but brief struggle, Kale impales Turner with a pair of garden shears, killing him.

Several minutes later, Kale and his mother are seen emerging from the garage of Turner's home amidst a battery of police officers. Afterwards, his monitoring device is taken off by a grateful police department, and he promptly exercises his new freedom by stepping out of his yard and passionately kissing Ashley. The two then get revenge on the neighborhood pranksters by revealing their covert viewing of adult movies to their mother. They are then are shown kissing on Kale's couch when Ronnie, revealed to be safe, starts recording the scene on video, stating that it will be the number one video on YouTube, a statement that is answered by Kale's raised middle finger.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Reception and sequel

Disturbia opened at #1 in its first week at the box office with $23 million, and it stayed at #1 the following two weeks with $13 and $9 million respectively. As of Sunday August 5, 2007, the film had grossed approximately $117 million worldwide.[citation needed] Disturbia is considered a huge financial success with respect to its small production budget of only $20 million, and talk of a sequel has already begun[citation needed]. However there have been no confirmed reports and none of the cast have signed on.[1][2][3][4]

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 162 reviews, with the consensus that the film is "a tense, subtle thriller with a noteworthy performance from Shia LaBeouf".[5] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 62 out of 100, based on 28 reviews.[6]

The film earned a "two thumbs up" rating from Richard Roeper and A.O. Scott (filling in for Roger Ebert), with Roeper saying, "This is a cool little thriller with big scares and fine performances;"[7] however, many have criticized the change of atmosphere two-thirds of the way into the film, when the initial pacing and action morphs into that of a "run-of-the-mill slasher horror film".[8]

The film won 3 Teen Choice Awards including Choice Movie: Horror/Thriller, Choice Movie: Breakout Male (Shia LaBeouf) & Choice Movie Actor: Horror/Thriller (Shia LaBeouf. It also garnered many other award nominations including a People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Drama.[citation needed]

[edit] Themes

For a movie of its genre and budget, Disturbia explores many interesting themes hearkening back to the classic Rear Window. In fact, the movie seems to combine many elements from both Rear Window and American Beauty (the former also distributed by Paramount - but now owned by Universal - and the latter also from DreamWorks).[citation needed] and 1985's Fright Night where a serial-killing vampire lives next-door to a surbubanite kid played by Charles Ragsdale. The title itself refers to the suburbia setting and, just like American Beauty, the film explores suburban life and its effect on both family and personal life. Like both of these films, Disturbia pays particular attention to the themes of privacy and voyeurism, the former being violated and the latter being amplified by the setting. In the video commentary (found on the DVD version), director D.J. Caruso says windows are very symbolic in the film. For instance, Kale viewing the lit-up party from his dark room through the window is symbolic of his isolation from the others and his being "in the dark".

Overall, Disturbia is an amalgamation of the suspense genre along with the horror genre.

[edit] Filming locations

Disturbia was filmed on location in the cities of Whittier, California and Pasadena, California. Filming began on the morning of January 6 and ended on April 28. The homes of Kale and Mr. Turner, which were supposed to be next door to each other, were actually located in two different cities.[9]

[edit] DVD

The film was released on DVD on August 7, 2007. Special features include the following:

  1. Do You Wanna Talk
  2. I Forbid It
  3. Operation Stupid
  4. You're Breaking My Heart

Disturbia was also released on HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs.

[edit] Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Disturbia: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Disturbia: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack cover
Soundtrack by Various artists
Released March 04, 2007
Recorded Various dates
Length 1:45:46
Label Lakeshore Records
  1. "Always Love" - Nada Surf
  2. "Don't Make Me Wait" - This World Fair
  3. "One Man Wrecking Machine" - Guster
  4. "Whoa Now" - Louque
  5. "Gangsta Boogie" - Love Stink
  6. "Next to You" - Buckcherry
  7. "Because I Got High" - Afroman
  8. "We Love Reggae" - Noiseshaper
  9. "The Great American Napkin" - The Summer Skinny
  10. "Dream" - Priscilla Ahn
  11. "Lovin' You" - Minnie Riperton
  12. "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" - Lou Rawls[10]

[edit] Songs featured only in the movie

  1. "Lonely Day" - System of a Down
  2. "Taper Jean Girl" - Kings of Leon
  3. "Me So Horny" - 2 Live Crew

[edit] Original Motion Picture Score

Disturbia: Original Motion Picture Score
Soundtrack by Geoff Zanelli (Composer), Bruce Fowler (Conductor)
Released July 10, 2007
Genre Score
Length 46:08
Label Lakeshore Records

[edit] Track listing

  1. Disturbia 7:02
  2. Fishing 3:52
  3. Poofoot 1:15
  4. Voyeurism 2:35
  5. Every Killer Lives Next Door to Someone 3:35
  6. I Like to Play 1:46
  7. Stealth Ronnie 5:10
  8. Walking Ashley Home 2:01
  9. The Club Girl 2:47
  10. Stalking a Killer 7:15
  11. The Basement Graveyard 8:50

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dose: Photo Gallery
  2. ^ http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/movies/newreleases/article_.php
  3. ^ Movies | "Disturbia" | I spy ... a suburban teen twist on Hitchcock's "Rear Window" | Seattle Times Newspaper
  4. ^ http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/.htm
  5. ^ Disturbia - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
  6. ^ Disturbia (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
  7. ^ Richard Roeper; A.O. Scott (April 2007). Disturbia reviewed on Ebert & Roeper. Ebert & Roeper.
  8. ^ Jeffrey M. Anderson (2007-04-13). Combustible Celluloid film review - Disturbia (2007). Combustible Celluloid. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
  9. ^ Disturbia Filming Locations
  10. ^ SoundtrackINFO: Disturbia soundtrack

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Blades of Glory		 Box office number-one films of 2007 (USA)
April 29, 2007		 Succeeded by
Spider-Man 3