By Mike Stuart
11/09/2007
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 105 minutes
The first thing you might think when reading about Disturbia is that it sounds just like a blatant ripoff of Hitchcock's Rear Window. However, that's not entirely accurate - Disturbia plays a bit like Hitchcock for the MTV Generation. So gone are the more delicate cinematic nuances used by the man himself and instead replaced with something altogether louder, slicker and in your face. Which is fine really, because it does it quite well.
The story follows Kale (Shia LeBeouf), a boy put under house arrest after punching his Spanish teacher for mentioning his recently deceased father. He is given a sensor on his leg which alerts the police if he leaves his house and so to pass the time he begins to spy on his neighbours with his friend Ronnie and they get a peak into the secrets of suburbia. Soon they are caught spying by the sexy girl next door who then decides to join them in their 'stakeout'.
Things begin to turn sour when they notice some suspicious activity by one neighbour in particular, who they believe may have committed a murder. Disturbia picks up at this point and becomes a tense, and often frigtening, thriller containing solid performances by its cast. Considering the kind of naff horror/thriller films that are typically aimed at the MTV audience, Disturbia stands well above it's competition.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Disturbia is released in the UK on September 14th 2007
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
