Shia LaBeouf has been on a roll recently. Starting with "Disturbia," the young actor has been cast in a few choice high profile roles. He voiced the main character in the animated hit "Surf´s Up." LaBeouf played the lead human role in the blockbuster toy line adaptation "Transformers" and its sequels and will soon be seen in the highly anticipated "Indiana Jones 4." LaBeouf is no stranger to big budget cinema. He had previously had roles in "Charlie´s Angels: Full Throttle," "Constantine" and "I, Robot." LaBeouf is a talented young actor with a long future ahead of him in cinema. Most will recall seeing him first in Michael Bay´s "Transformers," but it was 2007´s "Disturbia" that first allowed the young actor to shine without any special effects or bigger named actors to upstage him.
"Disturbia" tells the tale of a young man, Kale (LaBeouf), who has seen his father die in a horrific car accident and is now forced into a long boring summer after earning house arrest for punching his Spanish teacher. Kale first finds problems in passing time, but soon finds that there is a lot of interesting happenings in the neighborhood around him and he soon finds a pair of red lenses binoculars are his new best friend and allow him to view and discover many intriguing things about the people that populate his neighborhood. However, it is his beautiful new neighbor Ashley (Sarah Roemer) that catches his interest the most. She sunbathes around the swimming pool in a bikini and dances in her underwear in front of her window. This all catches Kale´s interest and he soon finds a friendship with the pretty young girl after she visits his house for seclusion from her parents.
Kale´s mother Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss) and his best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) are the only people besides Ashley that Kale sees during his long days. He increasingly spends time spying on his neighbors and one night witnesses his neighbor Mr. Turner (David Morse) driving a dented blue Mustang into his garage. A description fitting the car was previously reported on the television after a woman disappeared and Kale begins to believe that Mr. Turner is the serial killer that the authorities have been unable to find. The suspicions heat up when Mr. Turner brings home a call girl and mysterious happenings begin around the Turner household. Kale, Ashley and Ronnie begin to spend more time monitoring the activities of Mr. Turner and attempt to gather evidence to show that Turner is indeed a serial killer and that Kale had witnessed the call girl´s murder the previous night.
With a number of apparent Hitchcockian influences, "Disturbia" is a slow building thriller that teases and entertains until the film finally reveals its villain and the grisly horrors of the serial killer´s environment. With similar themes to Hitchcock´s "Rear Window" and featuring musical cues, soundtrack usage and camera movements that should be familiar to fans of the legendary director, "Disturbia´s" director D.J. Caruso pays homage to the master of the thriller and crafts and effective and entertaining picture that could have been successful with an actor other than Shia LaBeouf, but with the talented young actor, the film succeeds on more than it´s directorial merits and is supported by a good leading man.
"Disturbia" is an entertaining film that pays proper homage to Alfred Hitchcock and provides a similar level of thrills and drama that were familiar to the films directed by Hitchcock. The film dances around the topics of sexuality and builds sexual tension to support the tension surrounding the possible serial killer living next door. There have been a glut of thrillers and chillers released in the past couple of years and many of them have become horribly dull and repetitious. D.J. Caruso moves filmmaking back a few decades and slows down the pace and uses the camera´s eye to become a voyeur through the binoculars and other ocular devices used by the film´s main characters. Hints of horror are flashed throughout the first two acts and it isn´t until the final showdown between Kale and the serial killer that anything violent actually occurs. Tension between Ashley and her parents and Kale and his mother help to build tension, as does an unfriendly relationship between Kale and some neighborhood boys. These moments are meant to keep the viewer on edge and unable to settle into a level of comfort.
When the heat is finally turned up, the reward was not as great as I had hoped and I feel the closing moments of the film are not as fulfilling as the rest of the film. Caruso quickly moves "Disturbia" into becoming a typical horror movie showdown between protagonist and villain and when the serial killer meets his demise, it doesn´t feel as well-crafted as the rest of the film. There is nothing crafty or inventive during the finale, which is unlike the rest of the film. After the credits appeared on screen and brought closure to the picture, I was more than pleased with the viewing experience. The film didn´t end as well as I would have liked, but it was a good ride and well done. Shia LaBeouf is going to be a star and this is the first time he was truly able to flex his acting muscle. Along with director D.J. Caruso, they have made a very effective thriller.
"Disturbia" tells the tale of a young man, Kale (LaBeouf), who has seen his father die in a horrific car accident and is now forced into a long boring summer after earning house arrest for punching his Spanish teacher. Kale first finds problems in passing time, but soon finds that there is a lot of interesting happenings in the neighborhood around him and he soon finds a pair of red lenses binoculars are his new best friend and allow him to view and discover many intriguing things about the people that populate his neighborhood. However, it is his beautiful new neighbor Ashley (Sarah Roemer) that catches his interest the most. She sunbathes around the swimming pool in a bikini and dances in her underwear in front of her window. This all catches Kale´s interest and he soon finds a friendship with the pretty young girl after she visits his house for seclusion from her parents.
Kale´s mother Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss) and his best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) are the only people besides Ashley that Kale sees during his long days. He increasingly spends time spying on his neighbors and one night witnesses his neighbor Mr. Turner (David Morse) driving a dented blue Mustang into his garage. A description fitting the car was previously reported on the television after a woman disappeared and Kale begins to believe that Mr. Turner is the serial killer that the authorities have been unable to find. The suspicions heat up when Mr. Turner brings home a call girl and mysterious happenings begin around the Turner household. Kale, Ashley and Ronnie begin to spend more time monitoring the activities of Mr. Turner and attempt to gather evidence to show that Turner is indeed a serial killer and that Kale had witnessed the call girl´s murder the previous night.
With a number of apparent Hitchcockian influences, "Disturbia" is a slow building thriller that teases and entertains until the film finally reveals its villain and the grisly horrors of the serial killer´s environment. With similar themes to Hitchcock´s "Rear Window" and featuring musical cues, soundtrack usage and camera movements that should be familiar to fans of the legendary director, "Disturbia´s" director D.J. Caruso pays homage to the master of the thriller and crafts and effective and entertaining picture that could have been successful with an actor other than Shia LaBeouf, but with the talented young actor, the film succeeds on more than it´s directorial merits and is supported by a good leading man.
"Disturbia" is an entertaining film that pays proper homage to Alfred Hitchcock and provides a similar level of thrills and drama that were familiar to the films directed by Hitchcock. The film dances around the topics of sexuality and builds sexual tension to support the tension surrounding the possible serial killer living next door. There have been a glut of thrillers and chillers released in the past couple of years and many of them have become horribly dull and repetitious. D.J. Caruso moves filmmaking back a few decades and slows down the pace and uses the camera´s eye to become a voyeur through the binoculars and other ocular devices used by the film´s main characters. Hints of horror are flashed throughout the first two acts and it isn´t until the final showdown between Kale and the serial killer that anything violent actually occurs. Tension between Ashley and her parents and Kale and his mother help to build tension, as does an unfriendly relationship between Kale and some neighborhood boys. These moments are meant to keep the viewer on edge and unable to settle into a level of comfort.
When the heat is finally turned up, the reward was not as great as I had hoped and I feel the closing moments of the film are not as fulfilling as the rest of the film. Caruso quickly moves "Disturbia" into becoming a typical horror movie showdown between protagonist and villain and when the serial killer meets his demise, it doesn´t feel as well-crafted as the rest of the film. There is nothing crafty or inventive during the finale, which is unlike the rest of the film. After the credits appeared on screen and brought closure to the picture, I was more than pleased with the viewing experience. The film didn´t end as well as I would have liked, but it was a good ride and well done. Shia LaBeouf is going to be a star and this is the first time he was truly able to flex his acting muscle. Along with director D.J. Caruso, they have made a very effective thriller.
Shia LaBeouf has been on a roll recently. Starting with "Disturbia," the young actor has been cast in a few choice high profile roles. He voiced the main character in the animated hit "Surf´s Up." LaBeouf played the lead human role in the blockbuster toy line adaptation "Transformers" and its sequels and will soon be seen in the highly anticipated "Indiana Jones 4." LaBeouf is no stranger to big budget cinema. He had previously had roles in "Charlie´s Angels: Full Throttle," "Constantine" and "I, Robot." LaBeouf is a talented young actor with a long future ahead of him in cinema. Most will recall seeing him first in Michael Bay´s "Transformers," but it was 2007´s "Disturbia" that first allowed the young actor to shine without any special effects or bigger named actors to upstage him.
"Disturbia" tells the tale of a young man, Kale (LaBeouf), who has seen his father die in a horrific car accident and is now forced into a long boring summer after earning house arrest for punching his Spanish teacher. Kale first finds problems in passing time, but soon finds that there is a lot of interesting happenings in the neighborhood around him and he soon finds a pair of red lenses binoculars are his new best friend and allow him to view and discover many intriguing things about the people that populate his neighborhood. However, it is his beautiful new neighbor Ashley (Sarah Roemer) that catches his interest the most. She sunbathes around the swimming pool in a bikini and dances in her underwear in front of her window. This all catches Kale´s interest and he soon finds a friendship with the pretty young girl after she visits his house for seclusion from her parents.
Kale´s mother Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss) and his best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) are the only people besides Ashley that Kale sees during his long days. He increasingly spends time spying on his neighbors and one night witnesses his neighbor Mr. Turner (David Morse) driving a dented blue Mustang into his garage. A description fitting the car was previously reported on the television after a woman disappeared and Kale begins to believe that Mr. Turner is the serial killer that the authorities have been unable to find. The suspicions heat up when Mr. Turner brings home a call girl and mysterious happenings begin around the Turner household. Kale, Ashley and Ronnie begin to spend more time monitoring the activities of Mr. Turner and attempt to gather evidence to show that Turner is indeed a serial killer and that Kale had witnessed the call girl´s murder the previous night.
With a number of apparent Hitchcockian influences, "Disturbia" is a slow building thriller that teases and entertains until the film finally reveals its villain and the grisly horrors of the serial killer´s environment. With similar themes to Hitchcock´s "Rear Window" and featuring musical cues, soundtrack usage and camera movements that should be familiar to fans of the legendary director, "Disturbia´s" director D.J. Caruso pays homage to the master of the thriller and crafts and effective and entertaining picture that could have been successful with an actor other than Shia LaBeouf, but with the talented young actor, the film succeeds on more than it´s directorial merits and is supported by a good leading man.
"Disturbia" is an entertaining film that pays proper homage to Alfred Hitchcock and provides a similar level of thrills and drama that were familiar to the films directed by Hitchcock. The film dances around the topics of sexuality and builds sexual tension to support the tension surrounding the possible serial killer living next door. There have been a glut of thrillers and chillers released in the past couple of years and many of them have become horribly dull and repetitious. D.J. Caruso moves filmmaking back a few decades and slows down the pace and uses the camera´s eye to become a voyeur through the binoculars and other ocular devices used by the film´s main characters. Hints of horror are flashed throughout the first two acts and it isn´t until the final showdown between Kale and the serial killer that anything violent actually occurs. Tension between Ashley and her parents and Kale and his mother help to build tension, as does an unfriendly relationship between Kale and some neighborhood boys. These moments are meant to keep the viewer on edge and unable to settle into a level of comfort.
When the heat is finally turned up, the reward was not as great as I had hoped and I feel the closing moments of the film are not as fulfilling as the rest of the film. Caruso quickly moves "Disturbia" into becoming a typical horror movie showdown between protagonist and villain and when the serial killer meets his demise, it doesn´t feel as well-crafted as the rest of the film. There is nothing crafty or inventive during the finale, which is unlike the rest of the film. After the credits appeared on screen and brought closure to the picture, I was more than pleased with the viewing experience. The film didn´t end as well as I would have liked, but it was a good ride and well done. Shia LaBeouf is going to be a star and this is the first time he was truly able to flex his acting muscle. Along with director D.J. Caruso, they have made a very effective thriller.
"Disturbia" tells the tale of a young man, Kale (LaBeouf), who has seen his father die in a horrific car accident and is now forced into a long boring summer after earning house arrest for punching his Spanish teacher. Kale first finds problems in passing time, but soon finds that there is a lot of interesting happenings in the neighborhood around him and he soon finds a pair of red lenses binoculars are his new best friend and allow him to view and discover many intriguing things about the people that populate his neighborhood. However, it is his beautiful new neighbor Ashley (Sarah Roemer) that catches his interest the most. She sunbathes around the swimming pool in a bikini and dances in her underwear in front of her window. This all catches Kale´s interest and he soon finds a friendship with the pretty young girl after she visits his house for seclusion from her parents.
Kale´s mother Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss) and his best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) are the only people besides Ashley that Kale sees during his long days. He increasingly spends time spying on his neighbors and one night witnesses his neighbor Mr. Turner (David Morse) driving a dented blue Mustang into his garage. A description fitting the car was previously reported on the television after a woman disappeared and Kale begins to believe that Mr. Turner is the serial killer that the authorities have been unable to find. The suspicions heat up when Mr. Turner brings home a call girl and mysterious happenings begin around the Turner household. Kale, Ashley and Ronnie begin to spend more time monitoring the activities of Mr. Turner and attempt to gather evidence to show that Turner is indeed a serial killer and that Kale had witnessed the call girl´s murder the previous night.
With a number of apparent Hitchcockian influences, "Disturbia" is a slow building thriller that teases and entertains until the film finally reveals its villain and the grisly horrors of the serial killer´s environment. With similar themes to Hitchcock´s "Rear Window" and featuring musical cues, soundtrack usage and camera movements that should be familiar to fans of the legendary director, "Disturbia´s" director D.J. Caruso pays homage to the master of the thriller and crafts and effective and entertaining picture that could have been successful with an actor other than Shia LaBeouf, but with the talented young actor, the film succeeds on more than it´s directorial merits and is supported by a good leading man.
"Disturbia" is an entertaining film that pays proper homage to Alfred Hitchcock and provides a similar level of thrills and drama that were familiar to the films directed by Hitchcock. The film dances around the topics of sexuality and builds sexual tension to support the tension surrounding the possible serial killer living next door. There have been a glut of thrillers and chillers released in the past couple of years and many of them have become horribly dull and repetitious. D.J. Caruso moves filmmaking back a few decades and slows down the pace and uses the camera´s eye to become a voyeur through the binoculars and other ocular devices used by the film´s main characters. Hints of horror are flashed throughout the first two acts and it isn´t until the final showdown between Kale and the serial killer that anything violent actually occurs. Tension between Ashley and her parents and Kale and his mother help to build tension, as does an unfriendly relationship between Kale and some neighborhood boys. These moments are meant to keep the viewer on edge and unable to settle into a level of comfort.
When the heat is finally turned up, the reward was not as great as I had hoped and I feel the closing moments of the film are not as fulfilling as the rest of the film. Caruso quickly moves "Disturbia" into becoming a typical horror movie showdown between protagonist and villain and when the serial killer meets his demise, it doesn´t feel as well-crafted as the rest of the film. There is nothing crafty or inventive during the finale, which is unlike the rest of the film. After the credits appeared on screen and brought closure to the picture, I was more than pleased with the viewing experience. The film didn´t end as well as I would have liked, but it was a good ride and well done. Shia LaBeouf is going to be a star and this is the first time he was truly able to flex his acting muscle. Along with director D.J. Caruso, they have made a very effective thriller.
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