Sometimes in life you get to work on something you love, today I get to review one of my favourite ensemble movies of the 80s. Well not so much review the film, but I do get to spend the evening reviewing the 25th anniversary blu-ray release of The ‘Burbs. This won’t be an objective and neutral review as you’ve probably figured out by now, instead I’m gonna state my case on why The ‘Burbs should be your next blu-ray purchase.
The film. The film is sharp, steeped in 50s horror movie style and playing on suburbanite paranoia it’s got stuff that that beats most comedies released today. Joe Dante directed it, Joe Freaking Dante, you know the guy that brought us two Gremlins movies, Innerspace and the segment of The Twilight Zone which made us all terrified to look out of a plane window, especially if John Lithgow is on the same flight. Oh yeah and he also made Piranha. The opening shot did what Google Earth now does way before it was cool. Lets look at the cast Forrest Gump , Princess Leia, the dude from Nebraska, Rick Ducommun, Francine from American Dad, Edgar Frog and Henry Gibson who’s played creepy dudes in movies for years. I mean c’mon that’s a great cast and they’re all on top comedy form. The story is pretty simple really, some suburbanites suspect the creepy new family in the neighbourhood are occultists who have killed their now missing elderly neighbour. It’s creepy, it’s funny and well it’s genius.
The extras. The blu-ray comes in a nice steel book edition and is packed with some great extras such as a brand new feature length documentary about the making of the movie, which discusses the trials of making the movie, Corey Feldman on the edge of addiction and Hanks and Ducommun’s troubled working relationship. It’s candid and charming to watch the makers and cast discuss how the movie got canned by critics upon release but over time has grown a huge cult following. Along with a rip of Joe Dante’s original VHS work print there’s some great features highlighting the different versions and their various merits.
Right that’s it, I’m done talking about it, I’m just gonna go laugh my arse off watching it. It came out a couple of weeks ago so go get yourself a copy. “God I love this street”
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