BLOG: THE ‘BURBS (1989): “This Movie is Good. This Movie is our Pal.”
It recently occurred to me that now that we’re all living here in 2024, it’s time to mark the 35th anniversary of any and everything that happened in 1989. And while prepping a series of blogs/podcasts revolving around the ridiculous volume of awesome genre movies that came out that year (Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Pet Sematary, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Back to the Future Part II, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier), I was like oh wait, wha-?
Yep, that’s right. Today is the day.
It’s time to talk The ‘Burbs.
And by talk about it, what I mean is to reminisce a bit as there really isn’t much of a plot to review. The entire story centers around an odd new family that has moved into your typical boring suburban neighborhood. Having taken the week off from work and with too much time to spend in his head, Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks) lives directly next door and starts to become obsessed with just what the heck is going on with these newbies? It doesn’t help that he’s also forced to deal with a couple of other neighbors Art (Rick Ducomunn) and Rumsfield (Bruce Dern) insisting that at best, they’re chopping people up; At worst they’re a full blown Satanic cult.
Naturally, this results in everyone becoming suspicious.
It’s a very simple set up (reminiscent of something like Rear Window) but the plot is by no means the star of the show here. The greatness of this movie comes from the behavioral comedy of this group of dimwits, convinced that something gruesome is taking place right under their noses and it’s up to them to do something about it.
It’s an impossible task for me to attempt to list off all of my favorite moments that The ‘Burbs has to offer. The entire movie is virtually one long series of memes/gifs just waiting to happen, and the screenplay is littered with endlessly quotable dialogue (If I’d have been on the plane it would have crashed!”). The cast is across the board fantastic (Carrie Fisher, Hellooo?), the score by Jerry Goldsmith is nothing short of incredible and the direction? Oh man, in my opinion this is Joe Dante at his absolute peak. And following this up with the almighty Gremlins 2: The New Batch!? People that is one of the greatest 1, 2 cinematic punches on record.
It’s the tone that Dante achieves which is so remarkable. Everything about the bland, All-American cul-de-sac of Mayfield Place feels just off kilter with the Klopek family living in that spooky old house at the end of the block. It truly does seem as though something horrific or at least highly unusual is happening in plain site and in a lot of ways I think that The ‘Burbs can be seen as a precursor to the almighty series Eerie, Indiana. Another Joe Dante joint that premiered on television just a couple of years later.
Ok so I’m gonna force myself to single out a couple of my favorite gags here and one of them has got to be when Ray while trying to relax in bed, begins flipping channels. Naturally, much like the radio only playing love songs after a breakup, the glow of his television refuses to flicker back any programming that isn’t pure, uncut horror. Some great moments pop up on screen from the The Exorcist, something called Race With the Devil (never seen it) and naturally The Texas Chain Saw Massacre II!
One thing this movie has going for it that I can’t really say the same about for many of my other all time favorites is how vividly I remember waiting for it. It was the Winter of 1988 and we used to go to this K-Mart that was located inside of an outdoor shopping center in Stockton, CA. On the other side of the parking lot, there was a small theater and of course being a little 8 year old movie lover, I used to sneak away from my family to head over and take a look at the posters on display for coming attractions. The print above was there one night and I was just so curious. But of course us being pretty poor, I didn’t get to see it on the big screen once it hit theaters on February 17th, 1989.
I’d have to wait until it was shown on cable sometime late that Summer or early Fall before getting to check it out. I think it premiered on Showtime. Well, it may have been HBO but I’m pretty sure it was Showtime. Either way, back in those days all the premium channels would send out their own little booklets for the month that had pages devoted to new movies with the days and times printed at the bottom so you could make sure to catch them. Y’know basically like cool little mini TV-Guides. I used to love scouring these things and reading the descriptions for everything whether it was something I was interested in or not!
Welp one day there it was, The ‘Burbs was going to be on television and I was finally going to get my chance to see it. And oh man, it couldn’t have happened on a better night. The start time had been circled weeks before and for some reason I was lucky enough to be home alone. Along with no school the next morning, that was this kid up well past his bedtime, all the lights off in the house with some kind of snack (I imagine Wheat Thins, Salami and Food 4 Less brand Cola) and the volume cranked up.
That showing marked the first of countless late night watches all alone in the dark. I used to play it in the background as comfort noise before bedtime. I have made more than one person utterly sick of it with how many times they were forced to see it. This is one of those movies I have owned in every format: VHS, Widescreen VHS, DVD, on bare bones Blu-Ray and then eventually the fantastic Shout! Factory Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray. That last release being notable for including an awesome workprint cut of the full film featuring deleted and extended scenes as well as a highly interesting temp score that goes heavy on the Western musical cues and themes from the original Twilight Zone series. I can’t recommend it enough.
