This film has undergone quite the cult revival in the decades since its almost-successful February 1989 release (I know more than one person who calls it a favorite). I myself was underwhelmed by THE ‘BURBS in ‘89, and after being reacquainted with it my opinion remains solid: quite simply, the film sucks.
A horror-comedy that began as a spoof of REAR WINDOW (1954), THE ‘BURBS was directed by Joe Dante, who in an impressive casting coup managed to procure the services of Tom Hanks just as his career hit a high point with the release of BIG (1988). He plays Ray Peterson, a resident of a movie suburb (i.e. a synthetic-looking studio backlot, the very one used in LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, THE MUNSTERS and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) peopled with recognizable Hollywood players. Ray is supposedly on a stay-cation, having actually lost his job and delaying telling his wife Carol (Carrie Fisher), but the film doesn’t take that gambit very far (with Ray’s revelation of his secret relegated to the Deleted Scenes portion of the Blu-ray release)—which is appropriate, because nobody else in this neighborhood appears to be employed.
Ray’s focus is on the Klopeks, a creepy family consisting of Hans (Courtney Gains), his uncle Reuben (Brother Theodore) and the latter’s brother Werner (Henry Gibson), who speak in thick non-American accents and live in a ludicrously rundown house. Ray and his pals, who include goofball Art (Rick Ducommun), ‘Nam vet Rumsfield (Bruce Bern), his trophy wife Bonnie (Dante regular Wendy Schaal) and young punk Ricky (Corey Feldman), grow increasingly suspicious, especially after Ray spies the Kopeks digging holes in their backyard and their elderly neighbor Walter (Gale Gordon) disappears.
Carol elects to pay the Klopeks a home visit, together with Ray, Rumsfield and Bonnie (Art having been disinvited). The inside of the house is just as comically dilapidated as the outside, which only inflames the suspicions of Ray and co. When a human femur bone is found by Ray’s dog, Ray commandeers a break-in of the Klopek house while its owners are away.
The ending was a studio-mandated reshoot. This is evident in the fact that the final scene torpedoes any message the film might have been trying to impart about the dangers of conformity and suspicion (as summarized in an impassioned speech made by Ray) by having the protagonists’ suspicions about the Klopeks confirmed. The unused original finale (contained on the Blu-ray), however, isn’t much better, making the same points as the studio mandated finale but with too many beats.
As for the opening, a push-in on the Universal Pictures globe that concludes with an overhead pan of the neighborhood where the film takes place, it’s impressive, although it directly recalls opening credits scene of the previous year’s Tim Burton directed BEETLEJUICE. The suspicion that Burton would have been a better director of THE ‘BURBS than Joe Dante is strengthened by the succeeding year’s EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, which likewise takes place in a highly stylized and cartoony suburb but, unlike THE ‘BURBS, actually works.
Sandwiched between INNERSPACE (1987) and GREMLINS 2 (1990), two films in which Dante let his id run wild, THE ‘BURBS feels uninspired, with pacing that’s plodding and satire that never digs very deep. Dante lavished his attention on the visual design, with framing and a color palette that are admittedly quite striking (he told one interviewer that THE ‘BURBS was an “art film”). I say he’d have been well advised to focus on the script.
Of the cast, Tom Hanks does his usual nice guy-defiled shtick. Bruce Dern likewise leans on his standard movie persona, as an eccentric borderline psychopath, while Corey Feldman enacts somebody’s idea of an eighties hipster—although his final direct-to-camera sign-off concludes things on an agreeable note.
Vital Statistics
THE ‘BURBS
Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment
Director: Joe Dante
Producer: Michael Finnell, Larry Brezner
Screenplay: Dana Olsen
Cinematography: Robert Stevens
Editing: Marshall Harvey
Cast: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman, Wendy Schaal, Courtney Gains, Henry Gibson, Gale Gordon, Dick Miller, Robert Picardo, Brother Theodore, Franklyn Ajaye, Cory Danziger, Rance Howard