Bringing Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” into the modern age, Kale Brecht (Shina LaBeouf) takes over the reins from Jimmy Stewarts wheelchair bound hero. Only these days it simply won’t do to be house bound with a broken leg.
Instead it’s a tagged leg that keeps Kale under house arrest for 90 days. So what does any self respecting teenager do to keep himself occupied during the forthcoming 3 months? Well, he spies on the hot girl (Sarah Roemer) next door of course, and when he’s bored of that, he turns his attention to his serial killing next door neighbour, Robert Turner (David Morse). Witnessing a suspected murder, Kale brings in the aforementioned hot girl and his best mate (Aaron Yoo) to help get some answers.
There’s not a huge amount to Disturbia. It’s doesn’t really mess with a tried and tested formula and on paper it’s nothing that we’ve not seen before. Yet rising start Shina, soon to be seen in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, really brings the script alive. An instantly likable everyman, without the classic movie star good looks, his charisma bounces off the screen and seems to infect the viewer. Likewise too, David Morse also brings a real sense of menace to the part of the creepy next door killer.
What a shame that the fumbling of the final act, really puts into perspective how engaging the first parts were. As rather than build on the suspense and tension created from the start, the director goes straight down the shock horror route. It’s a real shame as the end result is a feeling that we’ve been robbed of something that could have been a genuinely decent film.
Results in a 4 star film with a 2 star ending