The 'Burbs
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| The 'Burbs | |
|---|---|
 Region 2 DVD cover |
|
| Directed by | Joe Dante |
| Produced by | Ron Howard |
| Written by | Dana Olsen |
| Starring | Tom Hanks Bruce Dern Carrie Fisher Rick Ducommun Corey Feldman |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith Ennio Morricone |
| Cinematography | Robert M. Stevens |
| Editing by | Marshall Harvey |
| Distributed by | MCA/Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 17, 1989 |
| Running time | 101 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The 'Burbs is a 1989 black comedy directed by Joe Dante, starring, amongst others, Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, Corey Feldman, and Bruce Dern, and written by Dana Olsen The film pokes fun at suburban environments (particularly in the US), and their eccentric dwellers.
In his typical "good guy" mode, Hanks plays Ray Peterson, a loving family-man with an ordinary life. This changes when a mysterious family, the Klopeks, move in next door. Ray's two neighbors (work-shy slacker Art and paramilitary nut Rumsfield) believe the Klopeks are actually a family of murderers who killed Walter, the old man in the next house over. Ray and the other two turn detective to solve the mystery.
The film was one of the few starring Tom Hanks that failed at the box office. However, it did establish a large cult following that still exists.
Contents |
[edit] Main cast
- Tom Hanks as Ray Peterson
- Bruce Dern as Mark Rumsfield
- Carrie Fisher as Carol Peterson
- Rick Ducommun as Art Weingartner
- Corey Feldman as Ricky Butler
- Wendy Schaal as Bonnie Rumsfield
- Henry Gibson as Dr. Werner Klopek
- Brother Theodore as Reuben Klopek
- Courtney Gains as Hans Klopek
- Gale Gordon as Walter Seznik
- Cory Danziger as Dave Peterson
[edit] The residents of Mayfield Place
- 673: Art and Suzette Weingartner
- 671: Ray, Carol, and Dave Peterson (and their dog, Vince)
- 669: Werner, Reuben, and Hans Klopek
- 667: Walter Seznik
- 668: We don't know who they hell they are...
- 670: Mark and Bonnie Rumsfield
- 672: Ricky Butler
[edit] Releases
The first DVD release of The 'Burbs was Region 1, which contains English and French languages since it was sold in North America and Canada. This was followed in 2004 by the European/Australian Region 2/4 release entitled The 'Burbs Uncut. The 'uncut' in the title refers only to scenes removed from the TV versions are present on the DVD; there is nothing additional from the theatrical release.
On UK terrestrial TV, The 'Burbs has traditionally been shown late at night, uncut, on BBC One but ITV have since bought the rights to show it and it has enjoyed Sunday mid-afternoon showings on ITV 1 and late-night showings on ITV 3. Unlike the BBC, ITV (and the UK video version) does cut some scenes, particularly the scene where Ray watches The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on his TV, and redubs swear words from the dialogue with less offensive speech.
[edit] Music in the movie
[edit] Soundtrack
The extremely rare 13-track orchestral soundtrack was composed by Jerry Goldsmith and in some places parodies some of his other work, or well known signature tunes from other movies (Patton, for example).
- 'Main Title' - 2:23
- 'Welcome to Mayfield Place' - 2.20
- 'New Neighbours' - 2:06
- 'Klopek House' - 2:02
- 'Storytelling' - 3:20
- 'Neighbourhood Watch' - 2:01
- 'A Nightmare in the 'Burbs' - 2:30
- 'Brownies?' - 0:47
- 'The Assault' - 2:36
- 'Ray Peterson, Neighbour From Hell' - 1:43
- 'Runaway Ambulance' - 2:24
- 'Vacation's End' - 2:12
- 'End Titles' - 4:10
Total duration: 30:34
[edit] Original film score
Even more rare is the bootleg film score:
- 'Main Title' - 2:29
- 'The Horse' - 0:25
- 'Welcome to Mayfield Place' - 1:55
- 'Shooting Crows' - 0:49
- 'Dave's Story' - 0:27
- 'New Neighbours' - 2:01
- 'Klopek House' - 1:58
- 'Bad Karma' - 0:35
- 'Storytelling' - 3:13
- 'Neighbourhood Watch' - 1:59
- 'Garbage Disposal' - 4:11
- 'Little Dog Lost' - 1:14
- 'A Klopek Watching' - 0:56
- 'A Hell of TV' - 1:08
- 'A Nightmare in the 'Burbs' - 2:24
- 'Leaving the Note' - 1:24
- 'The Bone' - 1:55
- 'Brownies?' - 0:47
- 'A Horse in the Basement' - 0:56
- 'Planning the Raid' - 2:16
- 'The Assault' - 2:28
- 'On the Roofs' 1:08
- 'Searching the House' - 2:59
- 'The Search Continues' - 1:38
- 'The Furnace' - 0:47
- 'Walter is Back' - 1:53
- 'Ray Peterson, Neighbour from Hell' - 1:44
- 'Aftermath' - 1:00
- 'Runaway Ambulance' - 2:00
- 'Canvas Fight' - 0:21
- 'Skulls/Catching Pinocchio' - 1:36
- 'Vacation's End' - 2:06
- 'End Titles' - 4:01
Total duration: 56:43
[edit] Incidental music
- 'Machine' by Circus of Power
- 'Bloodstone' by Jetboy
- 'Questa o Quella' by Enrico Caruso
- 'Locked in a Cage' by Jetboy
- 'Make Some Noise' by Jetboy
- 'The Showdown' by Ennio Morricone
- 'My Fault' by Ennio Morricone. This is the song that plays as Ray and Art first walk up to the Klopeks' house (16m:31s into the movie), and ends as the camera zooms out of Queenie's face. It's a Western-ish style song and appears in the 1973 movie My Name Is Nobody.
[edit] Trivia
[edit] Alternative titles
- Life in the 'Burbs - working title
- Les banlieusards - French / French Canadian title
- En djävul till granne - Swedish title
- L'erba del vicino - Italian title
- Meine teuflischen Nachbarn - German title
- Meus Vizinhos Sao um Terror - Brazilian title
- Nabohysteri - Norwegian title
- No mataras al vecino - Spanish title
- Piru naapurissa - Finnish title
- S.O.S. vecinos al ataque - Argentinian title
- Любопытные - Russian title
[edit] The set
Mayfield Place, as it is called in the movie, is actually Colonial Street, a set on the backlot of Universal Studios. The houses (many of which are just façades) have been used in countless television shows, movies, and music videos through the years. Perhaps the most notable is The Munsters' house, which is Ricky Butler's house in The 'Burbs. Two new houses, which were built specifically for the movie, were Walter Seznick's (which is still there to this day, see Desperate Housewives) and the Klopeks'.
The Klopeks' house was not completely destroyed, and remained almost intact as it appeared in The 'Burbs for a number of years, albeit without the tower. The whole building can be clearly seen in a Season Two episode of Quantum Leap. The Klopeks' house no longer exists in an easily recognisable form (the Van de Kamp house in Desperate Housewives) but the right-façade does still have some features of the original style. The original Klopek garage sits alongside the house, in much the same style as in The 'Burbs.
[edit] References to other Dante movies
Joe Dante uses many of the cast in his other movies (particularly Dick Miller (garbageman "Vic"), Robert Picardo (garbageman "Joe"), and Henry Gibson). He also likes to add little references to his other movies:
- Art points at a picture in the book he and Ray are reading in the basement. This same picture appears in a book in The Howling.
- While Dave Peterson is eating his breakfast, there is a box of Gremlins breakfast cereal.
[edit] Demonology book
The book The Theory and Practice of Demonology is fictional but the author is listed as Julian Karswell. Dr. Julian Karswell was a character in the 1957 movie Night of the Demon, which was in turn based on the classic ghost story Casting the Runes by the author M.R. James.
[edit] Green lights
There are many green lights used in this movie, and only on the Klopeks property but the relevance of them (if any) is not understood. For instance:
- When the Klopeks go out (the day of "The Assault") there is a green light inside the garage
- In the alternative ending on the DVD there is a green light in the upstairs window of the Klopeks' house
- When Hans Klopek is "banging the garbage with a stick" there is a green light cast onto the driveway in the background, from an upstairs window in the house.
- There are green lights in the basement of the Klopeks' house.
One theory is the connection to the saying quoted by Ricky and Ray: "Green sky at morning, neighbour take warning" -- Ricky. "Green sky at night?" -- Ray, "Neighbour take flight" -- Ricky.
[edit] Fire extinguishers
There are several fire extinguishers throughout the Klopek's house, which is ironic given its fate.
[edit] Other observations
- Art appears to eat dog food. When he's in Ray's kitchen eating breakfast, Carol passes by with a bowl. Art sticks his fingers in and eats a tidbit from it. Watch in the background soon after, when Carol sets the bowl on the floor and the dog comes and eats from it.
- Bingo cards. There are bingo cards in the pile of garbage on the street in front of the Klopeks' house. The Klopeks are unlikely to be bingo players, so it is assumed that these may have belonged to either the Knapps, or Walter (at the time they appear in the movie, Walter is assumed to be dead).
- Carol's intuition. Carol says "now, before somebody falls off a roof or sets themselves on fire..." the day before those two very things happen.
- Reub vs Rummy. After being tormented by Rumsfield, Reuben Klopek gets his own back as they walk out of the back door - watch how he shuts the insect screen right into Rumsfield's face.
- Sugar Substitute? In addition to the nervousness Bonny and Carol display when Werner pulls out the small jar of sugar substitute, notice how Ray covers his cup with his hand.
- Early in the film, Rumsfield says of Ricky: "That kid next door's a meatball." In an unrelated turn of events, Feldman went on to star in Meatballs 4 in 1993.
- While the group is searching Walter's house, a picture of a certain famous redhead can be seen on top of his television set.
- The tree in the first film Ray sees on TV is the same shape to the one in the Klopeks' front yard, suggesting that the Klopeks are into ritualistic sacrifices. Ray later has a dream in which the Klopeks are performing a similar ritual.
- 666. The Klopeks live at 669 Mayfield Place; while Ray and Art are knocking on the door of the Klopek residence for the first time in the film, the '9' swings round for the number to read '666', a number commonly associated with evil.
- Art's "rifle" he uses in an attempt and kill off the crows in the neighborhood is actually a Daisy brand, pump-action BB/pellet gun.
