I based my decision to watch this film almost entirely off of what I saw on the DVD case. Shia LaBeof…creepy, menacing binoculars…I’m interested. Unfortunately for me, I was drawn in like a fly to a bug light because, contrary to what the front cover says, Disturbia is anything but “a scorching nail-biter that will have you jumping out of your seat”. Allow me to explain.

To begin with, the storyline is not exactly original. Kale, a teenage boy deeply affected by his father’s death, is put under house arrest after assaulting a teacher at school. With nothing else to do, Kale begins to routinely observe his neighborhood and soon witnesses some strange events occurring inside one man’s house that drags Kale and everyone he cares for into life-threatening danger (…Hitchcock’s Rear Window, anyone?). 

And when I say “drags”, I mean it. For being labeled as a thriller, Disturbia has very little thrill involved. The advancement of plot is so slow, I was about three fourths of the way through before anything frightening occurred, and even then it is very overdone and very unoriginal. The overall feel of the film ends up being more teen-flick-y than anything else. After a while, I found myself only half-caring about what happened to anyone in the end. Even if it wasn’t so closely related to Hitchcock’s film, I don’t feel like writer Christopher Landon or director D.J. Caruso did a proper job in making Disturbia stand out on its own.

The fact that Steven Spielberg had been an executive producer was a complete surprise for me. There are a few moments of amusement throughout that remind me a little of Spielberg’s humor, but besides that, this film really doesn’t feel connected with his expertise at all.

The original soundtracks also lacked a strong, unique quality and made me more annoyed than freaked out. Disturbia mostly uses the method of music shrieking when something pops surprisingly onto the screen, which works, but if it’s used too often on things that aren’t even scary (i.e. the character turning around and seeing their best friend instead of a murderer), it gets a little redundant and makes me question if the director really knows how to scare an audience.

I was generally disappointed in the acting as well. It wasn’t that it was bad, it just felt very generic and flat. I had seen good things from Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix trilogy) and had heard good things about David Morse (The Green Mile), but neither seemed especially electrifying in their Disturbia roles. It may have had something to do with the way the characters were written, but it just felt like the mother was a mother and the creepy man was a creepy man, nothing more.  

On the other hand, Shia LaBeouf (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) probably brought the most believablity to this film for me. It’s ironic, considering he use to make a living in teenage media as Louis Stevens on Disney Channel’s Even Stevens, but had I not watched that TV show, I would’ve never believed him to be the same actor. LaBeouf’s ability to conform so smoothly to a character is probably the reason why his career has come out of Disturbia unscathed. He is definitely an actor to keep an eye on.

To be honest, unless you’re a diehard LaBeouf fanatic, I would not recommend this movie. There really isn’t anything in it that we haven’t seen before. You’d be better off sticking with Rear Window and catching Transformers or Indiana Jones for your LaBeouf fix.

Ever imagine what it would be like to live where zombies are status symbols?  Well…me either.  But you can experience that kind of world in Fido, and it is pretty amusing.  This movie is kind of a mix between Shaun of the Dead comedy, “Leave it to Beaver” time period, and a “Lassie” plotline.  Did I confuse you, or make you more intrigued?  I hope it’s the latter.   Yes, it’s another dark comedy.  Zombies eating people for laughs usually falls under that category, and for me personally it doesn’t get old…just like in Shaun of the Dead.  Fido also takes place in an idyllic time period, the 50’s.  Where women stayed at home and husbands earned the money…hence “Leave it to Beaver” – not to mention all the costumes remind me of that TV show too.  Now, how did I get to “Lassie” you might be wondering, well that’s kind of the plot of the movie only replace the dog with a zombie named Fido (Billy Connolly, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events).  You still have the kid named Timmy (this time played by K’Sun Ray) who is always finding himself in tight spots and needs rescuing.   

So now that I’m done with my comparisons, on to the actual plot of Fido.  The Zombie Wars have ended, and a company called Zomcon has figured out a way to employ the zombies in every day activities by having them wear collars that control their bloodlust, and let humans have control over them with a remote.  Not all zombies are employed though, as some are banished to the Outlands.  Most families though do own at least one zombie (the more you own, the richer you must be) and zombies are also employed in many different jobs like paperboys and milkmen. 

The Robinson’s live in this community but are the only family on the block to not own a zombie.  Bill Robinson (Dylan Baker, Happiness) is obsessed with funerals, since they bury the dead person’s head in a lead box therefore preventing it from coming back as a zombie.  He also would rather play golf then spend time with his son or wife (Carrie-Anne Moss, The Matrix).  One-day Timmy’s mom brings home a zombie to impress the new neighbors.  At first the zombie annoys Timmy, but when he saves him from some bullies they become fast friends. Everything is going great between Timmy and Fido, until his collar goes off and he eats one of the neighbors.  Oops.  Now Timmy must keep Fido’s bloodlust a secret, but in the end this secret will bring the whole family together. 

I found this movie to be quite funny.  I especially enjoyed Tim Blake Nelson’s (The Good Girl) character as the family’s neighbor who comes to Timmy’s aide more than once. His interactions with his zombie were some of the funnier points of the movie.  But this movie isn’t just a comedy, or even a zombie movie; it’s more of a satire on America.  It really shows how people want to do things just because other people are doing it, like owning a zombie – surely that can’t be safe.  Zomcon could be almost any big name company nowadays, hiding the truth from the people for their own gain and benefit.  Of course this movie is nothing compared to George A. Romero’s work, but the writers (Robert Chomiak, Dennis Heaton, and the director Andrew Currie) still do a nice job.

I’d probably rate this movie B.  It was definitely funny, and had sweet moments but things kind of fall apart towards the end.  If you were a fan of Shaun of the Dead, I’d recommend giving Fido a viewing.