Neighbors From Hell: 35 Years of THE ‘BURBS

THE ‘BURBS was probably the second movie in my life that helped me bridge the gap from being scared of horror to being a diehard fan. It's also the Joe Dante picture that I love the most out of his entire filmography. Not to say there aren't other movies of his that I love. Throw a rock and you'll hit an underrated masterpiece that has gotten reappraisal, including MATINEE (which was the first film I wrote about for this very website), INNERSPACE, all the way up to the seemingly underseen—but incredibly enjoyable—BURYING THE EX.

I think what got me invested in the works of Dante is the fact that everything he does, is done with a wink and a smile, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. He turns even the most mundane things into Looney Tunes-esque flights of fancy where the reality is able to be stretched and played with - and yet, it doesn't lose the real world stakes. The characters take even the most ludicrous things deadly seriously and that just adds another layer to the humor.

What helps is having a screenwriter whose style really fits that of their director and Dana Olsen's script feels right at home next to THE HOWLING and GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH. Utilizing the timeless idea of small-town paranoia and local urban legends that get passed around throughout neighborhoods all across America, Olsen wrote a script which he described as "Ozzie & Harriet meets Charles Manson" and it fits that to a tee. Though originally much darker (more on that a bit later), the overall tone and spirit between the final film and the initial script is kept intact and that is definitely a testament to the skill of both its director and its writer. Though he didn’t write anything quite like THE ‘BURBS afterward, Olsen has still managed an incredibly successful career on Nickelodeon as the creator of Henry Danger and Danger Force, but I’d like to think he could still come up with something as offbeat and unique as this again someday.

Even with a great script and a perfect director, a movie can still fall apart if it doesn’t cast right and, as he always seems to do, Dante manages to get the alchemy of perfect casting down. Now we know Tom Hanks as Hollywood royalty, an absolute cinematic icon. But when THE ‘BURBS was coming out he was still on the rise, he had not become the figure we know him as today and that works to his advantage in this. Hanks plays the character of Ray with the right mixture of sad sack suburbanite and manic psychotic and it helps that he has a supporting cast that is game to play off of that energy including the late great Rick Ducommun as Art who - in a feat of acting brilliance - manages to distill the traits of every single annoying neighbor that you’ve ever had in your life into one solitary person. Rounding out the three leads is Bruce Dern as Rumsfeld and, even though he may not have quite as much screen time, he still manages to get some of the best jokes in the movie and manages to bring a slightly lower key style of humor than what Hanks and Ducommun are bringing.

With the casting of Hanks there was also a very big change to the script. As Olsen originally intended, the character of Ray was going to be killed by the Klopeks and they were going to get away with it. With Hanks being cast, the character was given a last minute save and I absolutely agree that it works better. Hanks is a charming and likable actor; we want to see him succeed in some capacity.

While Hanks and friends are running around like lunatics, Carrie Fisher gets to shine in what would have been written as a cliche “nagging wife” in any other script. She imbues her character, Carol, with a lot of warmth, only wanting what’s best for Ray. This is the first thing I saw Carrie Fisher in and it will be the role that I most associate with her, Princess Leia be damned!

Rounding out the cast is Henry Gibson as the (possibly) villainous Dr. Werner Klopek, Brother Theodore as his…brother, Reuben, and Courtney Gains as nephew Hans. Each of them is bringing something different but they still manage to coalesce into an incredibly creepy family.

An element that works extremely well in this movie is the use of its one location. Filmed almost entirely on the Universal Studios back lot, the movie creates a sense of claustrophobia and almost an inability to escape. It almost seems to be invoking a bit of The Twilight Zone with each day seeming to blend into the next and into the next. It plays into Olsen’s script idea that one day you may just snap because you keep doing the same thing over and over and over and that is both hilarious and terrifying to think about.

While it was a box office success it wasn’t a hit with the critics including Roger Ebert who gave it a fairly scathing review. But, like I said at the start, Joe Dante movies are constantly being reappraised and this film is no exception. It has had a long life on VHS and cable; THE ‘BURBS has found its audience of diehard fans.

I can’t exactly remember what drew me to this movie. I think it was - like with so many other movies that I loved at an early age - a fortuitous trip to the video store and the stark image of the VHS box that just drew me in. I knew of Tom Hanks to a degree, but this may actually be the very first thing I saw him in. It made me laugh over and over again and it has had a long-lasting legacy in my household up to and including being a go-to watch for my wife and I when we need something to make us laugh. And that’s the hallmark of a classic. To paraphrase Corey Feldman’s last line, “God I love this movie.”