Review of The 'Burbs (1989) by Alex R — 03 Jan 2011

One of the best early films from Tom Hanks, The Burbs is a terrific horror comedy with plenty of laughs. The Burbs is actually a great film for non horror fans to watch because its scary elements are used purely for comical effect.

The film surrounds neighbors who have to deal with a weird family that has moved into the neighborhood. Tom Hanks plays Ray Peterson the neighbor of the new family, The Klopeks. Ray gets more and more involved during his vacation into investigating the family next door. At first, he suspects something strange as Ray comes out and sees strange flashing lights and a strange roaring sound. It's not soon after that his neighbors start suspecting the strangest things that are happening next door to ray's place. Art is the neighbor who's interests are primarily in conspiracies and other odd stuff. Mark Rumsfield is the paranoid Vietnam veteran and Ricky Butler is the neighborhood teen who tries to impress his friends with the strange ongoings in his neighborhood due to his neighbors investigating the odd family, the Klopeks. The Burbs is yet another terrific film by director Joe Dante who directed Gremlins and Piranha. The film will definitely appeal to Horror genre fans and is one of the best Horror comedies to come out during the 80's. Dante's colorful cast do a great job, and the film is as equally funny as it is tense. A terrific, underrated gem of a film The Burbs is a film not to miss. If you love light hearted horror and mystery mixed with great comedy, then this is a film that will definitely appeal to you.