Better-than-anticipated Hitchcockian suspensor ala "Rear Window" for the MySpace generation

Rating: 7/10 (16 April 2007)

DISTURBIA (2007) **1/2 Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Morse, Aaron Yoo, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Matt Craaven, Viola Davis. Better-than-anticipated Hitchcockian suspensor ala "Rear Window" for the MySpace generation: a teenager under house arrest (equally surprisingly decent LaBeouf, who I normally dread) has little to do to preoccupy his time and begins to spy on his neighbors including the new nubile next-door-neighbor (Roemer) and the creepily quiet neighbor on the other side who may or not be killing off young women in his own home. While Christopher B. Landon & Car Ellsworth's screenplay is a tad trite and pedestrian, director DJ Caruso squeezes out enough taut tension to keep the suspense and action equal to the ever-growing-weary audience to follow the path to the inevitable violent conclusion.