The Burbs (1989)

While on vacation at home for a week, a suburbanite (Tom Hanks) begins to get suspicious of his new neighbors who never seem to come out during the day but from whose house strange lights and sounds emanate at night. Directed by Joe Dante (GREMLINS), this frantic comedy screams out the 1980s which is too bad as it would have played better if Corey Feldman's teen dude, to name just one example, had been eliminated. The acting is very broad and over the top (except by the two female leads) but once you get accustomed to the feverish style of the film, most of it is very amusing albeit far fetched. I can't help but wonder if the film's ending was changed somewhere along the line (after previews?). Hanks gives a terrific speech that would seem to emphasize the film's theme and it would have been the perfect time to end the film. But at the very end, it confirms the paranoia of the main protagonists. Jerry Goldsmith contributed the clever underscore. With Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Henry Gibson, Rick Ducommun and Wendy Schaal.