Popular reviews

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  Review by Jim Cummings ★★★★★ 16

  One of my favorite films of all time.
  Art's character is bar none my favorite comic performance.
  The ending "it's us" monologue is historic.
  The soundtrack, the neighborliness, it's all just so fun and wonderful.

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  Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★ 1

  Dante's slapstick Rear Window. Understand the objection to the ending—which on its surface undermines Hanks' righteous realization that suburban conformity is much darker and weirder than any strange outsider—but even if the voyeur element isn't as strong the same is true here of Hitchcock's version imo: the fact that our hero ends up being right about his creepy neighbors doesn't really matter because whether its true or not the expression here of a truly unhinged desire for murderous cannibals to have moved in next door, under the presumption of heroically restoring "normalcy", is deeply revealing of the perverse psychology and hysteria of suburban America. Geels particularly apt in the age of QAnon.

  Full discussion on episode 162 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.

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  Review by Reece ★★★★ 5

  there is a sequence where satanists tie Tom Hanks to a BBQ grill… god i love 80s movies

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  Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸 ★★★★½ 15

  Somewhere around the early 90s, Tom Hanks became really boring.

  He stopped making comedies and started making 'serious' films. As such, we missed out on him making more films like this and more films where we have to watch him talk to a sodding volleyball for the best part of 2 hours or doing a bad Alec Guinness impression.

  Okay, that is been gravely unfair to Hanks and of course he HAS made or been a part of some great films in the 23 years since the release of The 'Burbs. But I can't be the only one who STILL misses the days when you saw his name on a film poster or box and you knew you were in…

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  Review by Luke Kane ★★★★ 5

  Mark Rumsfield: Klopek... what is that, Slavic?

  Reuben: NO.

  Mark Rumsfield: 'Bout a nine on the tension scale, Reub.

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  Review by nathaxnne [hiatus <3] ★★★★★ 14

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  A totally white middle-class enclave full of normal white people who had fought for the United States and come home to rest, people who had worked and retired, people who are still working hard, white people who are almost entirely male and whose sense of safety rests entirely on the continual surveillance and monitoring of each other, maintenance of social norms and the training of others to do the same. What happens when people move in who dress differently, decorate differently, act standoffish and secretive, have a weird last name or a weird schedule? Those people are immediately suspect, could very well be serial murderers, dangerous occultists or today, terrorists. If You See Something, Say Something. Xenophobic community maintenance was…

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  Review by Brian Saur ★★★★★

  That Ricky Butler sure knows how to throw a party.

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  Review by theriverjordan ★★★½ 28

  “The ‘Burbs” is the film that bears perhaps the most disturbing monster born from the mind of Joe Dante: the idle upper middle class. 

  The Tom Hanks-starring film deigns to elicit no sympathy for its leading characters; boring suburbanites who occupy dull lives by imposing their aimless meddling on one another. Desperate for meaning other than keeping their own lawns mowed, the subhuman suburbanites concoct a conspiracy that some of their neighbors… are satanic cultists. 

  “‘Burbs” belongs to that bucolic era in late 80s and early 90s media, where an excess of financial stability led America to dream fantastical dreams of the exotically maudlin and macabre. This yearning for dark whimsy produced works ranging from “Edward Scissorhands” and “Cable Guy”…

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  Review by clare 🐈‍⬛🌕👁️⚫🕯️ ★★★★ 15

  I needed this.

  On a normal Tuesday. Except I don't work til late. After yet another night put down by the poisonous thoughtloops of my barely contained obsessive-compulsive childish illogical but damn it still consuming fear -- there's nothing like the sunlight on a quiet Tuesday. Work is still far away. Everything just slows down. I can feel the chasm of my fear vibrating away on the edges of the day. But it's easier to keep it there. On the edge.

  Because there's something to the sunlight streaming in the window. Something to a marginally clean house and fresh, clean, cold cans of soda. So, to keep the fear out and the hopeful sunlight vibe in, I flip this on.…

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  Review by c h r i s 🕯️🍂 ★★★★ 8

  “Nobody knocks off an old man in my neighborhood and gets away with it.” 🦴 

  It’s about time I watched the darkly comedic, wildly fun and unforgettably quotable cult classic that is The ‘Burbs! 

  The actual cinematic depiction of it’s a small town everyone knows everything about everyone in all of its suburban paranoid glory. Convinced their new neighbors are in a satanic  cult, Ray and Art are set on proving their theory right and it helps when another neighbor suddenly goes missing! 

  They sure don’t make movies like this anymore! From that Tom Hanks nightmare sequence to that quirky Jerry Goldsmith score (holy shit!) to Corey Feldman explaining to Tom Hanks about the film The Sentinel which would put anyone in the mood for some gates of hell goodness.
  I’d say The ‘Burbs feels like an extended episode of The Twilight Zone, the only thing missing was Rob Serling’s introduction. Loved this and all of its homey antics.

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  Review by braden ★★★ 2

  “I want to kill everyone. Satan is good. Satan is our pal”

  Another one of those movies I’d been weirdly keen to watch for ages, The ‘Burbs is a fun, relatively light comedy with some decent laughs and a share of memorable moments. The story is mostly brought to life by Tom Hanks’ expectedly energetic lead role, making use of the bizarre satanic premise to give his character a very slapstick edge that really elevates the screenplay; as well as the talents of the supporting cast including Bruce Dern and Corey Feldman that help make the film feel lively and cartoonish. It’s not as tonally dark as the synopsis would make it seem but it’s still entertaining enough for what it’s worth, definitely standing out as a more unique option among 80s comedies.

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  Review by Tony the Terror 🎃 ★★★★½ 2

  This was a staple movie in my childhood and now it’s on Shudder so this is only the first of many rewatches. I love this so much. Tom Hanks gives one of his greatest 80’s performances and Carrie Fisher is divine in her floral print halterneck dress and flawless comic timing.

  Also, when Tom explains to everyone that all he wants to do on his time off is lay around the house in his pajamas, let me tell you that I relate to that shit on the deepest level.