Disturbia

Review in a Hurry:  In this thrillfest, a troubled teen under house arrest learns that his neighbors include (a) the girl of his dreams and (b) a serial killer. With dark shocks, canny laughs and teenage romance—and fine performances from Shia LaBeouf and David Morse—this suspense flick is pure popcorn pleasure.

The Bigger Picture:  Plot-wise, Disturbia feels like a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Happily, the new film doesn't try to copy Hitchcock, but rather takes the original's most powerful suspense elements—a voyeuristic hero whose movements are limited and a slippery killer he can see from his window but is powerless to stop, even when said killer threatens the lives of those closest to him—and modernizes them.

As Kale, the funny, fierce LaBeouf becomes sullen and anti-social after his father's death, exasperating his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss). When he acts out, he ends up under house arrest, shackled with an electronic ankle bracelet, leading him to train his binoculars on the neighbors, hottie Ashley (Sarah Roemer) and the shady Mr. Turner (Morse), who displays all the signs of a psycho. Much churning suspense results from Kale's resourceful spying—and his impotent fear as Ashley and his best buddy Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) tempt fate by investigating Turner.

Writers Christopher Landon and Carl Ellsworth and director D.J. Caruso (Taking Lives) take the time to develop the characters (with the exception of Ashley, who comes off as a rather one-dimensional fantasy girl). By the time the mayhem starts, we're sufficiently invested in these people to really root for their survival.

Caruso is particularly adept at keeping two parallel dangers simmering at the same time, as when Kale simultaneously coaches Ronnie through some dangerous surveillance and talks to Ashley via cell as she keeps tabs on Turner. When we finally plunge into the heart of darkness behind Turner's clean suburban façade, the film kicks into high gear—and the muddy crawlspaces that await us there manage to be utterly creepy without subjecting us to excessive gore.

Disturbia earns its jolts with a strong story, engaging characters and sharp direction—and will likely scare the Junior Mints right out of you.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  The plot has some gaping holes, the romance is strained and improbable, and the boy-who-cried-wolf elements will have some viewers rolling their eyes. And watching teenagers talk on cell phones and surf the Internet hardly compares to seeing Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly doing, well, anything.