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Shia LaBeouf, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Morse, Sarah Roemer. Teen thriller. Written by Christopher Landon, Carl Ellsworth. Directed by D.J. Caruso.

FILM SYNOPSIS: After his father’s death, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) becomes sullen, withdrawn, and troubled – so much so that he finds himself under a court-ordered sentence of house arrest. Soon, the walls of his house begin to close in. He becomes a voyeur as his interest turn outside the windows of his suburban home towards those of his neighbors, one of which Kale begins to suspect is a serial killer.

PREVIEW REVIEW: Despite the title, no, this isn’t a sequel to the Tom Hanks comedy ‘Burbs. It’s a teen version of Rear Window, without the wit, style or inventiveness of Hitchcock. The intended audience, by now desensitized to just about anything that can be portrayed on screen, won’t flinch at the excessive content, be it the use of Jesus name, which has become the new “damn,” or the jolting reality of a sudden car crash. But neither will they be subjected to subtlety found in the Hitchcock thriller. Quite honestly, I think today’s teens would be bored with Rear Window’s vogue. Certainly they would squirm while viewing the fashions of decades past. That becomes evident when the lead plays a song by Lou Rawls in order to bug the neighbor teen partiers. To them it’s like nails on a chalkboard.

But it’s not a bad film. Shia LaBeouf has established himself as a fine actor, one of the best of his generation, Sarah Roemer – his romantic interest in the film – looks good in a bikini (she’s the new Jessica Biel), and David Morse always adds legitimacy to a film, though here he’s pretty transparent, like the demonic Robert Mitchum character in Cape Fear. What’s more, the tension-building direction of D. J. Caruso (The Salton Sea, Taking Lives), should satisfy younger audiences. But if Rear Window is filet mignon, Disturbia is hamburger helper.

Video alternative: Rear Window. In this macabre tale of voyeurism and murder, a wheelchair-bound photographer (James Stewart) suspects the neighbor across the courtyard has murdered his own wife. Unable to move about, our hero must depend on his girlfriend (Grace Kelly) to do the investigating.

Distributor: Paramount Pictures