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The 'Burbs
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The 'Burbs is a 1989 black comedy directed by Joe Dante, starring, amongst others, Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, Corey Feldman, and Bruce Dern, and written by Dana Olsen The film pokes fun at suburban environments (particularly in the US), and their eccentric dwellers.
In his typical "good guy" mode, Hanks plays Ray Peterson, a loving family-man with an ordinary life. This changes when a mysterious family, the Klopeks, move in next door. Ray's two neighbors (work-shy slacker Art and paramilitary nut Rumsfield) believe the Klopeks are actually a family of murderers who killed Walter, the old man in the next house over. Ray and the other two turn detective to solve the mystery.
The film was one of the few starring Tom Hanks that failed at the box office. However, it did establish a large
cult following that still exists.
Contents
- 1 Main cast
- 2 The residents of Mayfield Place
- 3 Releases
- 4 Music in the movie
- 4.1 Soundtrack
- 4.2 Original film score
- 4.3 Incidental music
- 5 Trivia
- 5.1 Alternative titles
- 5.2 The set
- 5.3 References to other Dante movies
- 5.4 Demonology book
- 5.5 Green lights
- 5.6 Fire extinguishers
- 5.7 Other observations
- 6 External links
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Main cast
The residents of Mayfield Place
Image:Mayfield Place.jpg
- 667: Walter Seznik (and Queenie the dog)
- 668: We don't know who the hell they are...
- 669: Werner, Reuben, and Hans Klopek
- 670: Mark and Bonnie Rumsfield
- 671: Ray, Carol, and Dave Peterson (and Vince the dog)
- 672: Ricky Butler
- 673: Art and Suzette Weingartner
Releases
The first DVD release of The 'Burbs was Region 1, which contains English and French languages since it was sold in North America and Canada. This was followed in 2004 by the European/Australian Region 2/4 release entitled The 'Burbs Uncut. The 'uncut' in the title refers only to scenes removed from the TV versions are present on the DVD; there is nothing additional from the theatrical release.
On UK terrestrial TV, The 'Burbs has traditionally been shown late at night, uncut, on BBC One but ITV have since bought the rights to show it and it has enjoyed Sunday mid-afternoon showings on ITV 1 and late-night showings on ITV 3.
Music in the movie
Soundtrack
The extremely rare 13-track orchestral soundtrack was composed by
Jerry Goldsmith and in some places parodies some of his other work, or well known signature tunes, from other movies (
Patton, for example).
- 'Main Title' - 2:23
- 'Welcome to Mayfield Place' - 2.20
- 'New Neighbours' - 2:06
- 'Klopek House' - 2:02
- 'Storytelling' - 3:20
- 'Neighbourhood Watch' - 2:01
- 'A Nightmare in the 'Burbs' - 2:30
- 'Brownies?' - 0:47
- 'The Assault' - 2:36
- 'Ray Peterson, Neighbour From Hell' - 1:43
- 'Runaway Ambulance' - 2:24
- 'Vacation's End' - 2:12
- 'End Titles' - 4:10
Total duration: 30:34
Original film score
Another rare version is the bootleg film score:
- 'Main Title' - 2:29
- 'The Horse' - 0:25
- 'Welcome to Mayfield Place' - 1:55
- 'Shooting Crows' - 0:49
- 'Dave's Story' - 0:27
- 'New Neighbours' - 2:01
- 'Klopek House' - 1:58
- 'Bad Karma' - 0:35
- 'Storytelling' - 3:13
- 'Neighbourhood Watch' - 1:59
- 'Garbage Disposal' - 4:11
- 'Little Dog Lost' - 1:14
- 'A Klopek Watching' - 0:56
- 'A Hell of TV' - 1:08
- 'A Nightmare in the 'Burbs' - 2:24
- 'Leaving the Note' - 1:24
- 'The Bone' - 1:55
- 'Brownies?' - 0:47
- 'A Horse in the Basement' - 0:56
- 'Planning the Raid' - 2:16
- 'The Assault' - 2:28
- 'On the Roofs' 1:08
- 'Searching the House' - 2:59
- 'The Search Continues' - 1:38
- 'The Furnace' - 0:47
- 'Walter is Back' - 1:53
- 'Ray Peterson, Neighbour from Hell' - 1:44
- 'Aftermath' - 1:00
- 'Runaway Ambulance' - 2:00
- 'Canvas Fight' - 0:21
- 'Skulls/Catching Pinocchio' - 1:36
- 'Vacation's End' - 2:06
- 'End Titles' - 4:01
Total duration: 56:43
Incidental music
- 'Machine' by Circus of Power (to which Ricky Butler plays air guitar when he is about to paint his house)
- 'Bloodstone' by Jetboy (when the car lights go on to illuminate Ricky and his friends' pizza-eating)
- 'Questa o Quella' by Enrico Caruso ("I thought the candles would be romantic for the ladies.")
- 'Locked in a Cage' by Jetboy
- 'Make Some Noise' by Jetboy
- 'The Showdown' by Ennio Morricone
- 'My Fault' by Ennio Morricone. This is the theme that plays as Ray and Art first walk up to the Klopeks' house (16m:31s into the movie), and ends as the camera zooms out of Queenie's face. It's a Western-ish style theme and appears in the 1973 movie My Name Is Nobody.
Trivia
Alternative titles
- Life in the 'Burbs - working title
- Les banlieusards - French / French Canadian title
- En djävul till granne - Swedish title
- L'erba del vicino - Italian title
- Meine teuflischen Nachbarn - German title
- Meus Vizinhos são um Terror - Brazilian title
- Nabohysteri - Norwegian title
- No mataras al vecino - Spanish title
- Piru naapurissa - Finnish title
- S.O.S. vecinos al ataque - Argentinian title
- Любопытные - Russian title
- En djävul till granne - Swedish title
The set
Mayfield Place, as it is called in the movie, is actually Colonial Street, a set on the backlot of Universal Studios. The houses (many of which are just façades) have been used in countless television shows, movies, and music videos through the years. Perhaps the most notable is The Munsters' house, which is home to the Butler family in The 'Burbs. Two new houses, which were built specifically for the movie, were Walter Seznick's (which is still there to this day, see Desperate Housewives) and the Klopeks'.
The Klopeks' house was not completely destroyed, and remained almost intact as it appeared in The 'Burbs for a number of years, albeit without the tower. The whole building can be clearly seen in a Season Two episode of Quantum Leap. The Klopeks' house no longer exists in an easily recognisable form (the Van de Kamp house in Desperate Housewives) but the right-façade does still have some features of the original style. The original Klopek garage sits alongside the house, in much the same style as in The 'Burbs.
References to other Dante movies
Joe Dante uses many of the cast in his other movies (particularly Dick Miller (garbageman "Vic"), Robert Picardo (garbageman "Joe"), and Henry Gibson). He also likes to add little references to his other movies:
- Art points at a picture in the book he and Ray are reading in the basement. This same picture appears in a book in The Howling.
- While Dave Peterson is eating his breakfast, there is a box of Gremlins breakfast cereal.
Demonology book
The book The Theory and Practice of Demonology is fictional but the author is listed as Julian Karswell. Dr. Julian Karswell was a character in the 1957 movie Night of the Demon, which was in turn based on the classic ghost story Casting the Runes by the author M.R. James.
Green lights
There are many green lights used in this movie, and only on the Klopeks property but the relevance of them (if any) is not understood. For instance:
- When the Klopeks go out (the day of "The Assault") there is a green light inside the garage
- In the alternative ending on the DVD there is a green light in the upstairs window of the Klopeks' house
- When Hans Klopek is "banging the garbage with a stick" there is a green light cast onto the driveway in the background, from an upstairs window in the house.
- There are green lights in the basement of the Klopeks' house.
One theory is the connection to the saying quoted by Ricky and Ray: "Green sky at morning, neighbor take warning" -- Ricky. "Green sky at night?" -- Ray, "Neighbor take flight" -- Ricky.
Fire extinguishers
There are several fire extinguishers throughout the Klopek's house, which is ironic given its fate.
Other observations
- Early in the film, Rumsfield says of Ricky: "That kid next door's a meatball." Feldman went on to star in Meatballs 4 in 1993.
- The tree in the first film Ray sees on TV is the same shape to the one in the Klopeks' front yard, suggesting that the Klopeks are into ritualistic sacrifices. Ray later has a dream in which the Klopeks are performing a similar ritual.
- 666. The Klopeks live at 669 Mayfield Place; while Ray and Art are knocking on the door of the Klopek residence for the first time in the film, the '9' swings round for the number to read '666', a number commonly associated with evil.
- Art's "rifle" he uses in an attempt to kill off the crows in the neighborhood is actually a Daisy brand, pump-action BB/pellet gun.
- While the group is searching Walter's house, a picture of a Lucille Ball can be seen on top of his television set. Gordon also appeared with Ball on I Love Lucy
