disturbia

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window meets YouTube in Disturbia. It may come a bit early, but the paint-by-numbers flick is the perfect summer movie theater fluff that deserves a large bucket of popcorn and a gallon of cola.

Shia LaBeouf stars as Kale, a dark, quiet teenage boy full of saw-my-dad-die-while-on-a-fly-fishing-trip angst. After knocking his Spanish teacher's block off-that's what you get for talking about Daddy-Kale is trapped in suburbia for thee months of house arrest.

As boredom sets in, Kale turns to spying on his quirky neighbors. There is the cheating husband, the annoying kids and of course the hot girl next door, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). Things start to get a little weird as Kale notices pretty ladies disappearing inside the home of the charming, yet creepy Mr. Turner (David Morse). As Kale and Ashley dig a little deeper, they realize they are hot on the tracks of a serial killer, and so does Mr. Turner (insert ominous scary music here).

The premise, plot and twists of Disturbia (which would make a better title for a sci-fi horror film a la Stepford Wives) are so formulaic that audiences are sucked into the tension of knowing exactly what is going to happen, but not when.

Staging and acting save Disturbia from becoming a victim-pun intended-of the killer-thriller genre. Director D.J. Caruso manages to cleverly update a classic premise with remote controls, cell phones and iPods. The cracked veneer of suburban bliss serves as a perfect background for the almost comical thriller.

LaBeouf, still searching for the role that will mark his ascent from teen actor to just actor, shows real range and hopefully he-and his career-will continue to grow. Morse turns a Hannibal Lecter-esqe performance, simultaneously exuding seduction and terror. His cold stares and frighteningly calm, vaguely threatening monologues bring chills not seen since Hopkins himself.

Disturbia is no Hitchcock, but luckily for audiences looking for cheap thrills, it doesn't pretend to be.