Absolutely amazing

A different way of telling a story

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is Rear Window for teens. They watered down the plot, added some action, a new soundtrack and some sexual references and came up with something that is entertaining, but not amazing.

This is a tough one to review. On the one side I remember really enjoying this as a smart little teen thriller back in my youth. Re-watching it now, it's far too clichéd and problematic to withstand any real thrills. Do I score this based on the time it was released, or how badly it's dated? We shall see. A grieving and troublesome boy is put under house arrest where he lives his daily routine by spying on his neighbours, a new girl on the block on one side and a potential serial killer on the other. You could class this as a modernised version of Hitchcock's famous 'Rear Window', it does indeed pay homage to this in a few subtle ways. The slow build up of suspense and tension is well crafted, much like 'Rear Window'. The first half is focussed purely on building up the protagonist, the second then descends into thriller territory. Do the two marinate? Not consistently. It does feel like you are watching two different films. A comedic light hearted teen flick then contrasts with a dark suspenseful thriller. I understand why, to show that any neighbourhood no matter how pleasant the exterior seems does indeed hold ominous secrets. In this case, a murdering psychopath. Separately these two halves work really well and are thoroughly enjoyable, although filled with mediocrity. They just don't blend together. Shia LaBeouf actually gives a decent lead performance. David Morse and Carrie-Anne Moss needed way more screen time, although the former was very menacing. Unfortunately, director DJ Caruso was too focussed on filming Sarah Roemer's ass and having fans blow into the actor's faces just to blissfully move their hair in a gentle breeze to care about the technical aspects of the film. The cheap alt-rock soundtrack, the forced romance which amounts to nothing in the final act and lack of character development. The whole film felt mediocre, but still pleasantly enjoyable. It's a weird one this, but I'm in a good mood so will grant it with the higher score. Entertaining but far too many flaws.

What a great premise...teen in a great old house with sloppy tendencies and TONS of electronic stuff {stretched a bit, for me!}, watching his neighbours while he is under observation and electronically 'wired' to his house and yard. Acting is good, especially Roehmer {mmmmm}; they could have dropped the Asian guy {but he was 'ok'}, demon-looking neighbour. But the movie gets RIDICULOUS 3/4's of the way through, and is just plain STUPID at the end. Don't bother with the last portion ~ just watch the first 3/4 of it..and you can figure it out!

Director D.J. Caruso isn't a bad Filmmaker but is not Great by any means. He occasionally makes interesting Films like "The Salton Sea" (2002) and "Taking Lives" (2004). But "By the Numbers" most of the time. This is one of those.No surprises, not much Style, and conspicuously cute, this is a rather tame take on Hitchcock's "Rear Window" (1954) by way of "Teen Romantic Angst". Shia Labeouf is a nervous, hyper-active Actor that has attained Star Status way beyond His ability to transform or "Act" like anything more than what He is. One Role is the same turn as another.Here He is upstaged on every level by David Morse, if not everyone else, who does just what the Script calls for and nothing more. The Buddy Sidekick is annoying most of the time and the pretty "Girl Next Door" is pretty smart but the Chemistry between the Teens is nothing short of standard stuff and Clichéd.The Movie meanders along with one scene melting into the next until commonplace and complacency sets in and all of sudden the Third Act wakes from its comatose state and erupts in a frenzied finale that is all over the place and never settles in a coherent display of what is happening.The Film is Slightly Overrated and a bland, borderline boring Psychological Thriller that never quite thrills or goes very deep into the Mind of the Killer. Young People who don't have very much Film Going Experience may find it more entertaining than others. But it is just too safe and saccharine for its Own Good and is never intriguing or intense. Just another exercise in Standard Stuff Movie Making.