31 Days of Horror Day 02 The Burbs

TITLE-The Burbs
SOURCE-Shudder streaming service

In 1989 Joe Dante unleashed this horror comedy film. And while the film didn't bomb at the box office it wasn't a huge hit. Thankfully through home video and airing fairly often on cable The Burbs has grown into a loved cult film.

Earlier this year I finally subscribed to AMC'S horror streaming service Shudder. And spent some time going through all the films and tv shows they offer. Once I saw they had The Burbs I stopped what I wa doing and watched the film for the first time in close to 10 years.

Tom Banks is the lead. He lives in the suburbs and is taking a week long vacation. During this vacation he notices something is odd about the new neighbors,the Klopeks. And you have to be very odd to stand out in a neighborhood that includes Bruce Dern and Corey Feldman.

Over the course of the vacation Hanks,Dern, Feldman and another neighbor spy on and suspect the Kolpeks of killing another neighbor who is missing.

There is so much great things about this film. You got a really good cast. The late Carrie Fisher is Tom Hanks' wife. The very under rated Wendy Schaal is sooo good as the wife of Bruce Dern. Speaking of Dern he almost stills the film as military vet Lt. Rumsfield. But my favorite is Corey Feldman as a teenager that lives in the neighborhood . Normally I find Feldman to be average at best. But in the Burbs he is as good if not better than the various veteran actors in the film.

Normally unless it is made up of songs I know and like I rarely pay attention to a film's score.  Jerry Goldsmith did a really good score for The Burbs.  And I am trying to track down a copy of it.

A few years ago a Blu Ray of the Burbs came out.  And it is loaded with lots of extras. Including lots of cut scenes. Plus some behind the scenes footage that shows us the cast having so much fun during the production of the film.

The Burbs gets a A.

Rock N Roll High School Forever

Rock N Roll High School Forever
1991
Lionsgate DVD

I first saw this film in the early 90s. Late one night on Showtime. I was already a huge fan of the first film,mostly because it had the Ramones in it. So I tuned into this sequel expecting more hijinks's staring my favorite band ever.

The school has been renamed Ronald Reagan high. And every year they have Rock N Roll High School days. Where all the students go nuts and cause all kinds of mayhem. We are quickly introduced to the Eradicators. Which is Corey Feldman and his friends. They are seniors at Ronald Reagan High and all they want to do is play music and have fun.

After they destroy the school sewer system in the first 10 minutes of the film,the school board sends in Dr Vader,played by Mary Warnov. She takes over and enforces super strict rules. So like in the first film we get our lovable band of misfits vs a super strict Rock N roll hating authority figure.

Now this film is cheesy as fuck. And nowhere as good as the original but a handful of things stand out. First off this was made during Feldman's "I am the white Michael Jackson" phase. All through out the film he is dancing like Michael and acting like Jackson. But the funniest moment is after Vader makes every student take a drug test. The bass player in the band is bad Asian stereotype named Namrock. Him and the drummer and keyboard player are in the bathroom getting ready to take the drug test. They two idiots in charge of this get distracted. So the three guys fill the cups up with apple juice. They all turn around Namrock smells his cup and yells "THIS NO ME PEE!". Then the rest of them proceed to drink their "urine". This scene never fails to make me laugh.

I also love how the lead guitarist,Stella, dresses like a member of the Ramones and has the classic Johnny Ramone haircut. And to show how cheap the film is,when the school gets blown up at the end they just use footage from the original to show this.

So if you like 90s cheesy comedies,Corey Feldman or are just a fan of the original give this film a watch. Rock N Roll High School Forever gets a C+.