When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
Direction
Joe Dante's Spielberg-adjacent suburban surrealism in full effect.
Acting
Bruce Dern's unhinged Vietnam-vet energy steals every scene.
Production
That perfect beige 1989 cul-de-sac set built to suffocate.
Director
Joe Dante
Tom Hanks
Ray Peterson
Bruce Dern
Lt. Mark Rumsfield
Carrie Fisher
Carol Peterson
Rick Ducommun
Art Weingartner
Wendy Schaal
Bonnie Rumsfield
Corey Feldman
Ricky Butler
Courtney Gains
Hans Klopek
Henry Gibson
Dr. Werner Klopek
Gale Gordon
Walter Seznick
Dick Miller
Vic, Garbageman #1
Robert Picardo
Joe, Garbageman #2
Theodore Gottlieb
Uncle Reuben Klopek
Franklyn Ajaye
Detective #1
Cory Danziger
Dave Peterson
Rance Howard
Detective #2
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'Great Book of spells' prop later appeared in Dante's 'Gremlins 2' as an Easter egg.
Filmed during the McMartin preschool trial panic, the film satirizes the era's 'Satanic Panic' suburban hysteria.
US
