The defence The Adrenaline Seeker
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
The 'Burbs
Comedy · Horror · Thriller · 1989
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.
Movie details
The 'Burbs
“He's a man of peace in a savage land... Suburbia.”
1989 Comedy · Horror · Thriller 1h 42m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.8 / 10
Community rating
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.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The 'Burbs?
For the defence
The Adrenaline Seeker
“If it slows down, you check your phone.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Car
Horror · 1977
The Utah community of Santa Ynez is being terrorized by a mysterious black coupe that appears out of nowhere and begins running people down. After the car kills off the town sheriff, Captain Wade Parent is determined to stop the murderous driver.
Foul Play
Comedy · 1978
A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
The Dead Zone
Thriller · 1983
Johnny Smith is a schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him but, after leaving his fiancee's home one night, is involved in a car crash which leaves him in a coma for 5 years. When he wakes, he discovers he has an ability to see into the past, present and future life of anyone with whom he comes into physical contact.
Superhost
Horror · 2021
Two travel vloggers check into a vacation rental with a host that will do anything for a good review.
Night Watch
Mystery · 1973
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
Burnt Offerings
Horror · 1976
A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.
Fear in the Night
Mystery · 1972
It took Peggy Heller a long time to recover from the trauma of a brutal physical assault, suffered in her youth. When she married Robert, he provided her with the love and reassurance she craved for and the two settled down in a pretty house in the grounds of the public school where Robert was a master. But the headmaster of the school is not what he seems and Peggy is convinced he means to harm her - is her fear a figment of her tortured imagination or are there forces at work that intend to manipulate her anxieties with fatal consequences?
Race with the Devil
Action · 1975
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
The Fearless Vampire Killers
Comedy · 1967
A noted professor and his dim-witted apprentice fall prey to their inquiring vampires, while on the trail of the ominous damsel in distress.
R.L. Stine's Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls
Comedy · 2015
Teenage friends must resist the spell of an evil showman staging a house of horrors show in their small town.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Joe Dante
Written by
Dana Olsen
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
Court is in session
Put The 'Burbs on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Prestige Tourist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.