by Daniel Stephens

Created on: February 04, 2009   Last Updated: February 27, 2009

During the Writer's Guild strike in the summer of 1989, Joe Dante was beginning to film his then latest offering, The Burbs. The film was jeopardized by the strike and 'Dante' speculated that the original script changed over the course of the shoot because of it. Whether the original vision was affected or not, it came as no surprise that the Gremlins director brought the eventual film to bizarre life, with homage paid to classic horror films of yesteryear; fun poked at television and consumerism; mad visuals akin to the likes of Sergio Leone; and a fantastic score by Jerry Goldsmith. However, what 'Dante' achieved to brilliant effect, was his wry satirical look at modern middle-American suburbia.

The opening shot where the camera zooms in on the Universal globe to set the scene of the impending story is memorable enough; yet it's the simplicity of the one opening shot setting up not only the location, but the film's major comedic target that establishes Dante's motives. Dante's camera moves over a cul-de-sac that resembles a model more than it does any real street; Jerry Goldsmith's score eerily plays setting a sombre tone before the camera introduces us to an ugly rundown house with strange lights flashing in the basement. Couple this with the very next scene of a cliched pan showing a paper boy throwing newspapers on to people's lawns and a cheesy shot establishing the cul-de-sac's title creates the feeling that Dante couldn't be more over the top, without breaking the barrier into slapstick, if he tried. Before the movie is even four minutes into its 102 minute duration, the opening is nothing short of genius.

And so, we are introduced to Mayfield Place; a middle American suburb home to a mixed band of people ranging from Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks), a family man with a week off work who 'just wants to do normal things' like putting his new tool box to good use.

Then there's Art (Rick Ducommun), who while his wife is away takes it upon himself to shoot as many blackbirds as he possibly can as there seems to be a spate of them in the neighbourhood lately. Of course, his probable motto would be, 'if you're round at a neighbour's house, make sure you eat as much as you can because in this society; a society where you can't even trust Walmart to specialise in food anymore, you don't know where you're next meal could be'. Or at least that's the impression you get when you first meet this fellow!

Ex-military man Mark Rumsfield (Bruce Dern) shows off his patriotism by

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