An overstressed suburbanite and his neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block is part of a murderous Satanic cult.An overstressed suburbanite and his neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block is part of a murderous Satanic cult.An overstressed suburbanite and his neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block is part of a murderous Satanic cult.
- Director
- Writer
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Theodore Gottlieb
- Reuben Klopek
- (as Brother Theodore)
Nicky Katt
- Steve Kuntz
- (as Nick Katt)
Billy Stevenson
- Ricky's Friend
- (as Bill Stevenson)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWalter's toy poodle Queenie was played by the same dog that played Precious in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
- GoofsAt the end of the film, Ray comments on Carol's shorter haircut. In her last scene, her hair is back to its original length.
- Quotes
Mark Rumsfield: Klopek... what is that, Slavic?
Reuben: NO.
Mark Rumsfield: 'Bout a nine on the tension scale, Reub.
- Crazy creditsAfter the Universal Studios logo appears, the camera zooms into Earth and to where the film takes place.
At the end of the film, the effect is played in reverse.
- Alternate versionsThere were three filmed endings to the movie. The first is the one that is in the normal release of the movie both domestic and international. The second, available as the 'alternate ending' on the DVD version, follows the path of the first one, but is slightly different and does not contain the sequence in which the ambulance crashes into the house or the part where Mark Rumsfield slide tackles Hans Klopek. It does have a few more scenes which include Hans being interrogated by the police, Dr. Werner Klopek giving a speech to the police on what is wrong with the suburbs, and Ruben telling Ray that he was going to enjoy having him over for their final dinner. The third (and most downbeat) ending, which has not been released in any form officially, is supposed to have Ray get killed in the ambulance by Werner, the Klopeks are pronounced innocent, and garbage bags are found bound and gagged in the Klopek's car trunk. The last ending follows the original ending contained in the script.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: Oscar Surprises for 1988 (1989)
- SoundtracksMachine
Written by Alex Mitchell, Ricky Beck Mahler & Gary Sunshine
Performed by Circus of Power
Courtesy of RCA Records
Featured review
I generally do not like the movie format and category of the black comedy. Usually, they become so dark that they cease to be funny or entertaining to me...a good example of this is "War of the Roses". There have been some that I enjoyed though and this is one of them. I usually like the ones that only really edge towards the dark side a bit and I would say this one does that. It kind of goes into horror at times, but still remains funny unlike another black horror/comedy "Parents" with Randy Quaid. This film features a new family moving into a very old and not so attractive house. These newcomers are under immediate scrutiny and suspicion as they move in the middle of the night, do not do anything to really fix up the place, and are generally strange looking when some of the people in the neighborhood pay them a visit. Tom Hanks character is not really suspicious at first till his crazy neighbor and a paranoid one convince there is something up with the new family in the burbs. You get many funny scenes as these guys try to find proof that the new family is as strange as they look and are in fact up to something as the poodle a man who lives in the neighborhood shows up dirty and the neighbor ends up missing. The movie plays out rather good and is funny for the most part, at times it becomes a bit to dark as most black comedies tend to do. The cast is very funny and I think this is like the only movie I have seen Carrie Fisher in besides the Star Wars trilogy. Bruce Dern to me steals the show in terms of comedy followed by the neighbor who deduces the bone is human. Not sure of his name or any other movies he has done prior to or since this one. Even Corey Feldman does a rather good job. So all in all this is a nice trip to the burbs.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- S.O.S., vecinos al ataque
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $18,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $36,601,993
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,101,197
- Feb 20, 1989
- Gross worldwide
- $49,101,993
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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