MovieChat Forums > Home Movies (1999) Discussion > Okay... To anyone who has seen Disturbia...

Okay... To anyone who has seen Disturbia...

posted 16 years ago by komatse
21 replies | jump to latest

Do you guys notice a large amount of similarities between this movie and the episode 'Definite Possible Murder'?
In this episode Brendon sprains his leg and is stuck in his room. He gets bored and then starts to watch his new neighbor who he immediately views as suspicious. Then Brendon, Melissa and Jason believe he has committed a murder and has the body in his car. Melissa sneaks into the house of the neighbor and we see her screaming through the window.
In Disturbia the main character (it's been a while since I've seen it) is on house arrest and gets bored of being home. He starts to observe his neighboors through a telescope and finds an older man he becomes suspicious of. He suspects him of murder, something to do with a car, they break in etc.
Since it's been a while since I last saw Disturbia I could be wrong about some of the similarities, still I thought it was pretty interesting..

[–] NoelleLaBelle 16 years ago

It's not Disturbia. Disturbia is a ripoff of a much more intelligent and scary thriller. Look up Hitchcock's Rear Window. The main character played by James Stewart is a photojournalist who during his last photo shoot had his leg broken, this would be the character Brendon is mirroring. Melissa is doing the role of Stewart's girlfriend in the film, Lisa Carol Fremont, who was played by Grace Kelly.

Next time you're out at the very least rent Rear Window. You won't be dissapointed.

How old are you, exactly? I ask because... I'm trying to not fume so much that the brilliance of Hitchcock is being overshadowed by this remake tripe era we're going through and if you're younger then I can sort of understand not knowing the real story...

I'm upset enough as it is knowing bleeding Keanu Reeves is going to be playing Klaatu, I can't take much more of these classics being ruined and forgotten because of Hollywood!!!!!!!

"If you should need me, tap this staff three times on a wall."
"Magic?"
"No, it's just loud."

[–] komatse 16 years ago

Ha, well don't I feel stupid. I'm fifteen. Hope that makes my ignorance slightly more acceptable.

[–] umheylosers53 16 years ago

I feel stupid too, I never saw Rear Window but heard Disturbia was based on that too. So in a way it looks like Disturbia was a play on Definite, Possible Murder too, right? xD

And yeah Melissa screaming in the house reminds me of Ronnie from Disturbia in the garage and when he was screaming in there, lol, but I have nothing to base that off of from Rear Window since I never saw it..

xoxo Dee <33
Travis.Pasha.Neil.Mark.Matt. SYTYCD <3

[–] dynamo25 16 years ago

I agree with you completely Andre. As I was watching this episode (which happens to be one of my favorites) the other night on Adult Swim I knew that some young teenager was going to post on these boards and say that the episode was based on Disturbia. Well you didn't disappoint. <You see the Joker line I threw in there.

"So in a way it looks like Disturbia was a play on Definite, Possible Murder too, right?"

Are you asking if Disturbia copied Definite, Possible Murder? I wouldn't doubt it but the premise all started with Rear Window. Like Andre said Definite, Possible Murder was based on Hitchcock's Rear Window and nothing else. To think that Shia Labeouf actually said that his movie was a ripoff of "Say Anything."

[–] umheylosers53 16 years ago

Yeah, lol, I was kidding though, I also doubt that it was based off that episode. :)

xoxo Dee <33
Travis.Pasha.Neil.Mark.Matt. SYTYCD <3

[–] Marloo 16 years ago

The sixth season Simpsons episode Bart of Darkness is also based on Rear Window. Rear Window is a popular movie to reference.

[–] mdoddio 16 years ago

Not only was "Definite, Possible Murder" based on Rear Window, but the next door neighboor (played by H. Jon Benjiman) was based on Hitchcock himself (see any episode of Hitchcock presents and you'll recognize the impersonation.

Another good take on Rear Window in animated spoofing was the 6th Season Simpsons premire "Bart of Darkness" (where Bart and Lisa bug Homer into getting a pool). Bart breaks his leg and takes to watching Flanders and believes that he killed Maude). If anything lent to the making of Disturbia, it would be this episode, which is far more well known than Home Movies.

--Dodd

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] SIRTRUMP43 16 years ago

This storyline has been used repeatedly after Rear Window came out.

[–] quinntheeskimo 16 years ago

Don't feel stupid. You're just making the rest of us feel old:)

[–] StaunchWoman 8 years ago

At 15, I didn't have this neat little internet everyone seems to be using. A little google search goes a long way. Asking people on a discussion forum takes much more time and energy.

We've met before, haven't we?

[–] Dyonus 16 years ago

They did that on Tiny Toons, too. That was the first time I saw it. I grew up with that show.

________
I'm not a Burtonite or a Nolan fanboy. I'm a Batman fan.

[–] heatmiserjones 16 years ago

I can actually understand how a younger person could have missed the "Rear Window" connection. Heck, being fifteen, it might be possible to not know the Simpsons did an episode based on it. Still, give it up for the kid. That's some fine sleuthing. Being able to draw comparisons between two different things is a sign of intelligence.

I thought I'd also mention this: As a kid, I didn't know that "The Three Amigos" was a parody of "The Magnificent Seven." And when I'd fist seen the Magnificent Seven, I didn't know it had anything to do with "The Seven Samurai." Eventually you can work your way back to see who influenced what, finding references here and there, expose blatant rip-offs, distinguish homages, parodies, etc. from cheap references.

Did you know the Bible was based on a very obscure comic book? Look it up.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] nyranda 16 years ago

Most episodes of Home Movies were references or remakes to older classics, so I mean it'd be nice if someone looked on a site. I'd mention one but I don't want my post to be looked on as spam. It's fairly obviouis when dealing with television shows though. There are detailed summaries and allusions and colelctions of music.

[–] chmn_videos 16 years ago

the simpsons did this spoof 2

Joker + Rachael =

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] glycerine89 16 years ago

WOW...I'm only 19 and I've known of "Rear Window" for years...
I saw it long before Disturbia (or the Home Movies episode) came out.

[–] captain_fart2002 16 years ago

I would certainly forgive this lad's lack of knowledge of "Rear Window."

But I'm surprised that nobody here who has referenced the Simpsons parody of the film has also mentioned that the title of that episode, "Bart of Darkness," is a hilarious parody of the extremely original Coppola film "Apocalypse Now."

[–] Lee733 15 years ago

I feel compelled (because of the nature of this thread) to point out that Apocalypse Now was inspired by Joseph Condrad's novel Heart of Darkness.

[–] heddsick305 15 years ago

Yea, if you really think about it, alot of the kids' movies have similarities to alot of classic films, which is by design i suppose. i heard somewhere that humanity as a whole has basically been telling the same few core stories over and over since basically the dawn of time, we just keep finding new ways to package them.

"You've got red on you."