Shia LaBeouf plays Kale, a teenager who punches his teacher and is sentenced to house arrest. Trapped in his home without X-Box Live or iTunes (yay, product placement), Kale must find entertainment in the outside world. Using binoculars, Kale spies on the neighbors around him, finding a new hot girl next door and a potential serial killer. Paranoia and mix to create a fun thriller, without ever reaching the level of it’s Hitchcock predecessor, Rear Window.

Carl Ellsworth’s (Red Eye) screenplay is not your typical teenage movie. It has smart characters and smart dialogue. While the story is sometimes predictable, and other times ridiculously contrived, Disturbia provides enough laughs and more scares than most of the horror/thriller films from 2006. Who would have thought that D.J. Caruso (Taking Lives) was capable of making an entertaining movie (Steven Speilberg apparently).

One must give credit to Shia LaBeouff, who delivers such an incredible charismatic performance that him stalking a teenage girl next door with binoculars somehow never feels creepy (as it should). Disturbia will have you laughing on the edge of your seat.

/Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10