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From the cosmic Universal Studios logo to the anxious Midwest cul-de-sac, an essential satire of suburban isolationism. The "aliens" are the neighbors whose mausoleum emits a mysterious hum at night, in their jammies the locals gaze suspiciously while Jerry Goldsmith's score repeats its performance from Patton. (Later it offers an emulation of Morricone to go with a procession of Leone close-ups.) A placid, infernal place: The vet with camouflage bathrobe and mirrored shades (Bruce Dern) raises the flag and steps on shit, the jovial busybody (Rick Ducommun) raids everybody's fridge, a week's vacation for the family man (Tom Hanks) means puttering around the garage and walking the pooch and stewing in paranoia. Soon visions of satanic sacrifice are dancing in their heads. "What was that you were saying the other day about half-cocked theories?" Amid his litany of citations (Rear Window, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Joe Dante above all recalls that McCarey's Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! was originally supposed to be directed by Tashlin. Vigilantes in their minds and little boys before their wives (Carrie Fisher, Wendy Schaal), the men imagine the new folks as cloaked figures in a monstrous barbecue. (The cannibals' own view is a choice 180° pan when "one of the Huns comes out of the cave," the tranquil derangement of a block of sunny lawns.) Hanks shows what he's made of with sardine and pretzel under the redoubtable scrutiny of Brother Theodore, Henry Gibson in crimson-stained duds and Landru the Great Dane complete the composition. Bones in the backyard and ninnies on the verge, a delectable meta-spectacle for the young slacker (Corey Feldman) watching from the front porch. "What, do you want me to move?" The richly contradictory ending sees "normality" returned to "Jonestown." With Courtney Gains, Gale Gordon, Dick Miller, and Robert Picardo.
--- Fernando F. Croce |