The official Rear Window remake from 1998 isn’t worth watching, even if you could see it for free through the floor-to-ceilings in a stranger’s living room. There’s a lesson in this, I think, considering the original is such an indulgence in unwanted glances. Alfred Hitchcock set his film in the big city, of course, where apartment buildings were closer than neighbors.
But beginning in the ’80s, amid the decade’s at times romantic, at times cynical, fascination with middle America, films that amounted to “Rear Window but with…” were often moved to the suburbs. In need of a stand-in for Anytown, USA, not one but two of these unofficial riffs technically took place in Iowa. Little Big Screen is proud to present them as a Spooktober double feature.
Fright Night (1985)
Directed by Tom Holland
Rear Window is best summed up in this meme, which is a disgusting thing to say, but nevertheless true. Fright Night begins in the same place of “BABE PLEASE HAVE SEX WITH ME I’M SO HORNY,” but instead of “Uhhh I think there was a murder,” 17-year-old Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) thinks there is a vampire living next door. Nobody involved in the making of the film seems to remember the specific state it technically took place in. “I never got the impression that [Tom Holland] felt, nor did I, that we needed to visually sell that we were in a particular city or state,” said John DeCuir, the film’s production designer, in a 2020 interview with Los Angeles magazine. “I think the character of the narrative environment trumped any particular geography.”
Someone on DeCuir’s team must’ve thought about it, though, because there are at least two clues to the whereabouts of Rancho Corvalis, despite the town’s name being Rancho Corvalis: 1) After Charley’s mom literally invites the could-be vampire (Chris Sarandon) into their home for a Bloody Mary, saying “It’s so nice somebody interesting has finally moved into the neighborhood,” Charley has to find a makeshift stake in an Iowa Hawkeyes cup that’s on screen as long as Joe Exotic’s in Tiger King. 2) When Charley tracks down the closest thing to a vampire hunter — a guy who played a vampire hunter on TV (Roddy McDowall) — an eviction notice lists the actor’s apartment at an Iowa address.
Stream it on Shudder or Tubi. Rent it on Apple TV and Prime Video.
The ’Burbs (1989)
Directed by Joe Dante
Rear Window opens on, yes, a push through a window. The ’Burbs opens on a push through the Earth’s atmosphere before eventually arriving right where Des Moines would be on a map. The ’Burbs Wiki backs this up with a more detailed breakdown of the landing spot, including latitude and longitude.
Joe Dante’s “Rear Window but with a Satanic barbecue” stars Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher and Corey Feldman, but I care about exactly one member of the cast: Darla, the Bichon Frise, who played Queenie. She’s often mistaken for a poodle when she pops up as low-effort Facebook trivia. Probably because, back when Al Pacino was allowed to play Tony Montana and Carlito Brigante, Tim Burton cast her twice (Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Batman Returns) as a poodle. Her only credited role was as Buffalo Bill’s dog Precious in The Silence of the Lambs. (I’ve always clocked her as a leftover from Mrs. Lippmann, whose body is seen molding and melding with the basement bathtub.) But according to my half-assed count, the most screentime Darla ever got was in The ’Burbs.
Stream it on Tubi. Rent it on Apple TV and Prime Video.
A few more unofficial Rear Window riffs:
Rear Window but with … cuckoldry and pornography: Body Double (1984), directed by Brian De Palma. Stream it on Tubi.
Rear Window but with … miles and miles of Australian highway: Roadgames (1981), directed by Richard Franklin. Stream it on Tubi.
Rear Window but with … .gif-able nudity, and for some reason, a climactic art exhibition: The Voyeurs (2021), directed by Michael Mohan. Stream it on Tubi.
Rear Window but with … Bart Simpson: The Simpsons (Season 6, Episode 1). Stream it on Disney+.
