Joe Dante directs Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern and Carrie Fisher in this dark comedy about a group of neighbours who become obsessed with the mysterious weirdos who have just moved into the cul-de-sac.

This one never hooked me as a kid. It is well made but not quite as funny or as scary as I needed it to be. These days Rick Ducommun’s constant irritating presence really grates with me. Shame as The ‘Burbs is Dante and Hanks so should be exactly my thing. I’m giving it a generous pass as it really has all the key ingredients to be one of my favourites even though I have given it a fair few chances.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Matinee (1993)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin