DVD

  Anime 
  DVD's
  Soundtracks
  Graphic Novels
  System Video
  Interviews
  All Features

Areas

  3DS
  Android
  iPad
  iPhone
  Mac
  PC
  PlayStation 3
  PlayStation 4
  Switch
  Vita
  Wii U
  Xbox 360
  Xbox One
  Media
  Archives
  Search
  Contests

 

Lakeview Terrace

Score: 91%
Rating: PG-13
Publisher: Sony Pictures Home
                  Entertainment

Region: 1
Media: DVD/1
Running Time: 110 Mins.
Genre: Thriller/Action/Mystery
Audio: English, Spanish, Thai 5.1
           (Dolby Digital), French (Dolby
           Surround)

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French,
           Chinese, Thai, Korean


Features:

  • Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
  • Director and Cast Commentary
  • Welcome to Lakeview Terrace: Behind the Scenes Featurettes
    • An Open House - Behind the Story
    • Meet Your Neighbors - Casting
    • Home Sweet Home - Physical Production

What do you get when you combine an interracial couple, a crazy cop and wildfires? You got it, Lakeview Terrace.

Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington) are young and in love and have just purchased a beautiful home in Los Angeles, having moved from Chicago. Did I mention Chris is white and Lisa is black? They think they've moved into the perfect neighborhood in Lakeview Terrace, but really, they've just purchased a ready-made nightmare. Their next door neighbor is Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), who at first seems like an over-active neighborhood watch type. He has lots of bright lights on his house and he makes a nightly patrol of the neighborhood. He also doesn't approve of Chris being married to hottie Lisa and makes no attempts to mask his contempt. To further enrage him, when Lisa and Chris decide to christen the swimming pool and Abel's kids get a gander, he blows a gasket and things really escalate.

Instead of feeling lucky they live next door to a policeman, Chris and Lisa begin to feel threatened and have nowhere to turn. He shines the bright spotlights into their bedroom, cuts down the trees they plant to shield their home from his watchful eyes, and even begins to threaten them personally. As Chris and Lisa get to a breaking point, so does Abel and the explosive showdown is quite intense, set to a backdrop of a deadly raging wildfire that threatens the entire neighborhood.

Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington have decent chemistry as the Mattson couple, but the shining star in this film is definitely Samuel L. Jackson. The man just knows how to play crazy. He'll be absolutely insane and then flash that winning smile and you have to wonder if he's not joking after all. But, of course, he's dead serious, emphasis on the "dead" part. Old school Barney Miller fans will also enjoy seeing Ron Glass as Lisa's disapproving father. Glass has class, always has.

As for special features, there's the standard commentary with the cast and director, a handful of deleted scenes with commentary, but the three featurettes covering story, casting and production are fairly deep and lengthy. I really enjoyed them and it was interesting to hear how they brought this story to life. As for the deleted scenes, they are worth watching, but I was glad they were cut from the film as they didn't really add anything.

Overall, Lakeview Terrace is a pretty good thriller. I don't know if it's one to watch over and over, but if you dig a good nail-biter, definitely check it out.



-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins

Related Links:



Blu-ray Movie Election DVD Movies Friday the 13th: Uncut - Deluxe Edition

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated