Disturbia - The Lazy Remaster

The 2007 modernization of "Rear Window" was my first exposure long before I knew a precursor ever existed. It was branded into my memory because of the soundtrack but looking back on it having now seen the original it was based on makes me have to knock down my idea of Disturbia a few pegs. Now, of course the original source material will have a tendency to be better than anything that follows. In this case, dynamic characters feel completely void of purpose compared to Hitchcock's original. Perhaps it's frivolous to even attempt to compare the two versions but I digress. 

The change in setting from a clustered appartment complex to full houses with a quarter acre of land in each backyard both helps and hurts one of the central themes of the plot. There is this layer of irony due to the neighbors being so close to one another yet the chose to isolate themselves in these little boxes with 3 bedrooms. When you have an entire house with a pool for yourself as the protagonist does in Disturbia it makes a lot more sense for most people to keep to themselves. 

Thirdly Disturbia forces the protagonist under house arrest instead of being incapacitated. To me, this removes the aspect of true helplessness from the plot of the story. Maybe these two films weren't meant to be held next to one another but I can't help myself.