The Stranger

This movie had potential. Conceptually it is a solid take on the Vampire genre and it was shot well, but.... But.

It is like the movie was directed and written by a 10 year old. The dialog was just way too simple and I felt like I was watching some dubbed Italian horror flick from the 70's. Not that there is anything wrong with dubbed Italian horror flicks from the 70's. I actually find them to be charming. But, it's 2016 and the fact that I was constantly distracted by these attributes was fairly annoying.

Worth watching on a rainy day, but I wouldn't put it on the must watch bucket list.

So I waisted 90 minutes of my life I will never get back, waiting for the epic bloodbath. It never happened. This movie is slow and the story line with its continual flashbacks ( maybe even a flash sideways) sets any avid movie watcher up to read the ending in the first 20 minutes. It's like watching Friday the 13th where Jason decided he's depressed his mom was killed so he decides to become a child Birthday party photographer who makes animal balloons. He still can't be killed but that's ok because he'll be around for your great grandchildren's birthdays too. This movie lets you down entirely if you're looking for an action movie with an epic bloodbath.

Well, I tried my best to watch this movie, especially, since it was produced by Eli Roth and the team that brought you "Green Inferno". I finally had to turn it off. The acting was god awful and felt like I was watching a foreign film with the American voice over that didn't match their mouths, but I wasn't. The premise wasn't all that bad, but unfortunately, I would skip this one.

This movie was pretty good but it had the potential to be great. Ooooh I'm so bothered. Everything lined up: the story, the camera-work, the directing... then there was one character and his acting. My oh my how terrible was his acting.

Lieutenant De Luca was his name (Luis Gnecco). He was abysmal. A bald, tough guy, rule breaking cop with a loose cannon for a son that he would stick his neck out to protect. Even when his son assaults and terrorizes random people in the small town the lieutenant makes sure to cover up for him. But he was so over the top with his acting and such a caricature.

You know how there are some bad guys that you respect because of their badassness (ala Darth Vader, the Joker, Michael Myers) and there are some bad guys that you loathe because of how wicked and evil they are (Mommy Dearest, Chucky, etc.). Lieutenant De Luca was neither. You just hate him because he's trying to be something he's not. He wants to be the Darth Vader but he is more like Dark Helmet--doesn't look the part of villain and can't act the part of villain.

He romped around his small town doing as he pleased with total disregard of any semblance of laws. And because we've learned that in a small town you can do that, the other police as well as the townsfolk accepted it as commonplace. It wasn't simply his overt flexing of his executive muscle, it was the total lack of tact, guile or cleverness and the absolutely silly pathetic look he displayed when he was supposed to be tough. He was neither tough nor smart as hard as he tried to portray that. His stature and face conveyed "pity me" and the forced nature of his gruff tough guy voice conveyed "Let me make a good impression in this role." None of it worked. His character didn't work for him and he didn't work for his character.

I was so torn. The two main protagonists and the story had me drawn in but I just kept being nagged by that lieutenant. He was like a cut lip when you're trying to enjoy a good meal. The food is so good but the overall enjoyment is ruined by the pain.

But, I'm afraid, it was all downhill from there.

Slow.

What's happening and why? When is it going to actually start?

It had some promise, occasionally, but I just couldn't get into it. AT ALL. Because, it's terrible.

Sorry, Mr. Roth, this one was a miss.