The Strangers

The Strangers, follows a couple as they stay in a vacant vacation home after some relationship issues not realizing they will soon be fighting for their lives as three strangers are hunting them around the house to kill and terrorize. The film is pretty gruesome considering these were based on true events. This film is okay though keeps the suspense. The movie was a bit dragged and took a while for the killers to prey even though most scenes they could have killed the couple on the spot. Though, I guess that's just part of their game. I would recommend the film for those looking for a light thrill.

Kristen: "Why are you doing this to us?" Dollface: "Because you were home."-The Strangers

Here we have a horror movie which sadly is much more laughable than scary. The characters are stupid. The story, not that there actually is much of a story, is stupid. There are no big scares to jolt you out of your seat. Really there's nothing to prevent you from yawning or flat-out dozing off. When the movie ended I was stunned to find out it was less than 90 minutes long. It seemed much longer. It honestly feels interminable. Please just let the killers put their victims out of their misery. Then we who have the misfortune to be watching can be put out of our misery as well.

So the setup is that a young couple, played by Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, are spending the night in some house out in the middle of nowhere. There's a knock on the door. A really, really loud knock. That's about the most chilling thing the movie has to offer, a loud knock on the door. Anyhow our young couple ends up being terrorized by three people in goofy masks. Everyone involved, goofy mask people and their potential victims, acts very stupidly. Our victims have apparently never seen any horror movies as, rather than wait in the house with the freaking shotgun they have, they decide to go running around outside in the dark. Because running around in the dark always ends well in these situations, no? Our silly mask people are very lucky that their prey are so stupid because they are quite stupid themselves. If anyone involved in this story had any working brain cells the whole thing would've been over in five minutes. And what a blessed relief that would have been. Instead it goes on and on, Liv Tyler just keeps screaming and the would-be killers just keep, well, standing there. They never really do anything. Ooh, look a guy with a bag on his face is standing in the corner! Scary, right? Nope, not really. There is no action, no drama, no tension. It's all very predictable right from the beginning, probably not helped by the fact the movie basically gives away its ending right at the start. We go through all the horror movie clichés as the movie limps meekly towards a thoroughly unsatisfying end. Boring, unoriginal, quite stupid. That's The Strangers in a nutshell.

Like many, I went into this (knowing) the basics of the story. That being said, I found the first half of the film quite suspenseful and creepy by modern movie standards. The story begins by developing the relationship between it's two stars, then separating them and introducing the terror. This worked, and worked very well in it's ability to set up (and scare the hell out of) the viewers. Unfortunately, after we have established what is taking place, the story seems to slow to a simmer, and eventually fizzles out. The second half of the film is filled with horror movie cliché's and cheap scare tactics, almost to the point of boredom... It's a shame, because I haven't been a fan of slasher films since the eighties, and I REALLY wanted to "Like" this film.

My recommendation would be to watch the first half of the film, then go and sit by yourself in a cabin, somewhere in the woods. The effect would be much better, and the film would serve it's purpose.

It would be so easy to dismiss the very deliberate pacing of this film as pedestrian, but in this day and age of gratuitous violence and constant gore, this film relies on the ability to slowly torment you, as toy watch the hideous way in which the young couple are subjected to the night from Hell.

At the time I genuinely did find this a very unsettling, unnerving watch, going home to an empty house after this was unsettling.

Ignore those that call it boring, trust me, it isn't, it's paced in a way that throws you off guard.

No clear begining, or end, just a series of random events. It's a grim movie. 7/10

First off, let's start with a note. It was 'inspired' not 'based' off true events. People need to learn the difference between the two. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is 'inspired' by true events, but still people believe it really happened. It never happened... it was inspired by the story of the serial killer Ed Gein who would take body parts off of women and make furniture out of them, and other forms of cruelty.The Strangers was 'inspired' by true events which means they probably took similarities from stories of The Manson killings and other killings of the same sort. So really the director had free range to do whatever the hell he wanted at the end, and I believe he failed.

I heard about this movie a long time ago and was so excited that it was finally being released that I saw it at the first midnight showing. At first, I was enjoying the set, costumes, and I believe the acting was pretty well done. I believe the director achieved a very creepy feeling, but too many times did he use to obvious cop-out of making loud noises to 'startle' the viewer instead of genuinely 'scaring' them. The site bloody-disgusting.com made an excellent article describing the differences between these.

In the end, I remember about two scenes and the rest is a vague blur. The scene with Glenn Howerton (of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia! fame. Woot!) was probably one of the most tense and unsettling scenes of the film. The other being the portion where the record is skipping.

This movie is a strong example of anti-climactic. The ending was a cliché. I won't give it away but I will say that it did not leave me feeling disturbed nor did it leave me with a sense of accomplishment. Two things I look for in an ending to the flood of "home-invasion" horror flicks. I believe two recent films do a great job of accomplishing these factors. The recent VACANCY and FUNNY GAMES are leaps and bounds greater than this film. They do a much greater job of making the protagonists feel helpless and I strongly suggest both of them.

Hopefully, I could help some. I know many will disagree with me, but quite honestly that's fine. Many of today's moviegoers enjoy paying $10 to jump out of their seat because someone's face appears in a window or a sound guy hits a wall really loud. It's the sad truth and Hollywood banks on crap like that. So it isn't going to end anytime soon.

Thanks, Alex