The Strangers

This is one of the best classic less expensive horror movie of all time. It nearly scared the shit out of me because of the headline "Based on a true story"...

Guys if I take my time to watch this movie without nothing like scary you are all doom I need some scary movies

horror

source: The Strangers

The.Strangers.2008.720p.BluRay.x264.YIFY

I couldn't even get through this movie. The whole first 45 minutes revolves around trying to explain the fact that they can't go for help and it's just ridiculous. First of all, nobody leaves their house without their phone charged. Liv Tyler's character goes out to dinner and when she comes home her phone is dead. Sure. Second, she manages to get to her land line when someone is trying to break into her house. Does she call 911? Nooooo....she calls the boyfriend asking him to come home. Then the land line goes dead. The boyfriend manages to make it home, but *gasp* leaves his cell in his car. He goes out to get the cell and *gasp* it's gone. While he's outside does he go to a neighbor's house for help? Noooo...he goes back inside. Then they decide they have to get out of there so they make it to the car. When they get to the street, they see a car coming at them, so they stop instead of trying to avoid the other car and go around. Then they see a car coming at them from behind. Do they gun the car and go around the one in front? Noooo....they sit there and get hit from behind. What to do now? Run back into the house, of course. I couldn't take any more at this point. Both of them are so useless I don't even care if they get killed at this point. This movie is just frustrating and predictable. Can't Hollywood even make an attempt to come up with something original any more?

I am a huge fan of the horror genre, and just let me say, this film did not fit it. This film ranks #2 on my worst movies of all time list (above Dragon Wars, disgusting). The story is absolutely absurd, the characters do things that no ordinary human being would in those situations. It's like the movie is one drawn-out high school haze fest in a cabin. Heaven forbid the characters just run away, but no that would be a terrible idea. There was not even a single jump moment in the film either. If you thought this was scary, do yourself a favor and go watch the Spanish movie REC (Record, not Quarentine), and you will experience fear. In terms of endings, this was the most anti-climatic ending in the history of movies. One would think these "strangers" would be a little more diabolical in the finale, but nope, pure hog-wash. All in all, I was extremely angry at my friends for making me spend the $8.50 to see this in theaters, and the only enjoyable part of watching this movie was the Skittles I ate during it.

Let me start this review by saying that I had high expectations for this movie. I guess my reasoning for those expectations was the fact that the burlap sack mask was one of few masks that actually creeped me out, the others being leatherface and of course, Jason Voorhees. Anyhow, this movie was fantastic. It was truly terrifying, which is saying something coming from me. I have never seen a movie that messed with my head as bad as this movie. Scenes where the killers are standing in the background, completely visible but behind the characters, were fantastic. There were parts where all would be silent, you'd be ready to jump, and somewhere, in one of the other rooms, one of the killers would simply start the record player, which messes with you cause you're so ready for someone to jump and scare the hell out of you. In conclusion, this is the best new horror I've seen since the remake of the Texas chainsaw massacre, the only thing keeping me from giving it a 10 is a plot hole near the beginning of the movie, that bugged me, but the absolute perfection of the rest of the movie completely outweighed it.

I was lucky enough to catch an early screening of this over the weekend, and all I can say is WOW. This movie grabbed my attention not as quickly as I would have liked, but when it did get me, it held on tight. This movie is terrifying, maybe not in the way you would expect it to be, but this movie is just about as disturbing as it comes. While I don't see it becoming an instant classic right away, I can definitely see this as a legendary horror film in a few years. While the story wasn't exactly "one of a kind" (I've seen the original, and the french version "Ils"), it is one that never stops scaring. The acting was great from the whole cast, and you could literally feel the tension and the fear. In some points I even felt my heart skip a beat or two. Personally, don't believe any of the VERY FEW poor reviews this movie has received, you will definitely be scared and shocked at this movie, and you will definitely want to sleep with the lights on....

So when Underworld co-star Kate Beckinsale got to make a horror/thriller with Vacancy while waiting for the green light on a possible Underworld pre/sequel, Scott Speedman too had to do something equivalent, and so got himself signed up with The Strangers, written and directed by Bryan Bertino, which takes a fictional look at what it purports to be based on true events with regards to the senseless acts of violence committed against James Hoyt (Speedman) and Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler). Whether it be real or not, it takes its time to tell you that more than 1.4 million violent crimes happen on average in the USA, which of course works out to be... hell a lot. And it puts this at the back of your mind that it could happen to just about anyone, which after watching the movie, you'd more or less agree, given its less than sophisticated means of attack. Ss with all horror movies coming out of Tinseltown these days, it's the usual in-your-face slasher flicks / torture * that get made, going one up against each other through being creative with weapons, blood and gore. Here it kept things simple, using common household tools against you. It's a movie without a lot of dialog between the characters, given that the assailants do not speak with one another, or lapse into the usual monologue with their victims. They do what they need to do quickly when the time calls for it, otherwise their theatrics allow the filmmakers to max out the surround sound system in the theatre with plenty of running about, throwing of stuff against doors/windows, together with testing out their light and shadow play thoroughly. And technically, you've got to tip your hat towards its flawless execution (pardon the pun). The backstory to the characters of Kristen and James show us that while they are a loving couple, James' premature proposal to Kristen, and her rejection, put them in an awkward situation where he had plenty of yes-I-do aftermath activities planned out, such as a night at his parent's summer home, and a road trip thereafter, all thrown into disarray. They still reach that home away from home, but are not really communicating with each other. And with observed weakness comes opportunity for the perpetrators to complete their surveillance, and launch their systematic attack. Which for the first hour, it almost became the Liv Tyler show, as she single-handedly holds your attention with her frantic looks and powerful lungs, while trying to wish it all away as a bad dream. Bryan Bertino succeeds in driving through the tension and fear of having unknown strangers in an unfamiliar home, and at 4am in the morning with their constant knocking and mischievous, deadly pranks, can really take its toil on you. There are loopholes of course in this story, such as failure to hold ground, and to never, ever split up, but I guess these folks never learn from the many horror movies that preceded it. So when it went into its final 20 odd minutes, you can sense a feeling of dread, both for the characters, and the rather repetitive run-hide-seek continuum. Like Michael Haneke's Funny Games, there never is a rationale shared with the audience even though they continuously dish out violence, and while Haneke's villains were rather chatty, the ones here never bother to talk any more than they should, and coupled with their childish masks, make them a bit more terrifying when they come out of the dark. Not a masterpiece, and surely less intellectual than Funny Games, but definitely has its moments, and managed to send some chills down unsuspecting spines, like that row of punks sitting on the same row as me and actually squirmed at their seats.