The film's most potent claim to success is its lengthy and cleverly edited stretches of spookiness, which it tends to extend to almost breaking point, keeping us in heightened suspense.
The Strangers (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:142
Fresh:63
Rotten:79
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: The Strangers provides a few scares, but offers little else to distinguish itself from other slasher films.
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
US Box Office: $52,534,295
Synopsis: For his film debut, director Brian Bertino has crafted a fantastically creepy horror flick based on the very simple premise of strangers who come knocking late at night. Kristen (Liv Tyler) and... For his film debut, director Brian Bertino has crafted a fantastically creepy horror flick based on the very simple premise of strangers who come knocking late at night. Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) have arrived at a secluded vacation home in the woods after attending a friend's wedding. It's four in the morning, and they're both tearful and emotionally exhausted after a disagreement about their relationship. As they awkwardly try to navigate the long night together, they are distracted by the sound of a heavy knock at the door. They open it to find a dazed young woman hidden in the shadows. Assuming she is lost, James sends her away, but Kristen is disturbed by the late-night visit. When James leaves to go on a drive and pick up some cigarettes, Kristen is left alone, and we watch her move through the huge house in a painfully eerie silence, all the while knowing that she is being watched. By the time James returns, Kristen is in hysterics, and together they must face the terrifying fact that they are indeed in grave danger. Both Tyler and Speedman give excellent, understated performances that lend the film a truly frightening edge of realism. The story's simplicity is a refreshing change from over-the-top torture films like SAW, and the violence in the film is minimal, and much of it off camera. THE STRANGERS also lacks any big-budget special effects. You won't find any CGI creatures or armies of zombies. The only monsters depicted here are the very real human kind, which is what leaves you thoroughly spooked and shaken, and ready to push a chair against your own front door. [More]
Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks
Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis, Glenn Howerton, Alex Fisher, Peter Clayton-Luce
Director: Bryan Bertino
Director: Bryan Bertino
Screenwriter: Bryan Bertino
Producer: Doug Davison, Roy Lee, Nathan Kahane
Composer: Tomandandy
Studio: Rogue Pictures
Reviews for The Strangers
The cumulative effect of unexpected knocks at the door, creaking floors, shadows, noises and strange happenings is a heart-pounding experience
So terrifying I watched the whole movie through a slit between two fingers.
Don't let the attractive cast, the slick look or the 'inspired by true events' nonsense mislead you. The Strangers is a despicable and mean-spirited practical joke.
A grisly, morally disreputable cat-and-mouse exercise that has no point beyond viscerally implicating viewers in the same sadistic game played by the villains.
Unrestrained unexplained violence just for the thrill of it makes for a lousy movie.
The movie deserves more stars for its bottom-line craft, but all the craft in the world can't redeem its story.
In "Funny Games," two blond boys terrorize a couple for similarly inexplicable but clearly sociopathic reasons. So, gee, one wonders where Bertino conceived his idea.
There's no denying that The Strangers fulfils its limited objective of showing nasty things happening to defenceless people. For some audiences that may be enough - but not for me or, I hope, for you.
The Strangers isn't scary, just tedious, and the final image shows that Bertino didn't even have the balls to follow the story to its logical ending.
..riddled with continuity errors...stupid victim behavior cliches...and inconsistencies...begins with its heroine's 911 call but has no viable way of incorporating that call into its own unfolding logic.
A retread of just about every home-invasion movie of the past 50 years mixed with elements of torture porn and chick-flick romance...has nothing new to offer in the genre.
Inevitably, the cat and mouse game goes on too long and the tension dies a slow death. A bit like Liv’s career.
What it does is deliver more than an hour of sustained, almost unrelenting terror.
It's intense but not necessarily fun and may disappoint less sophisticated horror fans. However, for die-hard supporters of unsettling peeks into the dark side of human nature, this is a welcome excursion.
I don't remember hearing young women scream like this in a theater since I saw "Double Jeopardy" some years back in a packed auditorium.
A retread of just about every home-invasion movie of the past 50 years mixed with elements of torture porn and chick-flick romance.
It's an efficiently made, appropriately terrifying film, downright minimalist in approach and all the more horrifying for it. It's so basic it's believable.
The good thing about the three masked intruders is that they stay masked. This saves their careers. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Scott Speedman. He reacts to every scary indignation as if he was being checked for fleas.
The Strangers is one of those inane fright fests that relies upon the victimizers being omniscient and omnipresent while the victims are complete morons.
Latest News for The Strangers
August 28, 2008:
Rogue Eager to Meet More Strangers ![]()
Rogue Pictures has greenlighted a sequel to the Liv Tyler horror movie "The Strangers," and hired the original's writer/director, Bryan Bertino, to pen the script. More...
June 05, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Black vs. Sandler in Comedy Showdown
Two big doses of comedy from a pair of Hollywood's funniest men will hit the multiplexes across North America on Friday in a fierce battle for the number one spot. For family... More...
May 29, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Sex in the Multiplex All Weekend Long
This weekend a quartet of New York City gals will try to boot Indiana Jones out of the number one spot at the North American box office as the much-hyped comedy Sex and the City... More...
May 29, 2008:
Critical Consensus: Sex and the City Will Please Fans
This week at the movies, we've got love and commerce (Sex and the City: The Movie, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall) and romantic getaways gone wrong (The... More...
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