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The Strangers

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The Strangers (2008)

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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

[See More Credits]

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1 - 4 of 5

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Reviews for The Strangers

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
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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.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/07/08
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The cumulative effect of unexpected knocks at the door, creaking floors, shadows, noises and strange happenings is a heart-pounding experience

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/07/08
Louise Keller
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

So terrifying I watched the whole movie through a slit between two fingers.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment 16 Comments
05/21/08
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

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.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment 13 Comments
06/02/08
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment 11 Comments
05/27/08
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Unrestrained unexplained violence just for the thrill of it makes for a lousy movie.

Full Review Source: jackiekcooper.com | comment 11 Comments
06/02/08
Jackie K. Cooper
Jackie K. Cooper
jackiekcooper.com

The movie deserves more stars for its bottom-line craft, but all the craft in the world can't redeem its story.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 10 Comments
05/30/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment 8 Comments
05/28/08
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

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.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment 6 Comments
08/29/08
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

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.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment 6 Comments
05/28/08
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

..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.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment 4 Comments
05/29/08
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

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.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment 4 Comments
05/30/08
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Hollywood.com

Inevitably, the cat and mouse game goes on too long and the tension dies a slow death. A bit like Liv’s career.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment 3 Comments
08/29/08
Sun Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What it does is deliver more than an hour of sustained, almost unrelenting terror.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment 3 Comments
05/31/08
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

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.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment 3 Comments
05/30/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

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.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment 3 Comments
06/03/08
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

A retread of just about every home-invasion movie of the past 50 years mixed with elements of torture porn and chick-flick romance.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment 3 Comments
10/18/08
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Boxoffice Magazine

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.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment 3 Comments
05/30/08
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

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.

Full Review Source: HollywoodChicago.com | comment 2 Comments
05/31/08
Adam Fendelman
Adam Fendelman
HollywoodChicago.com

The Strangers is one of those inane fright fests that relies upon the victimizers being omniscient and omnipresent while the victims are complete morons.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment 2 Comments
05/28/08
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Strangers

August 28, 2008: Rogue Eager to Meet More Strangers Opens in new window
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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