The cumulative effect of unexpected knocks at the door, creaking floors, shadows, noises and strange happenings is a heart-pounding experience
The Strangers (2008)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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 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 gets your hopes up with some smart filmmaking but then pretty much dashes them by the final predictable fade out.
So terrifying I watched the whole movie through a slit between two fingers.
At a certain point, The Strangers devolves into the kind of generic chase picture that slasher flicks frequently become.
It's an outstanding example of the horror/suspense genre, made with a refreshing approach. But it contains elements so creaky and pathetic you want to scream.
Is Hollywood so disconnected from its past and bankrupt of ideas that it doesn't even know this movie is a screaming cliché?
There’s little that distinguishes this movie’s basic plot from scores of other fright films over the decades, but The Stranger is more effective than most because of [director] Bertino’s deft manipulation of the storyteller’s tools.
Offers no more enlightenment or catharsis than a drugged insect could expect in the moment before it is skewered by a lepidopterist's pin.
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.
so well made, so moody and tense, that its emptiness can almost be overlooked - but if you want something a little more than a po-faced thrill ride, best look elsewhere
It wrings ever drop of terror it can out of making us identify with doomed people, and suffering as they suffer. That might be nihilistic, but it's also empathetic.
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.
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.
...a grab-bag of nifty widescreen compositions and sound design stingers, with nothing on its mind besides its own virtuosity.
If you put yourself through the wringer only once this year, you could do worse than The Strangers.
The Strangers suffers from lack of originality. I've seen most of this film in other movies, and as a horror fan, I found little that was new or innovative.
This is no splatter movie: spare, suspenseful and brilliantly invested in silence, Bryan Bertino’s debut feature unfolds in a slow crescendo of intimidation.
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...
More Movies
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 70% 70% | Where the Wild Things Are | 03/12 |
| 83% 83% | Paranormal Activity | 03/12 |
| 89% 89% | Zombieland | 03/12 |
| 77% 77% | The Informant! | 03/12 |
| | The Strength of Water | 03/12 |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- The Strangers at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Strangers at IGN
Fresh Links
Featured

Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.

Double passes up for grabs to the new comedy starring Paul Giamatti.

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions

Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.

We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection



Top Critic

