Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman

Written & Directed By: Bryan Bertino

Released: 2008

Grade: C-

The Strangers is another home evasion film that is full of clichés and copies from other films. The feel and pacing of the movie is very similar to Them, without the pay off at the end. The Strangers does waste a little less time on the opening of the characters, yet just as in the case of Them, we really aren’t able to get to we know them. The ending is what saved Them as it was so unexpected and really said a lot about the society we are living in that could embody premature killers who create fear, pain, and a state of disaster “for fun”. The Strangers didn’t have this angle and there is no pay off in the end. If you are looking for a good film that handles the subject, Funny Games is the best choice. The Strangers definitely borrowed a lot from this film as well. Funny Games uses its’ time wisely unlike the other two films mentioned above, gives us some great performances, and the most ironically creepy and deranged killers that seem so polite and innocent. Unfortunately, The Strangers decided to borrow the weaker points of these films and didn’t offer any redemption to make the film enjoyable.

After a wedding, Kristin (Tyler) and James (Speedman) go to a remote cabin for the weekend. James asks Kristin to marry him, but she rejects him, telling him that she isn’t ready yet. When they get to the cabin, she finds that James made it in to a romantic and intimate setting, thinking that this would be their opportunity to celebrate their engagement. Before long they have much more than this awkwardness to worry about. When James is out Kristin realizes her phone is missing and sees a masked man outside. James comes back to find Kristin injured, but this masked men nowhere to be found. At first he thinks that she is just seeing things, but when his phone goes missing as well he starts to get suspicious. James finds a gun and attempts to scare off whoever is outside. Two masked girls alongside the masked man appear and James is attacked. Kristin tries to save herself, get out of there, or even just communicate to someone that they are in trouble. The masked killers chase and attack them all throughout the night until they get them where they want them.

The acting was one of the better aspects of the film. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman were both enjoyable to watch. They really weren’t given the character development to show who their characters were. They did well with what they had though. There was a gesture towards the end where Kristin expressed her love for James, which throughout the film was never really shown and it was questionable how she really felt about him. For any real growth of their characters though a lot more would have had to been done and said. The right vibe is shown between Tyler and Speedman. The chemistry is a little off, but they don’t clash and you get the sense that the potential is there if they both open up to each other.

Don’t believe the “based on a true story” ploy the film tries to pull on you either. If it’s based on anything, it’s other horror films, not true events. Bryan Bertino found one distantly related event and changed several points to satisfy the story he wanted to tell. If he was going to do this he could have at least made it a little more entertaining rather than settling for mundane. The Strangers is more shameful for claiming this than most since not only does it use it as a selling point, but the very first things we hear in the movie is that we are watching a true story. This tries to enforce scares on us, as if being a real life situation will make the film better than it really is.

The Strangers gives you plenty of opportunities to be annoyed. Everything that our protagonists do seem so ridiculous and clichéd. The music tries to create scares, but it really becomes the main element present in the movie. Once it starts up it never really stops. Once Kristin and James realize they are being attacked there is very little dialogue throughout the rest of the film. Originally there was supposed to be more when Kristin and James are tied up next to each other near the end. Nearly all of this, aside from a few words was cut out to keep the killers more mysterious. This did work to some extent. The killers’ appearance especially with doll masks and sacks make them more creepy. As silent and slow walking killers they follow a Michael Myers type of persona. The difference here is that we know absolutely nothing about these killers, while Halloween set up his story for us, while still keeping the man a mystery. We don’t know these kilers reasoning or why they are doing what they are. The most explanation that is dispensed is “because you were home”, which really means that they were just looking for anyone to kill. This really doesn’t answer any questions of why and only tells us that is wasn’t personal; they just had a desire to kill. This mystery leaves little hope and the fact that they could be out to murder anyone is a scary thought. However, the dialogue was so bare and the action was just a typical chase that seemed like it was ripped out of several horror films we have seen before. Although the killers look creepy and are so unknown, there just isn’t anything keeping The Strangers together during the quiet and overdone moments.