The Strangers

The Strangers (Rated R)

Running time: 1 hr 30 mins

Cast:

Liv Tyler
Scott Speedman

Critical consensus (www.rottentomatoes.com)

**1/2 out of *****

My consensus:

**** out of *****





The premise: A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.


My review: My buddy Matt (http://www.theprezzies.blogspot.com/) got this right. This is the first horror/thriller in years to be a genuine horror movie. Virtually every thing that happens in this film is realistic and I could sadly see happening in our real lives. The film opens with a chilling narrative saying how the movie we are about to see is based off true events. I don't know what specific events it refers to, if any, but what I DO know, is that what happens in this movie happens in real life all the time. The creepy thing about the Strangers is how real and dark it feels. We hear all the time about how some family or some couple was killed in their home and the killers were never found. That's ultimately what this movie is. There is no intricate back story to these killers, or really even the victims.

And that is how truly terrifying this movie is. Yes, it actually scared me. The first movie to keep consistenly nervous and tense the entire time, in a long time. It was quiet, ominous, and very unsettling. There were numerous scenes were I almost couldn't bare to keep watching, from pure fear. This happens in real life all the time, almost every day it seems. Thats the sickening realism of this movie. It is not a torture film, the gore is kept to a very bare minimum. This is more of a psychological mind game than anything. It will make you think twice about opening your door and just tossing your keys on the counter and going straight to bed. A random event like this can happen to anyone. It does happen.

We don't ever see the real identity of these psychos. We don't know their names. They only utter one or two lines. We don't know their motives. One of the creepiest lines in the movies which answered the question, "Why are you doing this to us?" was "...because you were home." A simple response that can send a chill down your spine. Thats how effective this movie is. Mysterious people enter a house. Stalk the owners and terrify the audience. A simple horror movie, with minimal story, low on gore, and I think is one of the best and scariest horror films to be realeased in this current decade. Sad thing is, it won't get any attention, because as my buddy Matt says, it's not a hip horror film about sadistic torture or a teeny bopper slasher. We have to be smarter than those films people. Movies like The Strangers and even Funny Games, is what a real thriller/horror is all about.