The Strangers

Year: 2008
Director: Bryan Bertino
Cast: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman


Have you guys seen the trailer to this film? It's freaky, I tell you. I had posted the trailer on my other blog a few months ago, because I loved it. Today I finally watched the film, and sadly it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be.

The plot for The Strangers is pretty straightforward. A young couple, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt, return to the latter's summer house after a party late one night. Things haven't been smooth for them because apparently Kristen turned down James' marriage proposal just a few hours ago. However before the two can even get over their not so jolly mood, they are attacked by three masked strangers who break into their house. Kristen and James are forced to fight for their lives against people who are stealthy and dangerous.

And basically, that's it. That's the story. First time director Bryan Bertino wrote the script based on actual events, and manages to get a couple of competent actors in Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman to play his leads. I'll give him credit for successfully creating a spooky atmosphere by minimising use of music, other than a vinyl record player playing old songs in the film. Credit is also given for making the intruders wear masks and not revealing their faces to the audience to create a sense of mystery about them.

But other than that, the film fails elsewhere. The plot isn't much to speak of, so the film is forced to run at a slow pace in order for the story to move along. You'll see as the intruders take their own sweet time in terrorising their prey. Now, there's a difference between taking time to savour the thrill of the act, and taking time because there's not much else to do, and unfortunately it's the latter here. It's clear that the intruders are in complete control of the situation. They know where to hide, where to appear and how to stop the couple from seeking help or escaping. But they are so methodically slow, and it made me wonder if they're bored or something. There's a scene where Tyler is standing right in the middle of the dining room, and one of the intruders walks in. He didn't look in her direction, so he didn't see her, but he walks in the opposite direction of where she is instead. Then as she hides, he comes back and takes a seat at the dining table. And I'm thinking, why is he doing that? They can just easily capture their prey, yet they wait till the end to do so, and there are many other instances where they just watch the couple instead of just getting it over with. Plus throughout the film there are many loud sounds of doors getting knocked, things falling over and breaking; all to either scare the audience or make us believe the intruders are clumsy half the time and stealthy the other half of the time.

To sum it up, The Strangers is good for a few scares and terrors, but doesn't score in the logic department. It could have been better. (2.5/5)