Review of The Strangers (1998) by Kyle L — 06 Apr 2014

The Strangers is a terrifying and horrifying film from start to finish that will not only entertain audiences but will also scare horror fans as well and it is the kind of film that horror fans are looking for instead of the boring over hyped films that Eli Roth directed even the boring so called genre "torture porn" crap.

The Strangers is about a young couple who are staying in an isolated cabin located in the middle of nowhere. But soon the young couple are terrorized by three masked strangers who have intentions in terrorizing and killing them and the couple are forced to survive the night of the terror that's taking place in their home for a couple of hours.

This is a very good film actually and I'm honest with it. I know mainstream critics were so mixed and critical with their reviews on the movie but I don't care what the critics said this is an example of a Horror film that Horror fans are looking for if any fan is already tired and bored with the lame and boring "torture porn" crap even most remakes that are super boring as well and you can forget all those because this is the real deal its what Horror fans have been looking for a long time and sure it is flawed but the filmmakers manage to build all of the tension and suspense in a proper way to build the Horror in the film.

One of the highlights of this film is that the movie is extremely terrifying and super scary. There are loads of super scary scenes in the film that freaked me out a lot when I watched this film with the lights off and the volume of my TV on the range of 54% or 55%(The scene where we first see the man in the mask staring at Liv Tyler which is a super chilling and scary scene, The barn scene, Liv Tyler seeing the man in the mask outside the house and the strangers started terrorizing her and the horrifying finale)and Bryan Bertino knows how to build suspense and tension in a Horror film even though this is his first time as a director.

Also the movie not only acts as a Horror film but it also acts as a psychological study which is another great thing in the film. The other highlight of the film is of course the three masked strangers.

All three masked strangers look so creepy throughout the entire film and the creepiest stranger for me is the doll face stranger I'm serious check out the scene where Liv Tyler sees her in the front door or when doll face is at the swing which is the creepiest part of the film and its also nice that we don't get any actual information about the three strangers and as far as we know they're just three people who break into the house and terrorize the couple and James and Kristen could have gotten away with it.

Plus the movie also has a fantastic setting and I love that the whole film is shot in an isolated cabin located in the middle of nowhere and its a perfect setting for this kind of film. Now the movie suffers from a few flaws that are easy to overlook.

The biggest downside of this film is that the movie's plot isn't fully developed and the plot could have at least some explanation throughout the film and of course the last issue of the movie is the ending.

The ending is overwhelming and very flat and I didn't like the idea at all and I wish that there was a better ending for this movie nevertheless the flaws are so easily overlooked in this film. Now the acting is great the performances of the two main leads are fantastic.

Scott Speedman did a very good job with his performance as James Hoyt and Liv Tyler did a fantastic job with her performance as Kristen McKay and they both did a superb job with their performances in the film so far.

Director Bryan Bertino did a very good job with his work on the movie and for a rookie director he learns all of the rules of Horror quickly and he knows how to use suspense and tension in the film rather than gore and blood.

I'm waiting to see what he'll do next when he makes his next feature film. Overall The Strangers is a superb Horror film that delivers suspense and tension that Horror fans have been looking for and this is the kind of film that Horror fans are looking for rather than the boring torture porn crap that's been showing now a days.

This movie gets an 8.5/10 and I can't wait for The Strangers Part II and I hope that Bryan Bertino will return to either write the screenplay, direct the film or do both instead.