Review of The Strangers (1998) by Meghan S — 03 Jan 2012

The Strangers is one of the most basic horror films I have seen in recent memory. Couple stay at house, Couple or tortured psychologically, film ends. Well there is alittle mroe then that, but what sets this film apart is its unique take on the scare. Director Bryan Bertino rather then relying on 'jump scares' and gore to complete the thrills uses a unique scare tactic that only some films have been able to do succesfully- and that is presenting the audiences with an obvious scare and leaving it in plain site- want a clue- look at the poster.

Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman(underworld) convey a rather simple plot- a proposal gone wrong, the two act out the next couple hours rather dryly but effectivly, and in a decent job do not over act it.

The film is by no means a benchmark for horror cinema, and takes its place alongside other decent home invasion films like the two french films High Tension and the recently released thriller 'Inside'.

The film did infact cause me to jump and sit nervously on the edge of my seat and for that I believe the formula works effectivly. The ending comes almost abruptly and quickly, the overall runtime only an hour and a half (i dont believe the stated 1 hr and 47 minuts is correct- since we were in the theatre with previews and end of film for less then that combined) The strangers proves eerie and disturbing and leaves us begging for a shower and praying for decent cell phone reception for our back country vacations.