The Strangers

The Strangers
Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward
Directed by: Bryan Bertino

Style: Cat-and-mouse Slasher
Blood and Guts: 3
Fright Factor: 3
Laugh Factor: 0
Weapons of choice: Knives, firearms
Overall rating: 3 out of 5

There will always be people who take joy in other people's fears. People who like to make others squirm for no other reason than it is different. These are the people that come knocking at 4 a.m. James (Speedman) and Kristen (Tyler) have traveled from a friend's wedding to James's family vacation home. James was recently shot down proposing to Kristen, so the entire evening is already in the trash. Then three assailants in masks begin to terrorize them, first just appearing and disappearing, and each encounter grows more menacing. Surrounded and trapped, James and Kristen must find a way to escape before it is too late.

This film has all of the elements necessary to be a very solid horror film. The director clearly knows how to utilize slow-burn horror where danger is left in clear view without anything happening, leaving the audience to squirm and anticipate. If the audience doesn't know what is going to happen, they work themselves up about it. There are several long shots of the intruders walking around the home, not even chasing the protagonists, and it is chilling to watch. The violence is kept to a minimum except for a few graphic events, to the point that a bit of editing could have taken this one to a PG-13 rating. As a result, the actors are left to convey the terror the characters are feeling, and they do an excellent job at that.

The problem with this film, however, is that the suspense soon becomes a one trick pony. You can only have the intruders menace the characters for so long before it becomes repetitive. An intruder sneaks up on a character, is within striking distance, and then vanishes when the character turns around. This happens constantly through the movie, and it soon becomes clear that the intruders are more interested in toying with them than actually inflicting harm on them. It is here that the movie tips its hand too soon. The moment you realize that there is no real danger until the movie moves into its end game, the malice dissipates. It starts to become a cut-and-dry stalker film, not helped by the fact that it starts to follow all the conventions of those films. Every foiled escape ends exactly how you would expect it to the moment they announce the plan. Every "twist" is an element seen in other horror movies from the 70s and 80s.

Finally, there is the ending. Without going into too many details, it can be said that if you have seen enough of these types of films, you will probably know what is going to happen. Sure, the movie never pretends to be anything other than what it is, but at the same time, any suspenseful horror film worth its salt will give you a payoff equal to the amount you have sweated away on the edge of your seat. Anything less is cheating, and this movie cheats. After the movie, I left thinking, "Well THAT just happened..." but there was little satisfaction in the experience.

In the end, the film has a great sense of style and suspense, but that only lasts as long as the menace does, and for this film, it runs about a half hour too long. If this had run as an hour long horror movie, it would have been great. Since it doesn't, I was left feeling that this film has been done many times before, and usually with more skill. See the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre to see menace done right.