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The Strangers (2008): A Movie Review

The Strangers is a creepy, scary movie that will keep you riveted to your seat for the length of the movie. This is the first film for director, Bryon Bertino and he seems to have learned his movie-making lessons well using Alfred Hitchcock type techniques and some of his own to scare you half to death.

The movie begins with a young couple (James and Kristen) going to the home where James spent his summer vacations with his family. James proposes to Kristen but she declines his offer of marriage and the young couple are in a state of bored sadness and mundane dysfunctionality, each wondering what the outcome of their lives will be without each other, as it seemed they were heading throughout their relationship. Continuing their act of togetherness although drifting apart, they are in for the surprise of their lives - their unhappy ending to go with their unhappy state of affairs of the heart. When things go wrong do they just continue that way?

In this state, they are attacked and terrorized by home invaders who have no purpose but to sadistically torture and terrorize them. Dressed as a Man in a Mask, a Pin-up girl, and a Dollface the invaders tell them their only reason for picking them is because they are home. They have no motive. They are just psycho killers.

This is a classic horror tale with all the usual settings and props such as screams and bumps in the night used in horror flicks, but Bertino lends his youthful newness to the film. The audience is given the end of the movie in the beginning so that there is no surprise ending, just the tortuous and gruesome details throughout the watching of the film.

This movie will either scare you into complete silence or cause your ulcers to bleed. You might even throw up. However if you are a veteran horror movie-goer, you'll probably be delighted.

You might begin to wonder about the home invasions in your neck of the woods. This movie works well for the times, with many communities around the country experiencing home invasions. Usually, however, there is motive such as drug deals going awry.

The release date was May 30, 2008. The genre is horror/mystery/thriller. It stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as the young couple. The rating is R for violence/terror and language. Runtime is 90 minutes. The filming location was Florence, South Caroline, U. S. A.

Don't miss this movie if you want to have a sickly thrilling experience.

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