They're Watching (The Strangers (DVD))

Member Name: JayHall1991

Product:	The Strangers (DVD)
Date:	18/10/08 (81 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thrilling, Scary, Intelligent, Well Acted

Disadvantages: Silly Ending, Feels A Little Silly

After Kristen refuses a marriage proposal from James and they end up in a romantic log cabin (planned by James to accelerate the romantic mood) they decide to rest, relax and think about the future state of their relationship. Then a knock comes at the door, a young girl looking for someone who obviously doesn't live there. But when James leaves to buy some cigarettes, the visitor emerges against - but showing far more threatening actions. So starts up a night of terror - with the couple being subjected to an increasingly level of torture. \they become key players in a cruel cat and mouse game, will they escape unscathed?

The Strangers is suitably nerve shredding, edge-of-your-seat gripping fare that rides the new wave of Hollywood low-budget Stalk-and-Slashers with style, intensity and a few terrifyingly unique elements. It manages to build tension up from the get-go and the cast/crew manage to make the proceedings feel unnervingly realistic - as the film shuttles towards its climax it gets scarier and keeps up the jump quota throughout. As the stakes grow higher and as the sheer brutality of the situation becomes apparent it effectively puts the audience through the wringer - you'll feel as if you have just survived the ordeal yourself. Despite the fact that it follows many of the genre's most stead-fast conventions it throws up some interesting new ideas and it creates an air of pure dread more effective than 90% of other horror flicks. The cast do a pretty amazing job of bringing the terror to vivid life and the screenplay makes a few successful stabs at instilling character development and crafts some fun and unexpected plot twists. It's a shame then that it is all ruined by the ridiculous and anti-climactic finale which makes little sense and slips into mindless violence rather than the carefully planned tension that comes before it. Still it's a slasher with brains that offers scares without pandering to the teenage market - worth a look.

The most successful thing about The Strangers is its effective build-up; by the half way point the tension is almost unbearable and the director constantly ramps it up as the film moves along. The makers never let you know exactly what is happening - the whole thing is draped in darkness and shadow which allows your imagination to run wild. Once the threat does become clear the film moves into edge-of-your-seat territory, with a cat and mouse game that keeps pulling the rug from under the audience and causing more than a few chills. Everything comes together to weave anxiety; the music, the setting, the visuals and the direction all contribute the sense of pure, palpable terror that lingers throughout. By keeping the killer's identities fairly hidden they are allowed to become a more horrific threat and their lack of true motive brings their brutality to the fore. Due to the short running time the whole things speeds along well, never outstaying its welcome and remaining condensed enough to maintain its built-in tension. As the scenes roll into one another it's like a wave a fright, and later as it hurtles towards a finale it becomes increasingly brutal.

Bryan Bertino deserves credit for bucking the recent horror trend and manages to create some genuinely chilling moments. He instils an ominous atmosphere into almost every sequence and shows a pleasing sense of style, with nicely atmospheric visuals and a great isolated setting. He keeps the story tightly wound and makes it feel surprisingly realistic without bogging the pace of fun of it all. There are some interesting twists which are cleverly revealed without being obvious and it is, at times, fairly frightening and intense. However, it just isn't as thrilling as it could be - although the tension is at a constant high the film never gets that sense of urgency that would have made it truly terrifying and it feels a little routine at moments. He shows a lot of directorial promise and seems to sprinkle some impulse and passion into the proceedings; but he lets it all go with the overly-simplistic and dreadfully anti-climactic ending - which is meant to be shocking, but succeeds in being pathetic. Bertino lets go of all his hard earned tension and goes for violence over intelligence, with a finale which is unexpected but hollow and unsatisfying.

Liv Tyler deserves much of the credit for The Strangers; she is a genuinely realistic and sympathetic lead - making the brutal actions onscreen feel infinitely more distressing and keeping the film glued together. She brings a huge amount of intensity (crying, screaming, shaking and whimpering up a storm) to the role and has a nice physicality that makes the film feel almost primeval and brings the action to life. She is likeable enough to get the audience to root for her but builds her character with some emotion and the romance between her and Speedman is touching, sad and interesting. When the film kicks in she acts genuinely terrified (although her character is slightly irritating) and brings and interesting rawness to every scene. Speedman is also an engaging presence within the film because he seems to build trueness and three dimensionality to his role; he plays a man hurting and burned by love and that sadness lingering in his performance. He brings unpredictability to the role and is genuinely believable as someone trying to protect his home and wife. Again he brings a strength and physicality to his role and is fairly likeable throughout.

The three villains of the piece are truly scary with their remorseless masks and swift, almost supernatural way of moving; they are nameless, faceless fiends and their actions can't help but raise a few chills. There is a surprising lack of violence (until the finale) which somehow makes the stakes even higher and the film more unique and at least the ending offers a good old jump-out-of-you-seat moment. One of the most successful aspects of The Strangers is the string led score which kicks in at random intervals and sets the tension up immeasurably; tomandandy create a stirring and impulsive background music which allows for some fun jumpy moments. There is also a constant country/folk motif which adds to the tension; just when things appear safe, the haunting "Mamma Tried" will kick in on the rather scratchy vinyl.

Overall, The Strangers is a solid, interesting and fairly scary modern horror that successfully nabs from old examples of the genre. It's intense enough to keep the teen audience happy - but has enough smarts and substance to make the horror-buff interested. There are some nicely tuned performances and a tight, little screenplay and good direction. Unfortunately, its capped off with a dreadfully dull finale that ends on a violent but hollow note.

Summary: An intense, but slawed thriller