I just rewatched The Strangers from 2008 in advance of Chapter 3 and it got me thinking about why this movie still has something different after all these years, its not perfect, most people hate it but I think its a good watch, probably I wont rewatch in many months but if find myself going through channels I will stop at it. You got this couple Kristen and James already dealing with their own relationship mess and then three random psychos show up just because they felt like it which is probably the scariest part of the whole damn thing. The simplicity is what makes it work so well, there is no demon possession, no curse from some ancient witch, no zombie outbreak, just three people in creepy masks who decided to ruin your life because you happened to be home that night and I cannot think of anything more terrifying than that straight up randomness. What really gets me about this movie is how Bryan Bertino built the whole thing around real life fear, the Manson murders mixed with break ins from his own childhood, you can feel that personal touch in every scene especially when Dollface knocks on the door at four in the morning asking for someone who does not exist. The atmosphere is damn near perfect with Liv Tyler walking around that house while the Man in the Mask just stands there in the background watching her and she has no clue, that scene alone makes the whole movie worth it because it is dead silent and your heart is racing the entire time, as I mention the movie is not perfect and drags a bit even gets messy with all the running back and forth, and yeah some decisions these characters make are dumb as hell, but when a horror movie nails the tension like this one does and keeps you uncomfortable for most of the time I can forgive some of the stupid choices people make when they are scared out of their minds, plus you need to remember this was made on a nine million dollar budget which is insane when you see how good it looks compared to movies that cost way more.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482606/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
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Bryan Bertino really knew what he was doing when he made this whole thing feel so stripped down and realistic, some of the best horror movies are made on those tiniest budgets when the director actually understands atmosphere instead of relying on expensive CGI bullshit and jump scares every five seconds like most modern horror does now. The movie opens telling you its inspired by true events and then you see two boys on bikes finding a busted pickup truck and a house with the door wide open, blood smeared on the walls everywhere, one of the boys calls 911 saying he does not know where he is or what street they are on and you already know things went to complete shit for whoever was in there. Then we get into the actual story with Scott Speedman playing James Hoyt and Liv Tyler playing Kristen McKay, they are coming back from a wedding reception and things are tense between them, her makeup is running down her face and you can tell they have been arguing about something serious, we find out that he proposed to her at the wedding and she said no which is awkward as hell now they are stuck at his family vacation home in the middle of nowhere trying to figure out what to do next. The way Bertino sets up the isolation is perfect, you see them driving through these empty roads with nothing but darkness around them and when they get to the house it feels like they are a hundred miles from anyone who could help them, there is no cell phone service out there just a landline and a whole lot of woods surrounding the property. The relationship tension between Kristen and James actually makes the home invasion stuff way more effective because they are already in this vulnerable state where they cannot even talk to each other properly without it getting weird, so when the knocking starts it just adds even more stress on top of what they are already dealing with, James even leaves to go buy Kristen some cigarettes because he is trying to be nice and make things less awkward between them and that is when all hell breaks loose for real.
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The knocking is what kicks everything off and its such a simple concept but executed so damn well, Dollface shows up at like four in the morning asking if Tamara is there and James says no you got the wrong house, she just stares at him through the door without saying anything and walks away which is already creepy as fuck because why is someone knocking on your door at that hour in the middle of nowhere asking for someone who clearly does not live there. James does not think much of it at first, just some random person who got lost or confused but we know better and later when he leaves Dollface comes back asking the same exact question, is Tamara here, Kristen says you already came by here earlier and Dollface just says are you sure in this voice that makes your skin crawl, its so simple but so effective. The way the strangers operate is so methodical and patient throughout the entire movie, they are not in any rush to do anything they just keep showing up at random times messing with Kristen and James, moving stuff around the house, turning on the fireplace, standing in corners watching them without making a single sound, there is this one scene where the Man in the Mask is just standing behind Kristen in the hallway completely out of focus while she is walking around and its one of the most effective horror moments of the movie, aside from it been a very basic scene with no music, no jump scare, just this dude standing there in plain sight and she has no idea he is right behind her, its incredible how horror movies can turn simple stuff this traumatic, the whole movie is filled with moments like that where the strangers are always one step ahead because they have been in and around the house multiple times without anyone noticing. They took Kristen and James phone, they smashed their car, they wrote stuff on the windows, they are playing this sick psychological game where they have all the power and the victims have absolutely none, its torture but not the physical kind its all mental and that makes it way scarier than any gore could ever be.
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Liv Tyler does a great job playing Kristen as this terrified woman who is trying to stay calm but is clearly falling apart with every minute, every noise makes her jump, every shadow looks like it could be one of the strangers, she keeps begging James to believe her that someone is in the house even though he keeps saying nobody is there because he did not see them yet. Scott Speedman is solid as James, this guy who is already emotionally wrecked from getting rejected and now he has to deal with masked psychos trying to kill them, he does not want to believe Kristen at first because it sounds crazy but eventually he realizes she is right and by then its almost too late to do anything about it. The friend Mike shows up to pick up Kristen and he walks into the house not knowing what the hell is going on, James hears someone walking around in the dark and thinks its one of the strangers so he shoots Mike right in the face with a shotgun which is brutal and realistic because in that situation you would probably do the same damn thing if you thought your life was in danger and you had no idea who was in your house. That moment changes everything because now James and Kristen have to live with the fact that they just killed their friend even if it was an accident, and the strangers are still out there waiting for them like nothing even happened, the masks the strangers wear are simple but so effective at being creepy. Dollface has this creepy doll mask with dead eyes, Pin Up Girl has this weird vintage looking mask and the Man in the Mask just has a burlap sack over his head with cut out eye holes, they look like something out of a nightmare and the fact that we never see their real faces makes them even scarier because they could literally be anyone walking down the street, when Kristen finally gets the chance to ask why are you doing this to us Dollface just says because you were home which is the most chilling line in the whole movie because there is no motive, no revenge plot, no deeper meaning at all, they are just doing it because they can and because Kristen and James had the bad luck of being there that night instead of somewhere else.
The ending is pretty damn dark and hopeless which I actually love because it does not try to give you some happy resolution where the good guys win and everything works out, Kristen and James end up tied to chairs in the living room and the strangers take turns stabbing them while the other one watches, its methodical and cold and completely fucked up in the best way for a horror movie. Then the strangers take off their masks but we do not get to see their faces because the camera does not show us, they just leave the house like nothing happened and drive away to probably do this again to someone else, later two boys on bikes show up and they find Kristen barely alive covered in blood, she grabs one of the boys hand and scares the absolute shit out of him which is the only real jump scare in the whole movie and its actually earned because of everything that came before it. The Strangers is one of those movies where you either love it or you hate it and I get why, some people think its boring because there is not a lot of action or blood compared to other horror movies from that time, its more about the psychological terror and the slow burn tension that builds up over the entire runtime which is not for everyone. I think it works way better than most of the torture stuff that was popular around 2008 like Hostel or Saw, those movies were trying way too hard to be edgy and disturbing while The Strangers just focuses on creating this realistic scenario where you could actually see this happening to you if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, Bryan Bertino said he was inspired by break ins that happened in his neighborhood when he was a kid where people would knock on doors and if nobody answered they would break in and rob the place. That real life connection is what makes the movie feel so grounded and scary instead of just another dumb slasher, I would give The Strangers a solid 6.5 out of 10, I know it sounds low but not because a movie has a low score is necessarily bad but you also have to admit when a movie is not that good because its not perfect and closer to the ending does drag a little bit with some questionable decisions but it holds up way better than most horror movies from the 2000s, if you like slow burn horror that focuses on atmosphere and tension instead of cheap scares then you absolutely need to watch this because it does everything right that other movies try and fail at.
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