The Strangers

The first time I saw the trailer for this movie, I was sitting in a movie theater and girls all over the auditorium were screaming in fear. I knew I had to see this movie. Then rumors were swirling that it was going to be a tame pg-13 movie and then I heard it has been sitting on a shelf for over a year and I was worried I didn't want to see it. It came out rated R and it opened to a very impressive 20 million dollar opening, when studios were predicting 7 million. There must have been something in this small movie people wanted to see. Were they right?

Before we see anything, a dark voice opens the movie talking about how most of the violent acts committed to people are done by people they know, but some aren't. We are also told this is based on a true story, but it is more like a story based on many instances that may or may not be true. The movie opens on two little boys walking by a house that has been thrashed and we hear a 911 call. They see blood and a knife and then the movie goes back to the beginning of the story. James Hoyt (Scott Speedman) and Kristen McKay(Live Tyler) are driving silently in a car going to a summer home. They are clearly a couple in a fight. It is eerily quiet in the first 5 to 10 minutes of the movie as the couple get to the house, walk in, sit down and continue their lives. It is almost voyeuristic how mundane it all seems. James sits down looks at the engagement ring in his pocket and it is easy to see why the couple is at odds. James leaves a message to a friend that he will need a ride in the morning. The house is littered with roses, as James expected He and Kristen to be engaged by the time they reached the house. There is a knock at the door just after 2am. It is a loud, jarring knock and at the door is a teenage girl looking for her friend. We never see the face of the girl but there is something not right here. James leaves the house to go get Kristen cigarettes and then the proverbial shit hits the fan. There is another knock at the door; the girl is back, but then it is more than knocking. There is tapping at the window, Kristen's phone goes missing. Someone is in the house. James comes back, doesn't believe her, but soon the couple is in a living nightmare.

This is about the most simple story of a movie, ever. Stretching it to 90 minutes seemed like an impossible task and minus 2 hiccups, The Strangers offers some pretty serious scared and builds enough tension to make me forget I had a box of popcorn at my side. The quiet feel of the beginning really enhances just how loud the movie gets. There are 3 crazy people attacking the couple and they have everything planned out. This is not a chase movie as much as it is a movie where we watch and wait for the inevitable. Knowing the outcome at the start does not diminish the scares and does not make the agonizing situation any less intense. The masked vandals are extremely creepy, not only because they are masked, but because they revel in their brand of torture. They are not concerned with a quick kill, no they are going to enjoy it for 4 hours. 4 hours of breaking windows, writing on windows, banging on doors and walls. 4 hours of controlling the situation. The suspense left me with white knuckles and tension built up in my shoulders. The quiet moments were spent on edge wondering when the potato bag masked man would creep back into the picture and strike. Every inch of the screen is used and the camera angles and tight shots lend themselves to this overall creepy feeling.

The scares come from those nights you are alone and hear something off in the distance. Usually it is nothing but the wind, but what if it was a group of psychopaths who have no motive other than "you were home." The Strangers is a small, cabin fever inducing movie. When it is over you just want to run into a wide open space because being confined is no good. That being said, it is not without a few faults. First off, the minor flashback Kristen experiences is not at all needed for us to know anything about this couple. The mood set by the beginning, then the mood when the couple starts to get intimate (it is hot) tell us everything we need to know. Also, everything that happens after the climax seemed off to the mood of the rest of the movie. The last shot went for a cheap scare, when the rest of the movie avoided them. It does put a sour taste in your mouth for the end, but it doesn't diminish what the rest of the movie accomplished- scaring the crap out of me.