I’m now convinced that watching anything other than a light comedy first thing is the morning is a terrible idea. Take Ingmar Bergman’s last movie Saraband for instance. It’s a tough, depressing film. I had to watch it at 9am one dreary morning, I was ruined for the rest of the day. While The Strangers isn’t as draining as Bergman; it shouldn’t be the first thing you see in the morning.
The Strangers is loosely based on actual events1. A couple returns home one night from a wedding reception and they get terrorized by 3 people in masks. You might ask “Is this another torture movie like Hostel?” and I would respond with “Actually it’s more like Haute Tension, but without the Haute2.”
I’m a big fan of good home invasion movies. It’s scarier when it’s something that you can imagine could actually happen. Movies like The Exorcist II, Candyman, or The Manitou3 aren’t that scary to me cause they all take place in a different universe. I’m much more frightened by stuff like Last House on the Left, The Exorcist, or The Exorcist III because they’re all based on true events, or events that could quite easily be true.
The Strangers starts off really strong. There’s great relationship drama between the couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman), you’ve got a creepy girl knocking on the door asking for someone that doesn’t live there, and then people in masks start running around the house giving everyone the willies. The movie is only about 84 minutes long, but when we got to the third act I was done. It seemed like there was nowhere else for the movie to go and come to find out that’s exactly what happened.
I’m not saying it’s terrible because it’s not, there’s some really fantastic cinematography, loads of great imagery and really effective suspense. The interaction between the couple was great, I wish there were no strangers and the movie was just the couple dealing with each other after the wedding reception from earlier. It could be called The Couple and I probably wouldn’t see it because why would I watch a movie called The Couple?
1. the Manson murders
2. Better known in America as High Tension, a nifty little movie
3. Please please please watch that trailer!
