The Strangers (2008)
Genre: Thriller / Horror
Duration: 85 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Bryan Bertino
Stars: Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler and Glenn Howerton
IMDb score:
6,1 (160.080)
Releasedate: 29 May 2008
The Strangers plot
"Lock the door. Pretend you're safe."
A young couple spends the night at the man's parents' secluded vacation home after attending a wedding. However, the night turns into a nightmare when they are attacked by three masked aliens. The couple must rise above themselves to resist the attackers and survive.
Actors and actresses
Kristen McKay
James Hoyt
Dollface
Man in the Mask
Pin-Up Girl
Mike
Mormon Boy #1
Mormon Boy #2
Joe - Lumberjack (uncredited)
Shawn the Bartender (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
Lord Flashheart
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- 6454 messages
- 2377 votes
Very bad home invasion flick.
Of course you should not expect high-quality cinema with a title such as "The Strangers" that is not very original. However, the fact that the script is so closely related to the clichés and oil-stupid actions of the two protagonists, is disgusting to me.
The set-up in the secluded holiday home is in principle still good and the film quickly switches to the action. But then things quickly go wrong. The scene where the man shoots his own friend to death, the fumbling with the gun, running out in plain sight...etc. So stupid and predictable. 
After this, the man disappears from view and the focus is on the woman. Unfortunately for her, the emancipation clock has been turned back at least 50 years. It's been a long time since I've come across such a helpless woman-person in a movie. Her list of stupid actions is too long to list. Why on earth do you run barefoot into the woods, trip over the first stump, go through a china cabinet like an elephant into the shed and then be surprised that you have been noticed?! Come on. 
Find it really special that some people can condone so much laziness from the script writers. 1* for the setting, because voltage was zero point zero here.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Shadowed
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- 12083 messages
- 7064 votes
revised.
The result is more or less the same. The Strangers is a movie that just doesn't really get to me, and even after watching the movie again I come to the same conclusion. Bryan Bertino has his heart in the right place, but one problem his films repeatedly experience is the complete lack of suspense.
Some images certainly have the necessary atmosphere and still radiate some threat, audiovisually the film also meets the standard. Decoration and lighting within the house are of high quality, and convey the necessary threat that such a situation must have. That's where my compliments towards the horror end immediately, because Bertino can't put down the invaders so scary himself.
I didn't find the trio all that threatening. It helps that a few shots still present them fairly mysteriously, but when we really see them in action, we quickly find out that they are of little use. As the film moves more and more towards an ordinary horror film in the second half, the invaders lose even more of their charm. Especially since Bertino eventually has quite a bit of trouble keeping them scary.
Some nasty moments compensate for the tougher middle parts, otherwise I think of this film what I thought of it before, and that was a nicely decorated film that is almost completely tension-free. I felt absolutely nothing but a bit of realism. The slowly built up tension and easy scares certainly don't help either. The Strangers unfortunately remains a disappointment for me.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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