The Strangers
Starring:
Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Kip Weeks
Directed by: Bryan Bertino (debut)
Written by: Bryan Bertino (debut)
By Kiko
Martinez
It
looks like Hollywood is slowly straying away from Asian
horror remakes and starting to see what the country of
France can provide in the genre. With the release of
French horror films including “High Tension,”
“Frontiers” and “Inside” in the last few years, a
European influence is definitely working its way toward
American-made horror.
The latest
evidence of this French connection is with the new
horror/thriller “The Strangers,” which has an eerily
similar synopsis to the French film “Them.” In
"Strangers," James (Scott Speedman) and Kristen (Liv
Tyler) find themselves being terrorized by a trio of
masked individuals lurking outside their desolate
vacation cabin.
First-time
director and writer Bryan Bertino creates natural
tension before the attacks begin by introducing us to
James and Kristen as they experience some major
relationship turmoil. James has just proposed to Kristen
earlier that evening and, much to his disappointment,
Kristen did not accept his offer.
Their gloomy
evening takes a shocking turn for the worst when they
receive a visitor at 4 a.m. looking for someone named “Tamra.”
Even after telling the young girl that shows up at their
doorstep that there is no one at the cabin by that name,
the girl returns later that night with another girl and
man, who begin to bang on the door, peer into the house,
and creep around the vicinity.
Soon, James
and Kristen realize that if they are going to survive
the night, they will have to stay one step ahead of
their assailants all while being trapped in a house with
no connection to the outside world.
Aside from
the lack of a plot, which basically does not matter for
a film constructed in this manner, the weaknesses of the
“The Strangers” start with the repetitiousness and
unoriginality that start right after the first couple of
frightening scenarios. People wearing masks and lurking
in and out of the shadows is petrifying, yes, but when
that's all they do for a duration of the film, Bertino
misses a chance to grab his audience by the throat and
match the satisfactory work he does setting the tone.
Then comes
the horror clichés: the uncharged cell phones, the
couple separating during the time when they should
really be as close to each other as possible, the part
where Kristen darts outside only to fall and twist her
ankle, which, of course, causes her to limp around for
the rest of the movie. It's all been seen before in
other horror films, and in "Strangers," none of it works
to its narrative's advantage.
Although
Bertino manages to keep the anxiety at a peak for the
first half of the film with his minimalist efforts
(Tyler adds on to this by looking like she is always a
second away from having a nervous breakdown with each
bump in the night she hears), the emotional impact
declines in the waning moments as “The Strangers”
becomes more and more similar to less suspenseful films
of the past. Grade: C
