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The Strangers | 
 enlarge | Director: Bryan Bertino
Actors: Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler, Gemma Ward, Alex Fisher, Peter Clayton-luce
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $5.87
You Save: $14.11 (71%)
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Rating:  118 reviews
Sales Rank: 1985
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 85
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: MCAD62033302D
UPC: 025193330222
EAN: 0025193330222
ASIN: B001D2WU9I
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: October 21, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A young couple staying at a summer retreat are faced with a night of psychological terror. As the night goes on the reality of what will come is more terrifying than anything both could have imagined. Inspired by true events Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/27/2009 Starring: Liv Tyler Scott Speedman Run time: 91 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
A lean, briskly paced and exceptionally creepy thriller, The Strangers earns its scares the old-fashioned way: through atmosphere, sound design, and a simple yet undeniably upsetting central premise that allows for maximum tension throughout its running time. Attractive young lovers Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman are already having a bad day--she's turned down his marriage proposal--before a knock on the door in the middle of the night announces a full-fledged siege on their remote vacation home by a trio of masked assailants. The film's first third delivers the most consistent shivers as the visitors make their presence and intentions known to Tyler; the second half grows more frantic and bloody before a gruesome finale that may leave viewers either rattled to their core or bothered by its empty nihilism. Speedman is fine as the downtrodden male lead (who's seen tucking into a carton of ice cream after being rejected), but it's Tyler who impresses the most by shouldering the lion's share of the terror. First-time writer/director Bryan Bertino impresses by forsaking the current passion for over-the-top violence (save for the finale) in favor of more traditional means of generating fear, and if his project borrows heavily from other films, most notably the French chiller Them (which shares its "inspired by a true story" origin) and Michael Haneke's Funny Games, at least he's taking from the best. The sound design is among the many technical standouts, and the unsettling score by tomandandy (The Hills Have Eyes) pleasantly evokes Ennio Morricone's fuzztone-heavy work for Dario Argento in the early '70s. On a completely unrelated note, LP fanatics should appreciate how both the film's heroes and villains share an affinity for folk and country music on vinyl. --Paul Gaita
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| Customer Reviews: Read 113 more reviews...
 Do NOT watch alone... November 8, 2008
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
This atmospheric - and undeniably horrifying - directorial debut from Bryan Bertino gave me the chills unlike any other film that I have seen in a long while.
I won't go into the story, because most of you already know it, but I will tell you this: if you are as jumpy and as easily frightened as I am, do NOT watch this one alone. I made the mistake of doing that the first time, and I couldn't finish it. I had to rent it later on, and watch it with a room full of people in order to see the entire film. The thing that makes the film so effective is simply this: this could happen to anybody. Anybody could break into your home and terrorize you for no reason.
The direction is strong, and Liv Tyler does an excellent job. You can tell that it was definitely inspired by Haneke's FUNNY GAMES, but it's not a rip-off by any means. Bryan Bertino has done an excellent job with his first film, and I look forward to his next film.
THE STRANGERS Hearkens Back to the Roots of the Slasher Sub-Genre November 16, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
There is a scene in John McNaughton's HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986) in which Henry (Michael Rooker) and his friend Otis (Tom Towles) invade the home of perfect strangers and torture, rape, and kill the occupants. When I first started seeing trailers for Bryan Bertino's THE STRANGERS, I got a strong feeling that the film was going to be little more than a feature-length re-do of that scene from McNaughton's film, only it would be padded out, I feared, with lots of the elements of the so-called torture-porn that is en vogue in contemporary horror cinema. How wonderfully wrong I was.
Instead of another ho-hum, leave-nothing-to-the-imagination torture-porn horror flick, THE STRANGERS is a truly terrifying film that hearkens back to the pre-1980s era of the slasher sub-genre. As it follows a young couple on their return from the wedding of a friend, the film starts out sort of leisurely and ordinary, not even hinting at the horrors to come. The terror comes on slowly, starting with a late-night knock on the door, then escalates through home invasion, vandalism, violence, and murder. However, unlike the relentless graphic bloodletting common to most of today's horror films, THE STRANGERS separates the acts of violence with the types of cat-and-mouse chases and boogeyman-at-the-window shots that made slasher films so much fun back in the day. Not that the film is totally devoid of grue and gore, but the filmmakers avoid the in-your-face viscera that tends to push a lot of recent horror films into the realm of exploitation cinema. With THE STRANGERS, director Bertino and his crew want to scare you; they don't want to make you lose your lunch.
As this film's proverbial final girl, Liv Tyler does an outstanding job donning the mantle of a scream queen. This part is a far cry from her more-famous role of the stoic Arwen the elf in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, yet she does a very convincing job here generating various degrees of fear and terror.
The DVD from Universal Studios presents THE STRANGERS in both the R-rated theatrical version and a slightly extended Unrated version, and both are in anamorphic widescreen. The 5.1 Surround-sound English audio is pretty good, although the dialogue seems, at times, to be muffled a bit by the ambient sound. DVD extras include two deleted scenes and a making-of featurette.
Although THE STRANGERS didn't slaughter 'em at the box office, it did garner on opening weekend more than double its production budget. Not bad for a taut little thriller that has more in common with 1970s slasher flicks like John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (1978) than it does with contemporaries like HOSTEL (2005) and HOSTEL: PART II (2007). Which just goes to show that talented filmmakers can still give an audience a good scare without tossing bucket-loads of blood and guts at the camera. And delivering a good old-fashioned scare is what makes THE STRANGERS a refreshing standout among today's mostly stale horror offerings.
Harrowing and brutal!! October 30, 2008
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
Alright, alright, so it isn't groundbreaking or revolutionary. Who really cares and why is this a bone of contention for so many? Most, if not all, of the stuff Hollywood churns out on a weekly basis is hardly fresh, yet it doesn't keep hordes of people from fawning over them like they were the second coming. Was "Dark Knight" (which I loved) new and novel? I don't think so. How about "Incredible Hulk or any other sequel, remake or movie born from any other source material, such as videogames or musicals? The over-hyped "No Country For Old Men" treads down one of the most worn out paths in all of film, yet it won an Oscar for best picture. The list is endless, so please let's put that argument of originality to rest already. If someone manages to create a wholly new cinematic experience, then I say bravo and I'll be anxious as all hell to see it, but let's face it, at this stage of the game, I'm not holding my breath like I used to. Let's face it, people, this is 2008 and there's nothing new under the sun, anymore. Either you borrow from existing sources or fuse as many disparate ideas as possible with the hopes of achieving something radical and invigorating. More often than not you end up with a dud. A perfect example, MNS too-dreadful-for-words,, "The Happening." Avenging trees and horror do not mix. Onto "The Strangers,." which I loved. I thought it was concise, brutal, harrowing and taut and it was all pulled off expertly by those involved. The camerawork was fantastic and the way the interiors were filmed, with deep pockets of shadows everywhere, turned an otherwise nice country house into an ominous and terrifying trap. The exterior shots, though ample, gave the feeling of crushing claustrophobia, the overwhelming feeling of being trapped even where you are outside and free to move. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman were great, their terror and anxiety both palpable and believable. The nihilistic ending didn't put me off, because that's life, sometimes. Nice resolutions aren't always part of the deal. For me, ultimately, it's how well the material is handled that really determines the quality of the film. If you have good craftsmen at work, who really care about what they're doing, you'll end up with a more than decent flick, more often than not. Here we have a very good example. If you are expecting some kind of epiphany, you'll be disappointed; however, if you want a well-made, grab you by the throat kind of cinematic experience, then I suggest you check out "The Strangers." I love good horror and this is a perfect example of it.
Sent chills down my spine... November 10, 2008
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
I've only been scared by two movies in my lifetime... "The Exorcist" and "The Strangers."
A couple scenes were predictable but I still nearly jumped off the couch.
I highly recommend this "terror" film.
One of the BEST and most original horror films in years August 7, 2008
17 out of 26 found this review helpful
In response to some of the negative reviews: Some reviewers say that people banging on your door in the middle of the night isn't scary? Have they ever been in this type of situation before? I didn't think so. For someone who actually grew up in an isolated home in the woods, I can tell you how nerve wracking it is when you are all alone and you hear strange noises and think someone is out there. Some reviewers remark that the characters do dumb, ridiculous things. First, in horrific and intense situations that almost seem surreal, people aren't always going to make smart choices. You can say if you were in that situation, you would do this or do that. But you don't really know until it actually happens to you. Sometimes we only have a split second to think about what to do instead of sitting down and analyzing the situation. So why is it so hard to think that we wouldn't make the most intelligent choice? That is not what I call unrealistic as others say. Some reviewers have a problem with the "because you were home," bit. Use your head and read between the lines people. These "strangers" are obviously unbalanced and what is more unsettling is to think that there are human beings out there (and there are) who get off on terrorizing innocent people just for the fun of it. To me, that is what true terror is. Some reviewers poke fun at the acting. Liv Tyler actually gives one incredible performance. Her emotional scenes were heightened beyond believable and you don't doubt for one second the horror this woman is being subjected to. I guess some audience members prefer seeing Jennifer Love Hewitt in a tighty whitey tank top yelling out "What are you waiting for!?"
One reviewer says the ending was worse than Showgirls. Well, in my eyes anyone who even watched that film shouldn't be trusted to give a fair review. I never even watched Showgirls just for the record. Another reviewer says we saw this already in Vacancy. Not really. Vacancy doesn't even come close to creating the suspense that fills most of the running time in The Strangers. One reviewer says this is as bland as dry toast. Maybe she was drunk when she was eating her dry toast and writing her review? One reviewer says at least Saw had gore and sadistic violence. Anyone who aspires to gore and violence in their choice of films and think that it is quality filmmaking, they shouldn't be writing a review. "Travis Deputy" has given one of the most moronic reviews here. One issue he seems to have is that the film didn't tell us if Liv's character had survived and if the Strangers were caught. And we needed to see this why? A film is more than fine when it is left open-ended. (Hint hint: Think about the ending to Hitchcock's The Birds). Then he says "Aren't some films just wonderful?" Yes, they are. Like this one! Some reviewers say this is cliched because of the phones not working, the girl twists her ankle, etc. Let me just remind everyone that this is a movie. If the phones worked and they called the police, we would have a 30-minute film. And so what if she twists her ankle? Maybe the director is tipping his hat to the old-school horror films we all know and love. Find something else to complain about. I know, how about the Black Christmas and Prom Night remakes, films that really deserve the 1-star rating. There are also other reviewers who aren't happy when something scary doesn't happen within the first 15 minutes. If they would practice some patience and get to know the characters so the film can establish a backdrop, the suspense will happen soon enough. And in The Strangers, it did and once it started, it never let up and the payoff was more than rewarding.
The reason why I loved this film is because A. It was very intense and kept me interested and on edge the entire time B. The story was kept simple (simplicity being key) and captured the spirit of old school horror films C. The music and atmosphere used was very effective and downright chilling D. We did not know much about the Strangers so there was a sense of mystery which is lacking these days. I don't need everything spelled out for me in black and white to enjoy it. Was their an explanation in Halloween as to why Michael Myers was terrorizing Laurie Strode? Did we learn who the killer was in the 1974 horror gem Black Christmas? I guess people can't use their imaginations and want a motive like maybe the Strangers were getting revenge because one of their friends was killed by the couple or the couple was living in the Strangers old home, and they wanted it back. Maybe these Strangers were just born sick, plain and simple. Again, human beings of this nature is what true terror is.
I commend Bryan Bertino for his excellent direction and actors Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman who did a wonderful job. Liv looks as gorgeous as ever here. This film went back to the basics and as the Amazon reviewer stated, earned its scares the old-fashioned way. An isolated home in the woods, people knocking on your door in the middle of the night, an atmosphere of dread and doom, haunting music that heightens the suspense, a thrilling game of cat and mouse, it all adds up to one awesome horror flick! Do not miss this and ignore the poor reviews given by others. These are people who probably consider I Still Know What You Did Last Summer a good horror film or who just have bad taste in general. If you enjoy horror films that put the focus on the unexplained, suspense, atmosphere, music and characters, this is your kind of film. If you want fancy special effects, a love story with a happy ending or torture and gore, go rent something else. This film is all about putting the audience through the suspense ringer and it succeeds very well!
Also recommended is Neil Marshall's The Descent and Alexandre Aja's High Tension, both of which earn their scares the old-fashioned way much like The Strangers and keep your nerves on edge throughout!
Note: As of 11/10/08 a 6.3/10 rating on IMDb.
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