THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
They say the worst kind of terror is the one that’s unexplainable. I couldn’t agree more after watching The Strangers.
PLOT
The 2008 film takes place in 2005 and follows the couple James Hoyt & Kristen McKay who visit an isolated childhood summer home after attending the wedding of their friend Mike (Glenn Howerton). The intention of a romantic bliss feels far out the window when Kristen turns down James’ marriage proposal, not feeling ready for such commitment. While James waits for Mike to pick him up to avoid further awkwardness, the couple tries to make the best of it via makeup sex, but they get interrupted by a knock on the door. They see a blonde woman outside the door asking for Tamara, in which they inform her there is no one of that name with her. By the time the stranger leaves, James goes for a drive to get Kristen cigarettes, having an excuse to clear his head. During his absence, the same woman from earlier asks the same question. As Kristen turns her down again, a masked man has already entered the house. When the smoke alarm goes off, Kristen would accidentally drop it on the floor when disconnecting but when she later sees it on a chair, she deduces someone’s inside the house with her. She tries to find her phone to call the cops, but the strangers have already taken it and thrown it into the burning chimney. When James comes back, she tells him what’s going on but he doesn’t accept the truth until seeing the woman in a doll mask. He goes back to his car to get his phone so he could call the cops, only to find the vehicle ransacked and the phone is absent. However, James agrees on leaving when he finds his phone back in the house now broken. They almost make a break for it with the same car, but get rear ended by a brunette woman whose also wearing a mask. Having no other choice, the couple goes back to the house and James arms himself with a shotgun. He and Kristen would hide in a room down the hallway while the villainous strangers break down the doors with an axe. When Mike arrives as James originally hoped, one of the strangers throws a rock at his windshield. When he finds the house in ruins, he enters the hallway only to be shot by James. The latter would be devastated upon realization and tries moving forward by reaching the barn to use a radio in order to reach out for help. He first tries to stop the brunette, Pin up Girl, only to be stopped by the masked man. When the power gets cut off, Kristen goes to the barn with the same intentions. She trips and twists her leg upon heading there and despite her attempt to use the radio, Pin up Girl destroys it. Kristen would run back to the house to try hiding in the pantry, until Dollface spots her and the masked man knocks her down after dragging James back. By sunrise, the couple are both tied to chairs in the living room. Kristen asks why are they doing this to them, in which Dollface responds ‘Because you were home’ without any further explanation. The trio of villains unmask themselves (in which their faces remain unseen to the camera) before stabbing them to death. As they drive away, they pass by two Christian boys delivering pamphlets to the neighborhood. Dollface takes one for herself to make the next kills easier. The same boys would find the aftermath of the trio’s actions and the film would end in a cliffhanger with Kristen waking up screaming in terror
THOUGHTS
2008 was quite a year for movies as a whole due in to the newfound respect superhero movies had gotten thanks to The Dark Knight and Iron Man. With Cloverfield being just as much of a viral sensation as well, it came to show horror can still deliver in quality storytelling. Writer/Director Bryan Bertino was able to make such a simple perspective of domestic terror so effective you felt you were there in what was a gripping reflection on what happens in many neighborhoods. I dug the production design made for the house and neighborhood as a whole as it feels more of a playground for the villains than it is an escape for the protagonist victims. Horror is known to make the villains the true superstars of the movie because they’re able to drive the plot in their setting more than the victims, which is no exception here. Gemma Ward, Laura Magnolis & Kip Weeks are equally terrifying in their own way through the body language because they torment their targets more in a psychological manner before getting physical as we’d expect. The fact we never see their faces onscreen and they prove to be sadists by never explaining their motives is where the chills really kick in for us. Being as mysterious the way Michael Myers was originally written in Halloween worked because it gives you this understanding it can happen to anyone and you can never act like it can’t whatever the environment or the class you relate to and anyone can go after you without you even knowing it. And these said elements are all we need to do nothing but frown for the victims we try rooting for. Scott Speedman & Liv Tyler were great in making a believable couple out of James & Kristen who were in an unexpected crossroads of their relationship, yet still love each other enough to be on the same page, sharing the goal to survive the night at least. Speedman showed James to be the most conflicted at first because who knows what he wants which is to settle down with Kristen, yet was not prepared for the opposite to happen. Despite the disappointment, his morals are still intact and he did his best in protecting the one person he most cared about. Tyler definitely earned her scream queen status with all the screaming she did causing her to briefly have tonsillitis. Aside from that, you still root Kristen too because Tyler makes clear she’s not a bad person for turning down a marriage proposal. However long she was dating James, she didn’t feel ready for that and nobody should be rushed for such a big chapter in life. The genuineness of affection she displays in the first act shows she still cares and doesn’t want to destroy what they had. She even tries on the ring later because she gave a second thought that can’t be rushed. I’d like to imagine she survived the incident after her final scream, but with all the blood loss before the cops could get there, I hate to say doubtful that can be. In the end, at least she and James had each other before their grim demise. This was indeed an impressive film, but there’s still some things that had me scratching my head as I watched it. For example, why didn’t James tighten the bulb if that was the problem while talking to Dollface? He could’ve gotten a better look at her face and called the police much sooner with a description. And if there were two porch lights, how come only one got fixed? We see half of what Dollface looks like unmasked due to the light coming from inside the house, so it’s a weird ass continuity error if you ask me. And how did James not see any of the strangers by the time he made it back to the house when they just broke in to taunt Kristen? It’s so weird when slashers become speedsters to stretch out the runtime. That’s weirder than Kristen only mentioning the man in mask before James sees Dollface outside. I also thought it was stupid of James to doubt Kristen’s phone was taken after seeing Dollface outside. It’s also a bad idea for him to consider scouting the area outside while she stays behind because he could’ve better protected had she left with him. I know he’s still distraught on the proposal backfiring, but he can’t be this ignorant to ignore her peril. I know it was an accident for what happened to Mike and it’s obvious he was still drunk before entering the house, but it’s totally on him to not call the cops after witnessing the windshield get destroyed in his very eyes. Had he called the cops if not James, then they likely would’ve survived the night. The only true mistake the Strangers make is setting the car on fire because they could’ve drawn attention from whatever neighbors. Ignore this, then you’ll still appreciate it for what it is. In short, The Strangers hits the right check marks for being an intriguing horror film from start to finish. If domestic terror gets under your skin so easily, good luck with this one.
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