The Strangers (2008)

A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.

Director:

Bryan Bertino

Writer:

Bryan Bertino

Stars:

Alex Fisher, Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Alex Fisher	...	Mormon Boy #1
Peter Clayton-Luce	...	Mormon Boy #2
Scott Speedman	...	James Hoyt
Liv Tyler	...	Kristen McKay
Gemma Ward	...	Dollface
Kip Weeks	...	Man in the Mask
Laura Margolis	...	Pin-Up Girl
Glenn Howerton	...	Mike

Storyline

After returning from a wedding reception, a couple staying in an isolated vacation house receive a knock on the door in the mid-hours of the night. What ensues is a violent invasion by three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. The couple find themselves in a violent struggle, in which they go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive.

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Plot Keywords:

mask | stranger | invasion | wedding reception | vandalizing a car | 

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Taglines:

We tell ourselves there's nothing to fear - but sometimes, we're wrong.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence/terror and language

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 May 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los extraños

Filming Locations:

Florence, South Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,250,624 (UK) (29 August 2008)

Gross:

£4,025,916 (UK) (19 September 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rogue Pictures, Intrepid Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min 88 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before filming any scene after The Strangers begin terrorizing the couple, Liv Tyler would have to run laps, do jumping jacks, and other physical activities to get her out of breath. This was so she would have the panicky feeling the real life characters would have been experiencing.

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Goofs

After Kristen injures her ankle, she limps in the house, then walks perfectly. Immediately after, she limps again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: What you are about to see is inspired by true events. According to the FBI, there are an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes in America each year. On the night of February 11, 2005, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt left a friend's wedding reception and returned to the Hoyt family's summer home. The brutal events that took place there are still not entirely known.

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Connections

References Funny Games (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Mama Tried"
Written by Merle Haggard
Performed by Merle Haggard
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

They Use The Same Old Trick A Dozen Times

This is a suspenseful horror flick in which a couple stays at a rented home for the night after coming back from a wedding. He has just proposed to her himself, but it seems she said no because their is an awful funk between the two of them. They hear a knock at the door and what appears to be an innocent mistake of the wrong house, turns out to be a night of horror.

The Strangers takes an old clichéd horror technique, of having the 'killer' appear somewhere in the background near the character, but then disappear as they turn around, and beat it to death. I couldn't even count how many times they used this technique, but it was completely redundant and lame. Sure, it's creepy at first because this is where we are first introduced to these killers, with masks and all, but after the 12th, 13th time, it just gets ridiculous.

The two leads are Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, do killers never attack ugly people? They don't have any romantic connection, but one can argue the script called for it. I was left asking myself if I ever cared for these two. They seem like they want to be together, but never give it a chance. Much like Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale in Vacancy, these two characters fought more often than acted like a couple. Note to producers: If you want the audience to care about these people, make them like each other. I'm not saying the two leads acted poorly, I just didn't care if they lived by the end.

The film loses the tension early and the rest is the audience just waiting for the intruders to stop playing games and 'kill' them already. As a film from a first time director, it's watchable. The creepiness factor is there, if only for the first half. I wouldn't recommend this to horror fans, more to those teenage girls looking for something they would define as scary on a Friday night.