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Written and Directed by Starring Presented by 85 minutes |
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THE
STRANGERS Review
THE STRANGERS has been so far the most heavily promoted horror movie this year not rated PG-13, with its emphasis on the look of the three killers who terrorize a couple. Put up against SEX & THE CITY in its opening week, the film surpassed expectations with a huge opening that doubled the film’s budget. While the film really offers nothing new to the genre, the fact that it relies on sound design for scares rather than buckets of blood made THE STRANGERS a surprising experience. Young couple Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) arrive at a secluded cabin where James had planned a romantic night with his new fiancée. After proposing to her at a wedding earlier in the evening, her refusal to marry him sets an uneasy tone. Soon after arriving at the cabin, there is a knock on the door from a hidden young woman looking for “Tamara.” She quickly leaves and James leaves the cabin to clear his head. While he is gone, Kristin begins to hear noises. The woman comes back knocking on the door, and unbeknownst to her, a masked man has entered the house. Once James returns, the two realize that they are the target of three psychopaths and the night turns into one of survival. The script and plot of THE STRANGERS is nothing original and contains a little of everything we have seen before. The opening is reminiscent of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (complete with narration) and one of the killers wears a mask similar to Jason Voorhees in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (and before that, THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN). As the movie progressed, I kept on thinking of Stevan Mena’s MALEVOLENCE (which was in itself a tribute to 70s horror). The killers’ motives are never clear and their mysterious nature does add to the shock value of the film. The characters of James and Kristen are sympathetic enough where you don’t want them to die, but on a few occasions they fall into clichéd “What do we do next” territory. The direction is sharper, with some excellent moments of tension. This was writer/director Bryan Bertino’s first film, and he shows the poise of a veteran with a promising future in the horror genre. The film does at 85 minutes feel a little overlong due in part to the minimum of characters and time is spent mainly on the games played on the hapless couple. It is pretty much the anti-SAW. I personally feel this would make a perfect FEAR ITSELF or MASTERS OF HORROR episode but it doesn’t deter that this is a fine film. Where THE STRANGERS succeeds gloriously is in its sound design, which is amongst the best heard in a horror film in quite some time. There isn’t much of a score, and the film’s location makes the sound as vital as the visuals. It’s the perfect film to showcase how important sound design is in a movie, as there are some great, tense moments brought on by the simple knock of a door or the sound of a window open or door slam. There was in some cases the dreaded “musical stinger” which draws you to jump, which in one particularly scary moment wasn’t needed (especially since a few minutes earlier there was the film’s scariest scene, where one of the killers appears suddenly in the background from the darkness) but compared to other films that rely on the stinger, it wasn’t too much of a distraction. Liv Tyler is at her best when she is imperiled, and gives a decent performance. Her monotone performance in the beginning of the film almost made her unsympathetic, but that soon changes in the game the killers play and her desperation for survival. Scott Speedman is a little better as James, not handling the situation as the macho “I’ll save you my pretty,” but really is unsure how to handle the psychopaths himself. He never shows this while with Kristen which shows the complexity of his character. For a woman who just dumped him, he still loves and protects her. It’s an admirable job by Speedman. The three killers are played by Kip Weeks, Gemma Ward, and Laura Margolis, and they are only seen in their masks. At points when the masks are off, their faces are seen from a distance, keeping them a mystery. It’s an interesting move by Bertino in that in works in some places, but not in others, especially awkward in the film’s final act (though one I’ve been thinking about for days since seeing the film so it may be a good thing). In all, THE STRANGERS is a refreshing return to true horror which was given great publicity and proves that horror as a genre is alive and well. The fact that in its opening weekend did better than most PG-13 horror films released this year just proves that horror is more than just a rating. It’s an auspicious debut for Bryan Bertino and worth a look or two that will scare audiences. Film students should study the sound design for sure and take notes on how to make effective horror without words. It’s not completely original but it knows what its strengths are. THE STRANGERS: 7 Out Of 10 Maggots
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