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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 7594
Released: October 21, 2008 |
| Our Price: $4.40 |
| Used Price: $1.12 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Inspired by true events, this heart pounding, nail-biting frightener mercilessly explores our most universal fears, where simply opening the door to a stranger leads to a grueling night of terror one could never imagine. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman star in this relentless suspense thriller that will keep you up at night and make you never want to answer the door again!
Description of The Strangers:
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
The Strangers Reviews:
Leave your lights on.... 
2009-11-15 - "Based on true events", this film will keep you awake. There is nothing supernatural here...just a gruesome and taunting murder, and that is what is so scary about it. The masks were brilliant. I slept with the lights on for days.
Modern Horror Film in the Classic Style 
2009-11-06 - The Strangers reminds me of the basic horror movie, and that's a good thing. Think of the original Halloween from 1979. Imagine 2 people intending to enjoy a romantic evening in a home alone, far from civilization in the countryside. Now add a marraige proposal gone wrong, and well, neighbors who would prefer you not be around. With the premise of a simple home, this film weaves in classic scary elements. It appears to sample other horror movies, including the "closet scene" from Friday the 13th (the original 1980 version), and elements of The Shining (also from 1980). There is a fair amount of blood and gore, but not what is commonly seen in most modern horror movies. Like the classic films, it has elements that makes you scream out to the characters in the movie. How anyone could possibly rate this a 1-star movie is beyond me. My young friend jumped on multiple occasions, so if you want to be scared, watch this film.
A very strange film indeed 
2009-10-31 - Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1I3J6FITA146S
The Strangers 
2009-10-15 - The movie starts off like Texas Chainsaw Massacre stating the movie is based on real events and not much was known about what happened that night. I don't know the story this movie is based on but it is quite interesting story never the less. You can easily skip the first twenty minutes because nothing really happens and it's quite boring. Then a knock at the door with a girl is looking for her friend at 4 am in the morning; That might seem strange but the fact that the house the couple is staying on a is a deserted road with no other houses in what appears to be miles. She turns away and thats when the good stuff hits, well sort of. Three masked intruders do all sorts of stuff to mess with this girl and her boyfriend comes back after getting a frantic call. One thing I thought was funny was his beautiful car was destoryed and he didnt seem to care one bit about it. The three intruders disappear on and off, almost acting like ghosts and playing tricks on the couple. The movie is only an hour and twenty eight minutes (unrated edition) and it is pretty well paced but some things just dont add up. A unique part of the film is there is little speaking and it relys heavily on sounds. Expect for the girl that shows up at the door, you never see the rest of the killers faces. The chilling answer to way they did this was because they were home. I dont know if it's a real story or not, the speical features include a making of documentary. I wish they would have added a feature about where this story is based on.
Overall, a good movie but alot of story holes ruin this movie from being a five star movie. As I said before I wish they would have added a speical feature that this story is based on, if it is real.
Mindless Splatter-flik fans, please don't review this movie....
2009-10-08 - I've read a few good negative and positive reviews here, but most of the negative posts are such mindless drivel, much like the unimaginative, brain dead splatter flicks these reviewers enjoy. In fact it's horror "fans" like this that are the reason that the horror film genre is so in the dumps. As long as blood, gore and torn limbs are what rakes in the money- thanks to the fans I just mentioned- then we will get more of the same and less TRUE scary stuff like "The Strangers", which is a shame.
The film was rich in atmosphere. The acting was good, the villains were compelling and the director did a masterful job keeping the suspense taught without resorting to cliche's like things suddenly and constantly jumping out at you, hordes of insects, gore or teens having sex. I also felt that the inherent improbabilities in the story were well ironed out and made believable. They tried to leave, but couldn't. They tried to call for help, but couldn't. They tried to fight back, but couldn't find an enemy to fight.
All in all I loved this movie. If you didn't, then fine. State your case clearly and intelligently and let it go at that. I may even give it a thumbs up(which I did to some of the better negative reviews, even though I didn't agree with them). Don't come on here with "DUDE! Like...you know....f**k man! Like this movie f***in blows cuz like, there's not enough like, gore n s**t and like, that really blows dude, ya know?!"
Horror fans, post away. Splatter fans, go away. This movie wasn't made for you.
(sorry if I sound elitist, folks. It's just time to make a distinction here)
