The Strangers

English/86Minutes/2008/Unrated

I did not like this movie. However, that doesn't mean that it isn't pretty good at what it sets out to do. The film is about a couple on the rocks (Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler) who are terrorized by a group of faceless teenagers.

The first 10 minutes of the film are great drama as both Speedman and Tyler are able to play this disintegrating relationship and the complexities of adult romance. In fact they should just take the first 10 minutes and extend it a little bit as it would make a great short film. Unfortunately the film takes a horror film turn about 20 minutes in and things fall apart.

There are plenty of cliché moments here and characters do the characteristically stupid things that horror movie characters do. There are the loud screeches when a villain appears, lots of screaming and crying. The movie does have a certain intensity but upon reflection its weaknesses become manifest.

Hollywood horror these days has an affinity for downbeat torturous films where villains win and heroes die horrible deaths. Films like this have nothing to offer the viewer unless they are trying to say something more. For example, “Seven” has a downbeat ending but there is closure and a sense of a greater message. Unfortunately for viewers this movie has nothing more to offer us.

Even the film's closest cousin, “Last House on the Left” had a sense of catharsis by the end. The Strangers just offers us up a story without hope and characters who lack a will to live. I know if someone were trying to kill me I'd be a lot more desperate and dangerous than the victims in this film.

I can't say I recommend the film, but I can't say it's not well done. The film is decently made and Bertino definitely has a good eye for composition. The acting is above average for a horror film and is really impressive in the first act. It's just a shame that this is all squandered in favor of a dismal and nihilistic vision.

Unrated: Mature Audiences, contains Violence/Terror, Sensuality and Language