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In his feature film debut, director Brian Bertino has crafted one hell of an intense and downright creepy horror flick.
The
film opens up with a voice over one octave lower than Barry White's,
framing the film's fictional events within the disturbing real world
statistic that:
"The film you are about to see is inspired by
true events. According to the F.B.I. 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 went to 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."
The
movie starts midway through a romantic ordeal, with champagne and
candlelight going to waste. A night that should have been one of
celebration, but sometimes relationships don't work out that way.
For
Kirsten (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) the remaining hours of
the morning are expected to be grueling - how do you sleep in the same
romantic room as the woman who "isn't ready" to marry you.
That was their idea of horror... Until a 4:00am knock on the door and a haunting voice asked "Is Tamara here?".
Despite
what the trailer suggests, this is no ordinary horror flick. In fact,
you would be hard pressed to even consider it "horror" as opposed to
out and out "thriller".
There is barely a speck of blood here.
This is the psychological torture equivalent of the physical torture audiences endured throughout Hostel.
Not just harking back to the days of what you don't see, but adding to
that the fear of what you don't know as well as what you do know.
The Strangers
is gut-wrenchingly gripping from the get go. There is something
disturbing about knowing the fate of the films' lead characters from
the very beginning that is so heart-breaking and nerve-wracking.
You know what's coming, you just don't know how, why or when.
And therein lies the fear, the morbid notion of being one step ahead of the doomed protagonists.
The
cast deliver some layered performances here (special credit must go to
Aussie girl Gemma Ward in her debut Hollywood performance, who is often
heard but not seen), but the real star of the show is the intensity and
eerie suspense crafted by director Brian Bertino through simple wide
angle shots and use of innocent songs rotating on a record player.
Rumour
has it that the film is inspired, in part, by a game Charles Manson's
gang would often play, in which they would go into peoples houses and
move their belongings around the house while the owners slept mere
metres away. The film is successful in conveying that disturbing sense
of emotionless ramdominity from the events that unfold.
One of
the most genuinely creepy and scary films released in the last decade,
which will ensure you double check the door is locked when you get off
the couch to take out the DVD, The Strangers proves you don't need a big budget to be deliver big scares.
Outstandingly disturbing. DVD EXTRAS
A few little tid bits here and there, but nothing that really warrants writing home about. Conclusion:
Movie 85% Extras: 50%
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