Directed by Bryan Bertino
Rogue Pictures
You would think the title of this review is a "duh" statement...something we with common sense would understand without having to be told. You would also think a movie connected with it would be terribly boring and insulting. The first statement, I would hope, is correct; the second is completely untrue. This simple directive is what came to me immediately when the characters Kristen and James (played by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, respectively) heard a knock on the door of their out-of-the-way summer home in The Strangers. They had just returned to the house after a wedding reception and when the knock occurs, it's very late at night (or very early in the morning, as the case may be).
A girl stands on the darkened stoop and asks if a friend is home. She obviously has the wrong house and Kristen and Jimmy tell her so. She leaves, but also leaves us with a very uneasy feeling. Jimmy twists the lightbulb in the outside lamp (hrm....) and the two go back inside to iron out some things. Kristen finds she's out of cigarettes and Jimmy goes out to buy some more for her...at 4AM. Yeah -- just what I would do, but I guess I'm not as nice as this guy is.
This is where the movie kicks into gear. The house is eerily quiet and Kristen wanders around, waiting for Jimmy to return. From the photo above, you can see what kind of dramatic irony to which the audience is now exposed. The movie is full of this kind of show-the-audience-what-the-character-doesn't-know stuff and it's really hair-raising. The effectiveness of this movie comes from how realistic it truly is and the fact that you could be this person, standing in your kitchen, and while you're trying to talk to your significant other on a cell phone, a man in a sack mask is standing behind you.
As the trailer clearly shows, the man and two females spend the rest of the night tormenting Kristen and Jimmy. The beauty of this film is not in the special effects, or the overwhelming gore, or the huge star-studded cast....because it has NONE of this. This film is awesome simply because it lacks what so many horror movies are overloaded with nowadays. The Strangers is very basic and the most money spent on this film went to its not-so-A-list cast. The terror in this movie comes from the anticipation of the kill - if it ever comes. The suspense is high-level and there's a ton of it. You would expect a suspense-laden film to get old about halfway through, but this one never does. There are moments you think you see coming, but they're still agonizing when they do and/or shocking when they don't. You feel deeply for these characters and the fact that they are truly out in the middle of nowhere in a neighborhood that's deserted. Isolation is a terrible thing, especially at 4AM.
One of the most frightening lines in this film is "Dollface's" response to Kristen's question, "Why are you doing this?" : "Because you were home." It sends chills down my spine just thinking of it now. Director Bertino's first foray into film is a heck of an accomplishment, recalling the classic horror movies of the '70s -- When a Stranger Calls, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Last House on the Left -- movies in which characters are tortured for no other reason than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The action in two of those aforementioned films happen in the home...the protagonists' homes. How many times have we rushed up the driveway, fumbled with our keys, opened and closed the door, locking it behind us before we breathed a sigh of relief and felt safe? Well, these films are telling us that even at home, we're in extreme danger. These are the kinds of horror movies we need more of -- the realistic, this-could-happen-to-me, I-don't-want-to-sleep-with-the-lights off kind. Keep it coming, Hollywood, and as for the rest of you...double-bolt your doors, keep the curtains drawn, and for Pete's sake....don't answer the door if someone knocks after 9PM.
The Strangers is playing now in theaters.
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