The Strangers suffers from lack of originality. I've seen most of this film in other movies, and as a horror fan, I found little that was new or innovative.
2 Comments
05/30/08
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The Strangers (2008)
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Reviews Counted:142
Fresh:63
Rotten:79
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: The Strangers provides a few scares, but offers little else to distinguish itself from other slasher films.
Theatrical Release:May 30, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $52,534,295
Synopsis: For his film debut, director Brian Bertino has crafted a fantastically creepy horror flick based on the very simple premise of strangers who come knocking late at night. Kristen (Liv Tyler) and... [More]
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Reviews for The Strangers
A mediocre scare show that just happened to have one of the best trailers of recent times. At two minutes, The Strangers is terrifying; at eighty-five, it's lackluster.
05/30/08
Though I much preferred the efficient, murderous simplicity of Them, the French original, for the uninitiated The Strangers is a nice little fright fest and perfect date fare to boot.
05/30/08
While expoliting our fear of random house invasion, there's no excuse for careless continuity and illogical behavior. Sloppy cinematic details diminish the scare factor.
05/30/08
Bertino, who comes off as more of a veteran behind the camera than a rookie, gives the film its own identity by slowly building up the action instead of jumping into everything in a hurry.
05/30/08
I like watching snakes eat mice just as much as the next fella, maybe even more, but The Strangers turns the gobble-'em-up into an ordeal. It's a fraud from start to finish.
05/30/08
Top CriticA retread of just about every home-invasion movie of the past 50 years mixed with elements of torture porn and chick-flick romance...has nothing new to offer in the genre.
05/30/08
There's nothing more to it than meets the eye, but Bertino understands the mechanics of suspense and knows how to use them.
05/30/08
With no plot to speak of, no character development whatsoever, no theme and precious little intrigue, what we have here is simply a pileup of effects. And not especially special effects.
05/30/08
The Strangers is still entertaining but, just so you know, Them came up with a sharper, more disturbing way to finish things off.
05/30/08
Bertino relies too heavily on occasionally nonsensical terror tricks that every horror buff has seen a million times since John Carpenter's Halloween set the standard for domestic fright-night mayhem.
05/30/08
Let's give writer-director Bryan Bertino credit. He knows how to frame a shot to make characters seem vulnerable. Now for his next trick, he just needs to turn his talents toward something that isn't repulsive.
05/30/08
Top CriticThough we always know where things are going, the film still frightens from moment to moment.
05/30/08
It's intense but not necessarily fun and may disappoint less sophisticated horror fans. However, for die-hard supporters of unsettling peeks into the dark side of human nature, this is a welcome excursion.
05/30/08
Top CriticFans of the 'pitiless/merciless killers' school of horror should get a jolt out of The Strangers, a harrowing real-time tale of an assault on a remote country home.
05/30/08
Imagine Funny Games stripped of all its social commentary, dark humor and information about its killers, and you're starting to get the idea. It's so spare, it's almost abstract.
05/30/08
Writer and first-time director Bryan Bertino wastes his taut, tense premise -- two lovers, three villains, one house -- by depending on wearingly familiar tricks.
05/30/08
Unfolding with an almost startling lack of self-awareness, young filmmaker Bryan Bertino's debut is such a careful, straight-faced knockoff of '70s exploitation films it plays like a parody.
05/30/08
Top CriticEvery silence, pause and sudden noise startles -- and the results, frankly, are more frightening than the graphic torture scenes in movies like Hostel and Saw.
05/30/08
For a film too goofy to be scary and too clumsy to be fun, even the least discerning splatter fan will find it hard to depend on the violence of The Strangers.
05/30/08
Latest News for The Strangers
August 28, 2008:
Rogue Eager to Meet More Strangers 
Rogue Pictures has greenlighted a sequel to the Liv Tyler horror movie "The Strangers," and hired the original's writer/director, Bryan Bertino, to pen the script. More...
June 05, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Black vs. Sandler in Comedy Showdown
Two big doses of comedy from a pair of Hollywood's funniest men will hit the multiplexes across North America on Friday in a fierce battle for the number one spot. For family... More...
May 29, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Sex in the Multiplex All Weekend Long
This weekend a quartet of New York City gals will try to boot Indiana Jones out of the number one spot at the North American box office as the much-hyped comedy Sex and the City... More...
May 29, 2008:
Critical Consensus: Sex and the City Will Please Fans
This week at the movies, we've got love and commerce (Sex and the City: The Movie, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall) and romantic getaways gone wrong (The... More...
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