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The Strangers

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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.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence/terror and language.

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

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... 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 James (Scott Speedman) have arrived at a secluded vacation home in the woods after attending a friend's wedding. It's four in the morning, and they're both tearful and emotionally exhausted after a disagreement about their relationship. As they awkwardly try to navigate the long night together, they are distracted by the sound of a heavy knock at the door. They open it to find a dazed young woman hidden in the shadows. Assuming she is lost, James sends her away, but Kristen is disturbed by the late-night visit. When James leaves to go on a drive and pick up some cigarettes, Kristen is left alone, and we watch her move through the huge house in a painfully eerie silence, all the while knowing that she is being watched. By the time James returns, Kristen is in hysterics, and together they must face the terrifying fact that they are indeed in grave danger. Both Tyler and Speedman give excellent, understated performances that lend the film a truly frightening edge of realism. The story's simplicity is a refreshing change from over-the-top torture films like SAW, and the violence in the film is minimal, and much of it off camera. THE STRANGERS also lacks any big-budget special effects. You won't find any CGI creatures or armies of zombies. The only monsters depicted here are the very real human kind, which is what leaves you thoroughly spooked and shaken, and ready to push a chair against your own front door. [More]

Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks

Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis, Glenn Howerton, Alex Fisher, Peter Clayton-Luce

Director: Bryan Bertino

Director: Bryan Bertino
Screenwriter: Bryan Bertino
Producer: Doug Davison, Roy Lee, Nathan Kahane
Composer: Tomandandy
Studio: Rogue Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Oct 21, 2008

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Reviews for The Strangers

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101 - 120 (sorted by date)
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The Strangers is a deadly dull experience in boredom, strangled by two cinematic stumbling blocks -- one external and one of its own unfortunate making.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
05/30/08
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
PopMatters

...a grab-bag of nifty widescreen compositions and sound design stingers, with nothing on its mind besides its own virtuosity.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment 1 Comment
05/29/08
Sean Burns
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

There are enough flaws on display in "The Strangers" to keep it from ever generating the necessary suspense to prevent viewers from noticing those flaws in the first place.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
05/29/08
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

A film to unnerve us enough to either buy some extra deadbolts or kill the next bastard who walks across our lawn.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment 1 Comment
05/29/08
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

Proves well executed simplicity sometimes can be more effective than bombast, blood and things that go boom.

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment 1 Comment
05/29/08
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

The Strangers has been saddled with an increasingly uneven sensibility that ultimately dulls the movie's overall impact.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
05/29/08
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

The Strangers is full of cheap scares and unoriginality but does contain an ending that is worthy of a stomach ache beyond belief.

Full Review Source: WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) | comment Comment
05/29/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)

Yes, OK, bad things happen to good people. Consider the message received... about seven movies ago.

Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment 2 Comments
05/29/08
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Really scary. A 10 on the "creepy" scale.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
05/29/08
Brian Chen
Brian Chen
Filmcritic.com

Bertino has created a seriously harrowing cautionary tale that's sure to be remembered the next time you're left in a house by yourself.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
05/29/08
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

A knock at the door has never been this terrifying.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
05/29/08
Peter Paras
Peter Paras
E! Online

It gets less scary and less tense as it goes along.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
05/29/08
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

As an exercise in controlled mayhem, horror movies don't get much scarier.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
05/29/08
Scott Tobias
Scott Tobias
AV Club

..riddled with continuity errors...stupid victim behavior cliches...and inconsistencies...begins with its heroine's 911 call but has no viable way of incorporating that call into its own unfolding logic.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment 4 Comments
05/29/08
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

It's an outstanding example of the horror/suspense genre, made with a refreshing approach. But it contains elements so creaky and pathetic you want to scream.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/29/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Is Hollywood so disconnected from its past and bankrupt of ideas that it doesn't even know this movie is a screaming cliché?

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
05/29/08
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

An immensely creepy thriller, one that plays fair with the audience, treats its characters with unusual intelligence for the genre, and is all the more effective because the minimalist plot is kept spare and straightforward.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
05/29/08
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Spooky horror film has both tension and gore.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
05/29/08
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Common Sense Media

It's all efficiently nerve-jangling, with Tyler and Speedman credibly registering every hue of panic.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 1 Comment
05/29/08
Dennis Harvey
Dennis Harvey
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ultimately, it's an invitation best refused. 'The Strangers' offers a few memorable scares, but it is less chilling in its simplicity than numbing in its banality.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
05/29/08
Rossiter Drake
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for The Strangers

August 28, 2008: Rogue Eager to Meet More Strangers Opens in new window
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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