The Strangers is masterful
Thanks to surehanded direction, the Strangers delivers in full
In a time where the closest we can get to being scared is the "Saw" franchise, it is good to see some horror directors haven't totally fallen asleep.
I am not easily scared, particularly by horror movies. Many people say this, but I feel I have a legitimate case, especially when an elaborate mask or a deep voice on a killer are about as close as we get to be scared at the multiplex these days.
“The Strangers” scared me quite a bit and proved to be that ever elusive rarity among contemporary horror movies—one that actually stays with you after you leave the theater. The film makes you take caution in your everyday life in a way that no horror film has for me since “Halloween.” After seeing it, you will rethink that late night drive to the grocery store for milk, or you will want to bring a friend along—just in case.
How does the film succeed? Largely through simplicity, both in craft as well as in story. The writer-director, Bryan Bertino, has obviously seen “Halloween” a couple of times, but to his credit, seems to have stopped there. He doesn’t pollute his film with the campiness or self-awareness of the countless “Halloween” imitators. There is nothing larger than life about his story or his villains. The situation the film presents is all the more creepy because it is rooted in an ordinary universe that the audience can see themselves in.
The situation: Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman), two lovers, make their way back to the country house of James’ parents after a friend’s wedding reception. They are experiencing relationship woes; James has just proposed but Kristen has told him she’s “not ready yet.” After a long period of morose silence, the two talk a bit, begin to make up, and then hear a knock at the door.
It is a young girl whose face we aren’t allowed to see. James tells her she has the wrong house and dismisses her politely, but this proves to be just the beginning of strange figures popping up in the night. More knocks at the door come, more noises outside the house, and soon the couple are fighting for their lives against three anonymous, masked figures.
This situation could obviously fall prey to “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning”-type treatment, but Bertino doesn’t want to shock you, he wants to frighten you. Nothing is sprung on the viewer in this film. The first time we see the villains, it isn’t with a jump scare, but with a slight, subtle reveal as Tyler stands in the foreground, unaware of his presence, and he seeps in every so slowly through the shadows in long shot, just so much that we know he is there. It is a great shot, because it shows Bertino is willing to milk his situation for every bit of unpleasantness it is worth.
And milk he does, building tension through the use of handheld camera and a dry soundtrack, with often only ironic country song cues from the family record player to augment the action. Bertino is in no hurry here, and he makes his audience squirm. There are few grand scares in “The Strangers,” but a lot of tiny, creepy gestures that nudge the viewer further and further into the unknown. There isn’t a maniacal laugh or charming sensibility about the killers to remind you that this is all a movie; they are faceless, unexplained, and off screen most of the time. Like most great horror directors, Bertino doesn’t tell you why you should be scared—he leaves most of it to your imagination.
But of course, a horror film has to deliver some gory treats, and “The Strangers” makes good on this obligation, but not in the way you would expect. Many critics have said they have problems with the ending. I felt it was appropriate. If you watch the film again, you can see it was the inevitable conclusion. I give Bertino loads of credit for trying to make a commercial horror film that does things a little different, and legitimately creeps you out in the process.
