I like writing about films, it's fun to me. That's actually the main reason I started this whole blog, because I'm enjoying writing about movies. But as much as I enjoy it, sometimes it can be a pain in the ass and that's mostly the case when I am dealing with a film so generic and uninspiring that it is mental torture to come up with anything at all. So here we go, welcome to "The Strangers"!
The story, if you actually care, is barely existent, we have a couple, played by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, being terrorized by some strangers in a house in the woods. So far, so generic. The setup is nice and creepy, the intruders wear some freaky masks and the movie is (for today's standards) surprisingly low on gore.
The end result is a mostly chilling but never scary horror film that suffers from the same weaknesses others did before. Too often we question the stupid actions of our supposedly heroes Tyler and Speedman who behave according to the rules that Wes Craven so perfectly parodied in 1996's "Scream". The big problem is that there is no post modern subtext or self awareness of the characters to generate any kind of originality.
"The Strangers" is outspokenly old-schoolish but that doesn't help the fact that we've seen all of its scenes in other (and mostly better) movies. On top of that we get some unnecessary religious symbolism at the end in the form of two Mormon boys.
Great post thhank you
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