2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
'The Strangers' provides scares, but not depth
Canze and Wisswell give film average rating
By: Brad Canze and Frank Wisswell
Issue date: 5/28/08 Section: Lifeline
High on eerie atmosphere and ceaseless tension and low on strong performances or a satisfying conclusion, "The Strangers" is a terrifying yet unsubstantial horror film.
Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman star as Kristen and James, a couple whose relationship has taken a dramatic negative turn.
Spending an awkward, bitter night at James's parents' house, the two are disrupted by an abrupt knock at the door. From there, James and Kristen are terrorized and hunted down by three mysterious assailants in masks.
The story does not develop much farther than that, but the bread and butter of this movie is the tension as the protagonists are trying to avoid their attackers, as well as the shock of the appearance of the masked menaces.
The masked, ambiguous appearances of the attackers are truly frightening, and aid in creating panic at their sudden appearances.
The film thrives on the feeling of panic and terror evoked as the main characters realize they are increasingly trapped and helpless. Although frightening, the methods used to scare the audience are often little more than cheap jump-scares.
The complexity of the horror seen here is barely a step above men in masks jumping out and yelling "ooga booga!"
The cast of the movie is extremely small. Beyond the two victims and three attackers, there are only a handful of supporting cast members. The film hinges on the performances
of Tyler and Speedman, and both fail to invoke empathy in the audience. Both play terrified quite well, but flounder in the film's quieter moments, and thus do not manage to flesh out their characters beyond being hapless, dopey victims.
Even the constant buildup of tension, the film's strongest element, flounders at the end. Instead of delivering on the
buildup, the conclusion more or less dissipates the tension,
and turns more in the direction of a snuff film than the cat-and-mouse horror that was displayed throughout the previous hour.
Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman star as Kristen and James, a couple whose relationship has taken a dramatic negative turn.
Spending an awkward, bitter night at James's parents' house, the two are disrupted by an abrupt knock at the door. From there, James and Kristen are terrorized and hunted down by three mysterious assailants in masks.
The story does not develop much farther than that, but the bread and butter of this movie is the tension as the protagonists are trying to avoid their attackers, as well as the shock of the appearance of the masked menaces.
The masked, ambiguous appearances of the attackers are truly frightening, and aid in creating panic at their sudden appearances.
The film thrives on the feeling of panic and terror evoked as the main characters realize they are increasingly trapped and helpless. Although frightening, the methods used to scare the audience are often little more than cheap jump-scares.
The complexity of the horror seen here is barely a step above men in masks jumping out and yelling "ooga booga!"
The cast of the movie is extremely small. Beyond the two victims and three attackers, there are only a handful of supporting cast members. The film hinges on the performances
of Tyler and Speedman, and both fail to invoke empathy in the audience. Both play terrified quite well, but flounder in the film's quieter moments, and thus do not manage to flesh out their characters beyond being hapless, dopey victims.
Even the constant buildup of tension, the film's strongest element, flounders at the end. Instead of delivering on the
buildup, the conclusion more or less dissipates the tension,
and turns more in the direction of a snuff film than the cat-and-mouse horror that was displayed throughout the previous hour.
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