Plot: What’s it about?
James (Scott Speedman) and his girlfriend Kristen (Liv Tyler) have returned from a night out, but the evening didn’t unfold as planned. James proposed to his love, but Kristen turned him down and now the two have to sort out where their relationship will go from here. After their rough night, the couple heads back to James’ family’s summer home, where a celebration was to take place, but none does. As the night rolls on, a knock on the door breaks the mood of loneliness and disappointment. The visitor is looking for someone that doesn’t live there, which appears to be the end of the situation. But when James leaves to go for a drive, Kristen has more visitors, eerie ones with strange masks. The visitors begin to terrorize Kristen to no end, but can she fend them off until James arrives and if so, what will happen then?
I wasn’t too taken by the previews for this movie, but as I watched The Strangers, I was pulled in. Up until the arrival of the masked visitors, this was a tense, effective picture. The tension was built from believable elements, the awkwardness between the main characters, the isolated location, and the eerie atmosphere. The film gets even more intense once the strangers come in, but sadly, that doesn’t continue until the end. After a little of the cat & mouse chase approach, the tension begins to leak out and soon, we’re in a standard, run of the mill horror movie. The potential was there and the set up was effective, but when the movie needed to take things up a notch, it stalled instead. Even so, The Strangers isn’t a bad genre movie, but it could have been so much better. So if you’re a fan of the genre, this one is worth a rental.
Video: How does it look?
The Strangers is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. I was concerned how well this transfer would perform, given how dark the film is and the low light conditions. But this looks excellent, with no real problems to mention. The image is indeed dark, but detail remains high, so what you are able to see, looks fantastic. The colors have been muted per the visual design, while contrast is flawless, even in the darkest of moments. In short, this is an almost perfect transfer that lets the visuals and atmosphere shine, great work all around.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio is even better than the visuals, thanks to a dynamic DTS HD 5.1 option. This kind of movie needs the audio to bolster the atmosphere, help ratchet up tension, and create eerie moods. This track does all that and more, with a ton of presence that adds so much dread to the experience. Even when the movie itself starts to get lame, the soundtrack remains on fire and helps keep things interesting. The atmosphere aside, we have great cheap scare moments, clear dialogue, and great presence for the film’s music. In short, all we could ask for and more. This disc also includes French and Spanish language tracks, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes two deleted scenes, as well as a brief promotional featurette.
