THE STRANGERS

Directed & Written by Bryan Bertino
Cinematography by Peter Sova
Music by tomandandy
Cast: Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Liv Tyler, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis & Glenn Howerton

2008/98 mins/Color/Dolby Digital 5.1
2.35:1 anamorphic/English/US/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Universal DVD

What you are about to see is inspired by true events. According to the FBI, there are an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes in America each year. On the night of February 11, 2005, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt left a friend's wedding reception and returned to the Hoyt family's summer home. The brutal events that took place there are still not entirely known.

And so THE STRANGERS begins. What we witness is the young couple being terrorized by three unknown assailants. Sure the film feels like a throwback to the classic home-invasion movies of the 1970s and director Bryan Bertino manage to create a certain sense of claustrophobia but in the end the film fails to deliver what it desperately tries to achieve. The film owes too much to a recent French home-invasion film ILS (THEM in English countries) that it fells like a rip-off. Something that the writer / director doesn't even acknowledge. So if you're looking for originality please go somewhere else. But most importantly, the defenseless couple keep on making the absolute worst decisions ever so I could never sympathized with them and couldn't wait for them to actually die so that the film would end. The film ends with a short talk between Tyler's character and one of the assailant that is simply too retarded to not mention it in my review:

Tyler: "Why are you doing this to us?"
Masked assailant: "Because you were home."

Then I'm asking to myself:
"Why did they even bother with that film when they could have given ILS a major North American theatrical release?"
And I would certainly get:
"Because Americans don't watch foreign movies".

Sadly the film grossed nearly $53 million in the United States and another $22 million overseas.

THE STRANGERS invades your DVD player "thanks" to Universal. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The image is clear and sharp with rich and deep black. You get the choice of three Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks (English, Spanish and French) for the rated theatrical version of an English Dolby Digital 5.1 for the unrated extended version which is two minutes longer (no blood or gore were added, sorry). I listened to the English Dolby Digital 5.1, which was loud, crisp, clear and made good use of the audio phonic capabilities of the Dolby Digital 5.1 system. English, Spanish and French subtitles are available.

There are two deleted scenes and a short featurette called "The Elements of Terror" that features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew. There are also trailers for THE INCREDIBLE HULK, THE SCORPION KING 2 RISE OF THE WARRIOR, THE INCREDIBLE HULK TV series, HELLBOY II THE GOLDEN ARMY. The film is separated in 18 chapters stop. The disc does feature some cool animated menus, comes in a keep case without a booklet or inlay card.

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2008. ©