There were so many horror movies through the '000s that completely sucked. I'm talking about crap like "The Ring," "The Grudge," and more boring PG-13 trash. What we needed was a real horror movie. There's no problem with fun and campy horror, but some horror movies aren't meant to be fun. They're meant to be disturbing, shocking, and quite scary. After so much hype, I was able to see "The Strangers" in the comforts of my own home. The results equal one of the best, and scariest, horror movies of recent memory, next to films like "Paranormal Activity," "The Last House on the Left," and "Drag Me To Hell."
The film is about a young couple, James Hoyt and his life-long sweetheart Kristen. They are coming from a wedding to spend the night in James's father's cabin in the woods. Kristen has refused a proposal from James, and the couple find it extremely hard to talk to each other. Suddenly, somebody knocks loudly on their door. It is a mysterious blonde asking if "Tamara is home." James says that she's got the wrong house, and the girl leaves. But later in the night, there are more knocks on the door. And the terror heightens when knocks on the door transition to strangers in terrifying masks bursting into the house. Can James and Kristen make it through the night?
"The Strangers" is one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen. It is a movie that really scares you for all the right reasons.
It is a very suspenseful film, provided with several major "BOO!" scares and almost no gore. The movie wants to mess with your mind until you can't take it anymore. It has so much tension that you are way beyond the edge of your seat. You might just jump out of it.
The movie becomes progressively more scary each time The Strangers appear in the house and take things farther. They show up at times that you'd never expect them to. That is key in horror movies, to have scares that you never see coming.
Also, the atmosphere is perfect. The other reason this movie is so scary is because of the environment that James and Kristen are in. This could have been my house or your house. And like it is explained in the ending, The Strangers were there simply "because they were home." They didn't have a motive, which makes them that much more real and frightening.
The performances are unbelievable. I never thought I'd live to see the day that Liv Tyler was in a horror movie. That finally happened, and damn, she's great in this film! And my God, can she scream! Scott Speedman is also flawless as James. As for The Strangers...well, let's just say that they will give you nightmares.
First-time writer and director Bryan Bertino proves that there is still so much life left in the horror genre. "The Strangers" is highly recommended for those not looking for gore, but to have the daylights scared out of you psychologically. This is a perfect horror film.
No comments:
Post a Comment