I went to see The Strangers with no background information, just a quiet night, random movie going experience. I knew it was a horror/mystery...thats it. The movie starts slow, but is intriguing nonetheless. We have a small amount of character development with our protagonist couple before things get hairy. As to the suspense, I really liked some of the subtle techniques used in this movie. Hand-held camera work, and a great score that combined eeriness with some old country tunes that worked to create a great tense atmosphere in the theater. This movie starts on par with the scare factor of good Japanese/Korean movies...however.
The actual plot is what left me desiring more. The set never changes. We are in a house and on the property where the protagonists are terrorized by "the strangers" the entire movie. We know the ending as its told to us in the 1st 5 minutes. And ultimately, the scare tactics used early on -the freakishness of being home alone with home invaders who have infiltrated your house, bang and break things, and wear freaky masks -- wears off after awhile. I mean the "strangers" more or less toy with the victims for 100 minutes. After awhile, the movie needs something else to happen because the impending doom is no longer that impending, I no longer believed we'd see the strangers engage the couple until the requisite 110 minutes of airtime had expired. So the tension is lost and the audience just waited for the conclusion which we all knew.
Additionally, there is no tension/release with this movie, the director tries to keep the tension going throughout and ultimately the sails lose the wind. There is no back story, and very little dialogue. The introduction of peripheral characters is short lived, there is never any explanation about the "strangers" -their reasons/objectives/personalities, the decisions the couple make in combating the "strangers" are idiotic, and by the end when you are hoping for a final horrific conclusion, the movie gives you nothing more than the visual of the foregone conclusion.
I jumped out of my seat a few times, and I was a bit 'freaked out' walking to my car through the fog on a quiet street that evening. But this movie was only inspired by true events, meaning the script did not have to adhere to a factual event. Thus there is no excuse for the weak plot. All the atmospherics needed for good suspenseful horror -read-not-torture-porn- were in place, but the plot needed more ingenuity and ultimately failed as do so many other horror movies in assuming that because you succeed in creating a scary setting you can pass off idiotic human decisions without the audience questioning them.
The actual plot is what left me desiring more. The set never changes. We are in a house and on the property where the protagonists are terrorized by "the strangers" the entire movie. We know the ending as its told to us in the 1st 5 minutes. And ultimately, the scare tactics used early on -the freakishness of being home alone with home invaders who have infiltrated your house, bang and break things, and wear freaky masks -- wears off after awhile. I mean the "strangers" more or less toy with the victims for 100 minutes. After awhile, the movie needs something else to happen because the impending doom is no longer that impending, I no longer believed we'd see the strangers engage the couple until the requisite 110 minutes of airtime had expired. So the tension is lost and the audience just waited for the conclusion which we all knew.
Additionally, there is no tension/release with this movie, the director tries to keep the tension going throughout and ultimately the sails lose the wind. There is no back story, and very little dialogue. The introduction of peripheral characters is short lived, there is never any explanation about the "strangers" -their reasons/objectives/personalities, the decisions the couple make in combating the "strangers" are idiotic, and by the end when you are hoping for a final horrific conclusion, the movie gives you nothing more than the visual of the foregone conclusion.
I jumped out of my seat a few times, and I was a bit 'freaked out' walking to my car through the fog on a quiet street that evening. But this movie was only inspired by true events, meaning the script did not have to adhere to a factual event. Thus there is no excuse for the weak plot. All the atmospherics needed for good suspenseful horror -read-not-torture-porn- were in place, but the plot needed more ingenuity and ultimately failed as do so many other horror movies in assuming that because you succeed in creating a scary setting you can pass off idiotic human decisions without the audience questioning them.