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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Reviews    Movie, Television and DVD Reviews  ›  The Strangers Moderators: Nixon
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Shawnkjr
Posted: May 30th, 2008, 4:36am Report to Moderator
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HOLLLLYY SHIT


I just got back from a Thursday, midnight showing of The Strangers and I haven't been that on the edge of my seat in a long time...if ever. The suspense was so much that it practically hurt and had the whole audience squirming. I was jumping out of my seat and squiggling like a little school girl. At one point I got the shivers and my teeth started chattering. I should be ashamed of my self but I wasn't the only one. Grown men were hopping up and grabbing on to the girls. lol. At the end of the movie I had to shake off all the frazzled nerves. the audience made this movie fun. everyone's reaction to everything was amazing to experience.
It was actually scary.
FOR HORROR MOVIE FANS THIS MOVIE IS A MUST. I can not recommend it enough.
This was a great movie no doubt but I didn't realize the effect it had on me till the drive home. This was a midnight showing that didn't let out til just before 2am so the streets were completely deserted. I kept imagining The Strangers standing in the middle of the road, dead still. lol. I wonder what the drive home will be like for a person living in a rural place alone.
this movie seriously gave me the creeps and was so much fun. At least most of it.
SLIGHT SPOILER:
The ending is really Haunting though realistic. It stays with you.
I imagine the movie will be more creepy to watch in your own home.
Everyone go see this this weekend. I don't know if it can beat the crazy fanbase of Sex In The City (which also had a midnight showing) but i hope its successful.
The most successful horror movie so far this year has been the Prom Night Remake which looks like utter shit compared to this movie.
Try not to look anything up on the plot. The less you know, the better.
I wonder if I'll still view this movie so highly after the excitement has died down but right now, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a modern classic. We'll See.
I'm going to bed with the lights on tonight....just kidding.

-SHAWN


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Zack
Posted: May 30th, 2008, 5:43pm Report to Moderator
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Creepy. That is the word that best describes "The Strangers". It is the best horror film so far this year and I wouldn't be surprised to see keep its title the entire year.

Let me get one thing out of the way right now, "The Strangers" is not original. It is just another home invasion movie like "Funny Games" and "The Last House on the Left". However, it is only a minor flaw.

Now that the negatives are out of the way... This is the scariest movie I've ever seen. Period. Never before have I witnessed such suspense. This movie made me jump and scream like a school girl numerous times.

Liv Tyler and Scott Speedmen dish out great perfomances. They really made their characters seem real and it really added to the film. The three villians are truely haunting. Justtheir onscreen presence is enough to make you shiver.

Overall, this is a great horror film. If you wanna see non-stop gore, wait for Saw 5. If you wanna be scared... see "The Strangers".

~Zack~
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Shawnkjr
Posted: May 30th, 2008, 6:57pm Report to Moderator
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KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Is Tamara Home"


*shudders*



I hope the script for this is posted soon. I'd love to read it.


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Sham
Posted: May 30th, 2008, 8:38pm Report to Moderator
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I read the script. It was pretty good up until the ending, then I felt the entire thing was pointless.

I want to see the movie, but I don't think they've changed the ending, and that's keeping me from shelling out ten bucks. I'll wait for DVD.


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James McClung
Posted: May 30th, 2008, 8:48pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Zack
It is the best horror film so far this year and I wouldn't be surprised to see keep its title the entire year.


I see you still have yet to see Frontier(s).

In regards to the topic, a friend of mine wants to see this so we're going to check it out tomorrow. I'll be back to comment.


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Zack
Posted: May 30th, 2008, 8:51pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from James McClung


I see you still have yet to see Frontier(s).


I own "Frontier(s)". "The Strangers" is a better horror film. Period. "Frontier(s)" is good and all, but it's not scary. "The Strangers" IS.

~Zack~
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James McClung
Posted: May 30th, 2008, 9:19pm Report to Moderator
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I guess I don't judge a horror movie's quality based on its scare factor. The only horror movie that genuinely scares me to date is Pet Semetary, which is not one of the best horror movies there is, even though it's very good. I'm glad to hear good things about this one though. I don't like to dish out cash to watch horror movies in theaters in fear of contributing money to studios to make more shit. This doesn't sound like shit though so I'm pretty optimistic at the moment.


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Shawnkjr
Posted: May 31st, 2008, 12:00am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Zack


I own "Frontier(s)". "The Strangers" is a better horror film. Period. "Frontier(s)" is good and all, but it's not scary. "The Strangers" IS.

~Zack~


I thought Frontier(s) was pretty average. I probably would've liked it more but my expectations were REALLY high. The Strangers is the better movie.
I don't think the ending is pointless. I think its more realistic and makes it more scary.


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Zack
Posted: May 31st, 2008, 6:21am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Shawnkjr


I don't think the ending is pointless. I think its more realistic and makes it more scary.


I couldn't agree more. I loved the ending. I'm very happy that the filmmakers didn't settle for a Hollywood ending.

~Zack~
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NiK
Posted: May 31st, 2008, 7:04am Report to Moderator
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I read Roger Ebert's Review... and i saw the trailer... not sure!

Here what he says:

By Roger Ebert

My mistake was to read the interview with the director. At the beginning of my review of "The Strangers," I typed my star rating instinctively: "One star." I was outraged. I wrote: "What a waste of a perfectly good first act! And what a maddening, nihilistic, infuriating ending!" I was just getting warmed up.

And then, I dunno, I looked up the movie on IMDb and there was a link to an interview with Bryan Bertino, the film's writer and director, and I went there, read it and looked at his photo. He looked to be in his 20s. This was his first film. Bertino had been working as a grip on a peanuts-budget movie when he pitched this screenplay to Rogue Pictures and then was asked to direct it. He gave a friend his grip tools and thought: "Cool, I'm never going to need this anymore! I'm never using a hammer again." Then he told the interviewer: "I still had to buy books on how to direct."

So I thought, Bryan Bertino is a kid, this is his first movie, and as much as I hate it, it's a competent movie that shows he has the chops to be a director. So I gave it 1.5 stars instead of one.

Still harsh, yes. I think a lot of audience members will walk out really angry at the ending, although it has a certain truthfulness and doesn't cheat on the situation that has been building up. The movie deserves more stars for its bottom-line craft, but all the craft in the world can't redeem its story.

Yes, Bertino can direct. He opens on a dark night in a neighborhood of deserted summer homes, with two people in a car. These are Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman). They are coming from a wedding reception. They go inside James' summer home. We learn that he proposed to her, but she "isn't ready." The camera focuses on a 33-rpm turntable, which, along with their Volvo, are the easiest two props I can imagine to create a 1970s period look.

I am intrigued by these people. Will they talk all night? Will they do things they'll regret forever? Will they ... there is a knock on the door! Not the sound of a human hand, hitting wood. The sound of something hard, hitting wood. It is very loud, and it echoes. To evoke an infinitely superior film, it creates the same sense of alarm and danger as the planks do, banging against each other in "Le Fils" ("The Son") by the Dardenne brothers.

They open the door and find a young girl. They tell her she has the wrong house. She goes and stands in the yard. And then, all night long, their sense of security is undercut by more knocks, breaking glass, scraping, smashing. The soundtrack is the third protagonist. After a time, Bertino creates an empty space in one of his compositions, and it attracts a... figure... that casually fills it, wearing a mournful, shroud-like mask. We will see the mask again. Also two figures wearing little doll masks that are not sweet, but ominous. We recall the opening credits telling us, "this film is inspired by true events." Never a good sign.

Is "The Strangers" inspired by other movies? Asked by Moviesonline.ca if he was influenced "by the film" (never named), Bertino answers, as only someone young and innocent could answer: "I don't necessarily think that I looked at it, you know." The necessarily is a masterstroke. He adds: "I'm definitely influenced by like '70s genre stuff in general, structure-wise." Bertino adds: "I read Helter Skelter when I was like 11. That was where I first started getting interested in the idea of people just walking into a house that you didn't know. I lived in the middle of nowhere in Texas where you could call out in the middle of the night and nobody would hear you."

There have been great movies about home invasion, like "In Cold Blood," that made more of it than gruesome "events." "The Strangers" is a well-shot film (the cinematographer is the veteran Peter Sowa). It does what it sets out to do. I'm not sure that it earns the right to do it. Bertino shows the instincts of a good director; I hope he gets worthier material.

It's a melancholy fact that he probably couldn't have found financing if his first act had lived up to its promise. There's a market for the kind of movie that inspires the kinds of commercials and trailers that "The Strangers" inspires, ending with a chilling dialogue exchange:

"Why are you doing this to us?"

"Because you were home."



Gift of Blood - NEW! co-written tonkatough
Where?
Anniversary

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James McClung
Posted: May 31st, 2008, 5:05pm Report to Moderator
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Back from The Strangers. Decent flick. Better than expected. Still prefer Frontier(s) but that's just my personal taste. Anyway, I'm going to had to mirror the comments about how suspenseful the film was. It really had it down, especially in terms of sound and timing. The scene with Liv Tyler in the pantry was almost unbearable towards the end. I also thought the ending was well done. It's good to see a growing tolerance in the mainstream for darker endings. Strong performances and character development as well. Overall, I'd say this one's worth a look.


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mikep
Posted: May 31st, 2008, 5:19pm Report to Moderator
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I really enjoyed this, these days when major studio horror consists of "Saw 72", and the indie film market is just gore as well, it's nice to see a horror film that is built around suspense and dread ( as well as a helping of gore).

The film critic for one of the local TV stations savaged it, complaining that there was no motivation for what happened, and I had to laugh. That's a classic example of people wanting to be spoon fed every bit of rhyme & reason. Not every story needs to spell out motivation...evil exists and most times it exists for no reason. It can be scarier if we don't know...if it's a mystery..or if the evil is really as mundane as "because you're home".

A good, tight thriller. Recommended.


13 feature scripts, 2 short subjects. One sale, 4 options. Nothing filmed. Damn.

Currently rewriting another writer's SciFi script for an indie producer in L.A.
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ABennettWriter
Posted: May 31st, 2008, 9:29pm Report to Moderator
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I thought the scares were cheap, but worked. There was no real build up, just a lot of little scares.

The movie could've been a lot better. There was no character development. Not real plot. The only real movie was in the beginning, but I didn't really care.

There was no real emotion, besides fear. I didn't care if they lived or died. I didn't care about the bad guys.

I screamed the entire way through, though.
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James McClung
Posted: May 31st, 2008, 10:10pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from ABennettWriter
The movie could've been a lot better. There was no character development. Not real plot.


The entire first act was about Liv Tyler's character rejecting this guy's marriage proposal. Basically 100% exposition. Character development was definitely there. Whether or not it was up to snuff is another discussion but its existence isn't really debatable.

As for no real plot, I think that's a fair statement. More of a scenario, really.


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Zack
Posted: May 31st, 2008, 10:21pm Report to Moderator
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I'm with James... I thought the two main characters were pretty well developed, especially Tyler's. I felt so bad for her.

I disagree about the plot. There is one, it is just kept as simple as possible. Three mysterious masked maniacs terrorize a troubled vacationing couple.

~Zack~
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