I heard nothing but raves after my screening. When the credits came up, everyone was kind of still for a moment, and someone up front blurted out, "Badass" in a way that got some crowd approval. And I heard three separate people on the way out say they can't wait for The Strangers 2.

Considering they used the word "Badass," their opinion should be taken with a grain or two of salt. Who the hell speaks that way? No one should. It sounds inane.

No one except for the girl in the second row at Cinema Center for the 9:20 showing last night. And their opinion is every bit as relevant as yours. Moreso, even, since we're discussing how general audiences took to the film.

The people I dragged to the movie (after they dragged me to Indy 4) thought the movie was sick and disgusting. They said it'll just encourage people to copycat. Needless to say, they hated the movie way more than I did. I do agree with them though that the movie really doesn't have much of a point.

Other than to be cruel, vile, and scary. Y'know, a horror movie.

I hope she doesn't represent the general audience because if so, we're in trouble

And it wasn't scary. It contained the same type of scares as Prom Night - jump scares. "Ooh look, the guy is behind her and she doesn't know it" and "boo!, the masked girl just appeared in her view as she stares out from the closet" aka lazy jump scares. A good horror movie also has to be smart on a plotting level. This couldn't even bother to be creative. To those who don't watch a lot of horror movies it may have been, but to me, one who watches more horror movies than any other kind of movie by far (over 230 last year alone between DVD and theatres), it was been-there, done that, and not particularly well.

All that said, I'd like to see a sequel or prequel where we learn more about "The Strangers." It'd be interesting.

I thought that this was one of the film's strengths. The bulk of the film dealt with the psychological aspect of fear and I preferred this to excessive violence/gore. The strangers actually committing multiple murders wasn't really the point of it all anyways.

Also, I know you watch a lot of horror movies, and yes, jump scares are predictable, but that wasn't what creeped me out the most. Sure, I jumped once or twice, but the best scenes in the film weren't even jump scares, such as the incredibly intense sequence involving James's friend. It was a lot more about the sense of dread than anything else. And at least the jump scares didn't consist of them bumping into furniture or something

And I don't see how someone could find this sick and disgusting, especially with stuff like Hostel: Part II being released. Now that was a sick, disgusting and incredibly offensive horror film.

But they aren't lazy scares, and there's where your argument fails. There's a difference between someone bumping into a lamp with a loud stinger and someone who's been through horrifying, scary sounds all night, knows someone is out there, only to open the curtain and see the face of a killer staring in. Does it make the audience jump? Yes. But it's earned.



I watch just as many horror movies as you do, Joe. Is The Strangers derivative? Yes. But everything in the genre is. It's all about the execution of the beats.



That's the last thing in the world I want to see. I don't want to know a thing about these people. There's a reason you don't see their faces when the masks come off.

I've been thinking about the movie a lot since I saw it. I still love it as much maybe more but like Joe is saying, and its the only thing I agree with of his, that there isn't a point. The killers just kill, and its said in the line "because you were home". But maybe that is the point, they are just some random psyhco paths because remember in the scene when the strangers leave the house and the pick up the church pamphlet from the catholic school boys, and just say, "this will make it easier next time". I think it just shows how psychotic some people out there are. They just kill for the pleasure.

Again it could have had an even better story like Halloween, were they want revenge and makes the kills even more pointless and understandable. But in the idea of true terror and genuinely being scared this film did it. More so than any other horror film I have seen in recent memory. Because this for me, was a trip back down memory lane of old school true terror, not that gorno crap.

The WOM I have heard has been generally positive, minus one person who thought it was dumb.

I think they were lazy scares. Knocking on the door all night, etc. is hardly scary when it's happening to two people I don't care about. It got old and I got bored. I didn't care if they got killed because I didn't know anything about them and they were poorly acted by two bad actors. Speedman in particular has never been a good actor. I also knew that the person would be behind the curtain. It was predictable.



But do you get them for free like I do?



I guess I just have an interest in the psychology of why people do what they do. It certainly couldn't have been any worse than the movie that was made.

This is the most disappointed I've been in a movie in I don't how long. This is a terrible film. Nothing happens. I didn't care for the characters, I didn't see the motivation for the bad guys to do what they did, and if you want to chalk it up to Manson like killings, then fine, but this could of taken place in the very BEGINNING OF THE FILM when it was CLEAR THAT THEY WERE IN THE HOUSE. And is this Friday the 13th, or is everyone just a cliche of one of Randy's Scream monologues? The best way out of this, when you have a shotgun is to either A) sit tight like they were going to do and fortify yourself where there is only one way in and out, or B) go Rambo and blast your way out. Either option would be better than "let's split up, I'll leave you here with no gun, and I'll be fine." Then when the denouement is upon us, they just kill them and then it basically ends. Just one unnecessary scenario after another. And furthermore, this is on a lake, but really, no one can hear shot gun blasts, cars engulfed in flames, screams or car getting demolished by other cars? And if you are going into a house, with music blaring, why would you not turn it off, then call out someone's name? Why not? Because then they would of lived and the movie ends.

One of the laziest films I've ever seen.

0/10

F

An episode of Scooby Doo is scarier than this.

Someone agrees with me. the film hasn't even been out a weekend and it's already overrated.

Here's a better review of it at imdb.....


This comment may contain spoilers ***

*** Warning *** Spoilers *** For such a short film, this managed to cram in every senseless cliché of the so-called horror genre. '...Girl runs from bad guys, girl trips, girls falls and hurts herself, girl whimpers, duh...' No character development, no depth, no sympathy for the characters. '... bad guys are harassing your house and threatening you, so OF COURSE you get hysterical, cry, and seek out every spooky noise...' So bad guys are hacking at your front door with an ax, you've got a loaded shotgun in your hand, but you don't shoot, you throw a chair at the door, Oh Wait, I've got a gun! But by the time you think to shoot the bad guys are gone. So your under attack from bad guys and it's just you, your girlfriend, and a loaded shotgun, so instead of hunkering down and letting them come to you to get shot, you leave your girlfriend alone in the un-secured house while you wander off to the tool shed to find and old ham radio. Sure, makes sense. So you go visit your friends and someone shoots out your windshield, do you: A- drive off fast and call 911, B- call 911 then run in the house to check on your friends, or C- dust yourself off, sneak into the house quietly, without ever bothering to wonder why your friend's car is wrecked, who's pickup truck that is, why the house is trashed, don't bother turning off the loud stereo, or calling out your friends' names, in fact don't even bother to look behind you to see if maybe the people who shot out your windshield are still around. That's right - C !?!Everyone who died in this movie deserved to die for being such mindless, spineless, insipid, whimpering idiots. Maybe if you've never seen a movie before, ever, or if you've had recent head trauma, or maybe if you're Amish this movie might scare you. Maybe. Don't waste your time or money.

REVISION::: it's now Sunday 6/1. I originally posted the above comment after an advance screening of this movie late-night on thursday 5/29 (because I work at a movie theater I get to see all the movies before they're released.) So I've noticed something peculiar... there are, as of now, about 8 pages of comments on this film. About 3 pages of comments before mine (meaning before the movie came out) all gave The Strangers 9 or 10 stars, glowing reviews, and taglines like "best horror movie ever," "scariest film ever," and "awesome." But then, if you look at the dates of submission, 95% of all the comments posted after the movie was released say it's lackluster at best, anticlimactic, boring, lame, and not worth watching. So, I wonder, is that a coincidence, or maybe, just maybe, were all those people who posted great comments prior to the movie's release doing it for some other reason? Were they being paid to hype the film? Do they work for the production company? Or is it all just a big coincidence? Hmmm....

Whatever, to each his own I guess. I know that I haven't been this scared in a movie since maybe The Ring or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003).

Whoa. A perfect grade distribution.

I saw it earlier and will write a review soon, but my god that was an ATROCIOUS ending.

The ending wasn't that bad.

It single handedly ruined the entire movie.

That's a total exaggeration.

My first big disappointment is here with the new horror flick The Strangers. I was highly anticipating it as it looked incredibly terrifying and unnerving. Now I'm not saying that some of the film wasn't scary, in fact some of it was. Especially some of the scenes in the first half of the film. Even with these scary scenes, The Strangers is nothing more than your typical horror film that is wrapped around it's own clichés (I'd be a rich man if I counted the times a character made an absolutely ridiculous decision only to make the movie run longer). Even though the film was incredibly cliché and just like any other horror movie, I was still enjoying myself. That was, up until the ending. From what I've heard the ending was very "love it or hate it" and after seeing it, I can't fathom how one would love the ending. It was atrocious and single handedly ruined an otherwise decent film. It also made no sense in context with the film. Still, it was decent and if you want a little scare, I'd recommend it. But I may wait for DVD.

7/10 (B-)

The best stuff was when Liv is in the house alone and up until the friend arived. I was genuinely creeped until that moment of retardedness. Then too much splitting up and too much of late Jason and Michael Myers of just disappearing. I thought everyone was ninjas after a while. I actually loved the ending and the final shot, but I did find it pointless. Still while its not the best horror movie I've ever seen, it was good enough to be one of the best of the year.

C+

Horror Wise- Solid B+

The thing with Michael was so predictable. The second that Michael arrived, it was completely obvious what would happen.

Ya.. no. The way it could have happened, by the stranger providing his.. you know, then ya.

Oh please! It was completely predictable. And if Michael did see the stranger, the stranger would have only pushed Michael for James to shoot him.

If Micheal saw the stranger, the stranger would have either killed him or he would have ran and still gotten shot.

Whatever, I loved it.