Movie Review

The Strangers (2008)

Reviewed by Owen Gleiberman | May 29, 2008

Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman is a film critic for EW

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Details Release Date: May 30, 2008; Genre: Horror; With: Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler

Image credit: Glenn Watson

STRANGERS IN THE FRIGHT Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler are pretty young things with uninvited psycho house guests in this dumb thriller with occasional flashes of style

Crashing at a suburban ranch house, a couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) is menaced by a trio of masked psychos. It sounds stupid enough, and ultimately is, but the director, Bryan Bertino, stages The Strangers' early scenes with spooky panache. The first killer, in his burlap disguise, creeps into the painterly, low-lit frame with ghostly quiet; for a while, the fear is vivid in a J-horror knockoff way. But then comes the blood, the shrieking midnight chase scenes, the anything-goes over-the-top-ness. In other words, everything that we liked the movie for not being. B-

Originally posted May 29, 2008 Published in issue #995-996 Jun 06, 2008 Order article reprints

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