THE STRANGERS (2008)

4 stars

Second Sight. Blu ray. 19th August

Second Sight are obviously declaring August as home invasion month, what with this release and YOU’RE NEXT (2011). This one was recently remade – badly apparently (I haven’t seen it yet) – by Renny Harlin as THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1. The first of a proposed trilogy. Not sure whether that’s a promise or a threat! The film under review also had a sequel in 2018 – THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT, which, if memory serves, wasn’t terribly good.

This disc release has both the theatrical version and an extended version which is about two minutes longer… and no I don’t know what was added (I leave that to reviewers who do that kind of deep dive!).

Apparently shot in chronological order and inspired by true events, it opens with a 911 Emergency call. Two young boys entering a house, with the front door open. Blood splatters… a gun. “There’s blood everywhere…” The aftermath of what is to come?

Driving through the night, Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) and James Hoyt (Scott Speedman) pull up to the same isolated house as from the opener. There seems to be tension between them. We discover that earlier she had turned down his marriage proposal – hence why they are upset. About to have sex, to console each other, there is a knock at the door – at 4 in the morning!

A young lady is there. “Is Tamara here?”, she asks. When James say no, she leaves. Very odd and the start of a night of terror. James ventures out to get Kristen cigarettes. Another knock – “Is Tamara home?”. Frightened Kristen locks the door and checks outside. She calls James – but the phone line is cut.

More knocking – with the soundtrack really pushing the loud bangs to good effect, with great use of other sounds to increase the tension.

With James returned they realise they are under sustained attack with masked faces at the window and pushing out of the inky dark. Are they in the house? At times these intruders seem almost supernatural and are definitely freaky. There are three of them – Man in the Mask (Kip Weeks), Dollface (Gemma Ward) and Pin-up Girl (Laura Margolis) and they make for a terrifying and disturbing trio.

A real nail biter, this is quite dark in nature with little or no relief from the situation, with writer/director Bryan Bertino creating a slow and deliberate build so that you care about the fate of this couple. Liv Tyler is especially good as the distraught Kristen. Will they make it through the night?

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

4 stars

Because You Were Home: a new interview with Director Bryan Bertino (56 mins). About his love of movies, moving into working in the industry. He drove to LA with no connections and took any job to get in and then segued into writing as a way of being in control; realising horror offered the most commercial opportunities; formulating the script; selling the script and initially being fired from the project! Getting the film made.

The Fighter: a new interview with Actor Liv Tyler (16 mins)

Cutting Moments: a new interview with Editor Kevin Greutert (43 mins)

The Pin-Up Girl: a new interview with Actor Laura Margolis (19 mins)

The Element of Terror: archival (2008) behind the scenes and interviews with cast and crew (9 mins)

Strangers at the Door: archival (2008) interviews with Director Bryan Bertino and cast plus more behind the scenes

Deleted Scenes (4 mins) from a low grade source from 2008

Theatrical trailer