The Strangers

I don't like scary movies. Of all the genres, horror is probably at the bottom of my list, or at least close to it. It's already scary enough in the dark. I don't need a movie to encourage my paranoia of odd sounds, or to wonder if freaky people wearing scarecrow masks are wandering around outside. With that said, "The Strangers" still was just mildly entertaining enough to not regret seeing it.

Starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as Kristen and James, a young couple pondering marriage, "Strangers" sticks to the scary movie template of placing the main characters in a lonely summer home where they are isolated from civilization. So what if a random stranger knocks on the door at four in the morning. Nothing out of the ordinary there. So what if there are scary sounds outside. I'll go investigate. Oh, someone has smashed in the windows of my car. No reason to run as fast as you can to get out of there. Still, even though Kristen and James aren't groundbreaking in their scary-movie reactions, as the viewer you will find yourself on the edge of your seat. That is, until the first scarecrow-masked baddy shows up in the background. From there on, "Strangers" becomes both a psychological and physical horror story.

The build up is slow and quiet, but when the action kicks in, it is non-stop heart-pounding stuff. Clearly not for the feint of heart, this is bloody and violent, and yet funny probably when it's not suppose to be.

"The Strangers" is a decent matinee popcorn scare fest, but it's not revolutionary in any way. Tyler and Speedman play well off of each other, and we never know enough about the bad guys to care. This is bound to be on DVD by Halloween. Wait and rent it then. There are better movies out right now to familiarize yourself, so don't waste your time getting to know "The Strangers". I give it a C+.

"The Strangers" is rated R with a running time of 107 minutes.