The Strangers (2008)

I have had a soft spot for this movie for years. It just seems to hit the right notes. Frustration over the protagonists actions without being ridiculous. A slow build... love that. Antagonists that aren't supernatural. A total lack of teen douchebags you just want to see die. Decent acting. Well done visuals - gritty and real feeling. The premise of violence for no real good reason combined with the regret and emotional strife of the main characters make this a truly scary film.

Unfortunately I fell into the latter. I am late to the party having never watched it before but wanted to get an idea of what it was about before seeing The Strangers: Prey at Night. I honestly couldn't get on board with the two, miserable main characters and the pace, intended to build suspense; just built boredom in me. When the killers did make their prescence known it still didn't really amount to much. The main chunk of the film I watched in 2x speed just to get it over with quickly. Everything seems to happen slowly, solid 10-20 second shots of the sad female character standing at the porch. Another 30 seconds of the downtrodden male character breathing heavily and creeping to the obviously battered car. Maybe the scenes didn't last that long but I just got so bored throughout it felt like forever. Many would have turned off I guess but I wanted to get to the end in case the sequel had any ties.When it did finally reach its dull climax I almost felt happy for the couple. They apparently lived such sad and somber lives that it felt like they were being put out of their misery. An act of mercy from the killers to both the couple and the audience putting and end to their lives and this film.

I'm not sure why so mean consider this a brilliant horror, I stuck with it but it was so boring! Slightly creepy and I mean SLIGHTLY if I'm really trying to look for positives. But I couldn't wait for it to just get to the end to be honest.A lot of boring dialogue about the couples relationship as well which I doubt the audience gave a monkeys about.

A couple are terrorized in their holiday home by three unknown, masked assailants. Home invasion movies have been around since at least the early 70's and are still being churned out now, this one has nothing new to add. Apart from perhaps the creepy masks and the fact that this was made several years before The Purge. In it's favour it does have a few effective moments of terror plus Liv Taylor. But what I hated about this film most was it's awful shakey camerawork, it's all over the place, had the guy behind the lens been drinking?? It's a time killer & horror addicts like me will give it a go, I'm just glad that I watched it for free on TV. And I wouldn't bother giving it a second viewing.