The Strangers

While there’s little doubt that writer/director Bryan Bertino deserves some credit for attempting to evoke an old-school horror vibe – ie this is a leaps-and-bounds improvement over what generally passes for a contemporary scary movie – The Strangers has been saddled with an increasingly uneven sensibility that ultimately dulls the movie’s overall impact. The degree to which Bertino takes his time in getting things going surely plays a substantial role in the film’s mild success, however, with virtually the entire opening half hour devoted to the low-key exploits of feuding central couple James (Scott Speedman) and Kristen (Liv Tyler). Of course, there reaches a point at which the pair find themselves stalked by a trio of masked maniacs and the movie subsequently revolves around James and Kristen’s cat-and-mouse efforts at avoiding their pursuers’ increasingly sinister advances. And while some of these sequences are admittedly quite tense, there are just as many moments that are prolonged well past the point of tolerance (ie there’s a long stretch in which we tediously follow Tyler’s character as she hobbles around looking for a place to hide). Bertino’s reliance on excessively shaky camerawork inevitably becomes more of an annoyance than anything else, and it’s impossible to deny that the inclusion of an eye-rollingly needless shock ending leaves the proceedings with an exceedingly bad aftertaste. Still, Speedman and Tyler acquit themselves nicely and it’s certainly difficult to recall a more suspenseful horror effort as of late – yet, given the strength of the film’s promotional materials, one can’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment at the the final product’s relentlessly erratic nature.

**1/2 out of ****