The Strangers (2008)

Brian in Mesa

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The Strangers

The Strangers

Release Date: May 30, 2008
Studio: Rogue Pictures (Universal Pictures)
Director: Bryan Bertino
Screenwriter: Bryan Bertino
Genre: Suspense Thriller
MPAA Rating: R (for violence/terror and language)
Website: The Strangers

Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Glenn Howerton

Plot Summary: Lock the doors. Assume you're safe.

The horrifying events that took place in the Hoyt family's vacation home at 1801 Clark Road on February 11, 2005, are still not entirely known.

Champagne. Rose petals. Candlelight. It was supposed to be a night of celebration for Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) and James Hoyt (Scott Speedman). But after leaving a friend's wedding reception and returning to the house, everything had collapsed for the happy couple.

Then came a 4 a.m. knock on the door and a haunting voice.

Is Tamara here?

Writer/director Bryan Bertino explores our most universal fears in The Strangers, a terrifying suspense thriller about a couple whose remote getaway becomes a place of terror when masked strangers invade. The confrontation forces Kristen and James to go far beyond what they thought themselves capable of if they hope to survive.

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Mike Olbinski

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I like this poster better....

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Zeno

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I went and saw this today. I was the only person in the theater.

It was creepy but I thought some of it dragged out a little longer than it had to and parts of it were very predictable.

Worth a matinee price I guess but nothing I need to see again.

I used to think Liv Tyler was hot...back when she was in Empire Records & Armageddon, I don't think she's aged well or my tastes have changed.
 

mjb21aztd

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I want to see this movie but I can just wait till it comes out for rent, I thought the previews looked pretty good looks like a good suspense type thriller. I am also a huge Liv Tyler fan:)
 

Ryanwb

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Terrible movie, wife and I saw it in a packed house. There were some original moments, but most of the movie was the jump-out-at-you recycled garbage.

We left the theater saying "Why?"
 

Ryanwb

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One more thing, the whole "based on true events" that's used by movies to give the story some credibility is totally over done. I read that this movie isn't based on anything specific, just random cases of violence. ********
 

ActingWild

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One more thing, the whole "based on true events" that's used by movies to give the story some credibility is totally over done. I read that this movie isn't based on anything specific, just random cases of violence. ********

Yeah, very VERY loosely based on true events but I've heard they were inspired by the Manson murders, which if you take elements from each, makes sense.

A stranger coming to your door asking for someone that doesn't live there:

"When Manson told Hatami he was looking for someone whose name Hatami did not recognize, Hatami informed him the place was the Polanski residence."

"That evening, Manson returned to the property and again went back to the guest house, where, presuming to enter the enclosed porch, he spoke with Rudi Altobelli, who was just coming out of the shower. Although Manson asked for Melcher, Altobelli felt Manson had come looking for him,[46] as is consistent with prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's later discovery that Manson had apparently been to the place on earlier occasions since Melcher's departure from it."

One guy and two girls breaking into a home and murdering the occupant(s):

"On July 25, 1969, Manson sent sometime Family member Bobby Beausoleil along with Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins to the house of acquaintance Gary Hinman, to persuade him to turn over money Manson thought Hinman had inherited. The three held the uncooperative Hinman hostage for two days, during which Manson showed up with a sword to slash his ear. After that, Beausoleil stabbed him to death, ostensibly on Manson’s instruction."

Taking turns stabbing the vicitms:

"Returning to the bedroom, where Krenwinkel was stabbing Rosemary LaBianca with a knife from the LaBianca kitchen, Watson — heeding Manson’s instruction to make sure each of the girls played a part — told Van Houten to stab her too.[73] She did, on the exposed buttocks and elsewhere.[75][67][69] At trial, Van Houten would claim, uncertainly,[76] that Rosemary LaBianca was dead by the time she stabbed her. Evidence showed that many of Mrs. LaBianca's forty-one total stab wounds had, in fact, been inflicted post-mortem."

And the phrase "You're gonna die.":

"Hoyt said she had cooperated with the Family because she was "trying to keep them from killing my family." She stated that, at the time of the trial, she was "constantly being threatened: 'Your family’s gonna die.'"

I thought this movie had a good share of tension and "scares" but the actual events taking place annoyed me. Seriously, 2 girls and 1 guy (all looking like teenagers) decide to continue with their plan of killing a couple who are armed with a shotgun, when all they have is an axe?

Really?
 

Ryanwb

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I thought this movie had a good share of tension and "scares" but the actual events taking place annoyed me. Seriously, 2 girls and 1 guy (all looking like teenagers) decide to continue with their plan of killing a couple who are armed with a shotgun, when all they have is an axe?

Really?

...and the dude was weazing like an old man but would run the the wind in the open woods?
 

ActingWild

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...and the dude was weazing like an old man but would run the the wind in the open woods?

Yeah, and that.

"Sorry Tommy, you can't play track because you have asthma...maybe you should try going on a murder spree instead."
 

Louis

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I liked it.

What can you expect from a horror film? It's a popcorn movie no doubt and there certainly weren't any award worthy performances.

Take it for what it is. A good movie, some good creepy moments, and some of those "I would do it this way" parts.

Just don't go expecting Sixth Sense or The Orphange and you'll be alright.
 

DiamondBacks5117

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I liked it a lot but just didnt get the ending. why when the two boys came in at the end when liv tyler was dead she screamed at the kid did anyone get that?
 

phillycard

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This movie was a head scratcher. A few decent scenes, but nothing I would reccomend. The whole "walking in the background" thing was pretty scary.
 

Bada0Bing

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I recently watched it. I made the mistake of watching the extended version. Waaay too slow.

Terrible movie, wife and I saw it in a packed house. There were some original moments, but most of the movie was the jump-out-at-you recycled garbage.

We left the theater saying "Why?"


Agree. No depth to the movie.




I liked it a lot but just didnt get the ending. why when the two boys came in at the end when liv tyler was dead she screamed at the kid did anyone get that?

Just another jump-out-at-you moment I assume.

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NJCardFan

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Here's how the movie would gone have had I been the male character.

Movie opens with couple arriving at the cabin. Strange girl in a mask knocks on the door asking for someone who isn't at the house. Male character(me) goes and finds shotgun, checks for ammo, finds ammo, makes sure gun is loaded and puts extra ammo in pocket. First stranger breaks into the house, male character(me) patterns perp's chest with 00-Buck shot. 2nd perp tries to rush male character, male character decorates the inside of cabin with perp's brain matter. 3rd perp flees in terror. Movie over. Total elapsed time: 15 minutes.

That's how silly and unrealistic this movie was.
 

Stout

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Here's how the movie would gone have had I been the male character.

Movie opens with couple arriving at the cabin. Strange girl in a mask knocks on the door asking for someone who isn't at the house. Male character(me) goes and finds shotgun, checks for ammo, finds ammo, makes sure gun is loaded and puts extra ammo in pocket. First stranger breaks into the house, male character(me) patterns perp's chest with 00-Buck shot. 2nd perp tries to rush male character, male character decorates the inside of cabin with perp's brain matter. 3rd perp flees in terror. Movie over. Total elapsed time: 15 minutes.

That's how silly and unrealistic this movie was.

:thumbup:
 

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