The Strangers

Just like popcorn gets stale over time, it seems like horror movies are starting to get the same way. No longer do these films have the passion that they once use to and as for a real heightened sense of terror, it seems like all that has been sacrificed for the sake of profit. Somewhere along the way, things became commonplace for cheap thrills to be acceptable and as I humbly sat back in my chair at the local theater while watching The Strangers, I came to the sad realization halfway through that things'll never be as chilling as they once were.

To be honest with you, The Strangers is not a bad movie but it's not a very good one either. "Inspired by true events" stretches things a little loosely, if I must say so myself, so take that little bitty tag line with a grain of salt. All that is, really, is to draw audiences in but it's a gift and a curse if you ask me. The casual moviegoer could care less about that kind of stuff but a critic like myself is intrigued by how much a movie follows facts. Needless to say, The Strangers leads you nowhere when it comes to the story behind it but it still gets its point across in scaring the shit out of you. Is this the greatest horror masterpiece ever made? By all means no, but the slow and subtle pace of this film matches the terror on screen and the lasting effect will have you afraid to ever be home alone again. Just think about it. Something like this could easily happen and in hindsight, it's easy to say what we WOULD do; but, it's funny how things change once we're up in it. I guess you never know until it happens to you but who the hell answers the door at four in the morning anyway? That right there is punishable by death if you ask me but, unfortunately, I don't get to make those decisions so go figure.

Long story short. The Strangers is not worth theater admission so save your money and check for it when it comes out on DVD. I've seen much better horror flicks on cable than this piece of crap so do yourself and favor and avoid this movie at all costs. Besides, the ending is so ambiguous beyond repair that I'm still scratching my head trying to figure it out. However, one thing that WAS kind of cool was the reasoning The Strangers had for going about things. What is that you ask? Simply, "because they were home'. That line of dialogue right there is the most chilling thing you'll ever hear, in my opinion, but I could be wrong. "This movie is a waste of time" is the best advice I could say but who are you to trust me? As far as I'm concerned, I'm a stranger and like momma use to always say, "Never talk to strangers". Apparently, the folks in this movie didn't get that memo.

Rating: 1 ½ inkblots out of 5