The Strangers

[Stefen]

Spoiler...

What was the point of replaying the death scenes? Liv Tyler gets stabbed, then it shows the outside of the house, then the trees, then a swing swinging from a tree branch. Then it shows it all over again. Not anything different unless I missed it. Just the same visual montage again. Was it just to make you re-watch the brutal death scenes?

[w/o horse]

Spoiler...

What was the point of replaying the death scenes? Liv Tyler gets stabbed, then it shows the outside of the house, then the trees, then a swing swinging from a tree branch. Then it shows it all over again. Not anything different unless I missed it. Just the same visual montage again. Was it just to make you re-watch the brutal death scenes?

That's another problem with the film, being that a lot of the dread and anticipation is derived through the structure of the film rather than the perspective of the character.  I'm thinking also of when the SPOILERS STILL bad guy is in the kitchen behind Tyler (the first time we see him) but she doesn't notice him and when she turns around he's gone.  That's stupid shit.  Or when Michael arrives and the narrative switches over to him for a short period - that could have been done better.  You could have introduced Michael in a more organic sense, rather than chopping inside the narrative, and it would have heightened the tension the filmmakers were trying to heighten, instead it feels bloated and unnecessary during one of the film's most agonizing moments (the shot gun barricade).  Now they we're talking about it, this is the same problem I have with the villains remaining faceless.

[MacGuffin]

*SPOILERS*

That's another problem with the film, being that a lot of the dread and anticipation is derived through the structure of the film rather than the perspective of the character.  I'm thinking also of when the SPOILERS STILL bad guy is in the kitchen behind Tyler (the first time we see him) but she doesn't notice him and when she turns around he's gone.  That's stupid shit. 

No, that's building suspense. Now you know that he's in the house and don't know what he's going to do. Stupid shit is she turns around and sees him, the music gets loud and she screams. That's surprise; not scare.

[Stefen]

spoilers.

Yeah, I actually thought one of the creepiest things about it was the fact that the strangers were in the house, I also dug the whole mask bit.

I didn't like how there didn't seem to be any motive or resolve at the end. I can appreciate an ending like that just as much as anyone here, but this one just felt sloppy.

[w/o horse]

*SPOILERS*

That's another problem with the film, being that a lot of the dread and anticipation is derived through the structure of the film rather than the perspective of the character.  I'm thinking also of when the SPOILERS STILL bad guy is in the kitchen behind Tyler (the first time we see him) but she doesn't notice him and when she turns around he's gone.  That's stupid shit. 

No, that's building suspense. Now you know that he's in the house and don't know what he's going to do. Stupid shit is she turns around and sees him, the music gets loud and she screams. That's surprise; not scare.

Okay that's not building suspense, it's dropping it down in the middle of the fucking room.  It actually is a scare, it's a gasping moment that quickly dissipates, the situation is the suspense, and the betrayal of that suspense is the manipulation of that situation by this cheap thrill (seeing the guy, the guy disappearing).  And how hackneyed is this technique?  How unoriginal is it?  Completely.

It's a joke this point would be debated.

[SiliasRuby]

This is one hellofava creepy film. The atmosphere is palpable and I was anticipating something that when it happened it scared the hell out of me and I usually-almost never-get scared. I was happy I saw a cast member of 'It's always sunny in philadelphia' in here. I don't know why, maybe its because of the stark images and the production design but I've been having nightmares for the past couple of days since I watched it a couple of nights ago. Nothing has really frightened me since I saw 'the shining' and 'eraserhead' for the first time.

[Alexandro]

fuck! i was scared shitless during this movie. particularly the first half, I would say it's close to perfect.

SPOILERS
The turning point and when I was able to relax because they started to make it to movieish, was when the boyfriend leaves the house to find the radio. It just felt stupid that someone would do that, leave the other person alone. But the way I reacted with such anger at this decision it's a testament of how involved I really was in the whole thing.

I would say the ending did felt like a letdown. I'm not saying the film was very respectful of the "idead" of being based on true events, but that final scream was just idiotic. As I said, it starts amazingly and slowly and gradually it loses momentum because it abandons the believable build up and goes all crazy and implausible on us. However by that point you're hooked. And I felt it was very well established the broken up relationship between the leads, and both actors were very good at conveying the pain of two people in love for whom the thing is not working anymore, or that are going through a really bad moment. It was almost moving. And shit, Liv Tyler can do horror acting like the very best. In fact this may be my favorite Liv Tyler performance so far. She should work with the big directors more often, I get the feeling we're missing a lot of great performances from her.

[Stefen]

Liv Tyler is underrated. Her and Anna Faris need should be working with quality filmmakers.

[SiliasRuby]

Liv Tyler is underrated. Her and Anna Faris need should be working with quality filmmakers.

Need should?

[MacGuffin]

'Strangers' returning
Sequel set to begin shooting this fall
Source: Variety

A sequel to "The Strangers" is set to begin shooting this fall.

"Strangers 2" will be produced by Relativity topper Ryan Kavanaugh, Roy Lee and Doug Davison from Vertigo, and Nathan Kahane from Mandate. Exec producers include Tucker Tooley from Relativity, Joe Drake from Mandate, Sonny Mahli from Vertigo and Marc Evans and Trevor Macy from Intrepid.

Producers have tapped French helmer Laurent Briet to direct. Briet's a commercial and musicvideo director who also worked on visual effects for "The Ring."

Bryan Bertino, who wrote and directed the first film, wrote the sequel. Story is being kept under wraps.

"The Strangers," starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman and shot for $9 million, grossed $80 million worldwide last year. That film centered on a couple terrorized by masked assailants at their remote summer house.

The sequel will be distributed by Rogue, which is wholly owned by Relativity.