video review : The Strangers

video review : The Strangers

You’re not always safe at home. That’s the lesson here. It’s a story about home invasion as a trio of masked killers visit the summer house of James and Kristen, a couple romantically involved but unmarried. It’s almost morning but still dark. If there are neighbors within screaming range, they’re probably asleep. It’s a terrific setting for a horror movie.

That horror begins interestingly enough but stalls itself all the way to the end. The killers seem to realize they’re in a movie, so they play around with their victims, appearing then disappearing, in what seems like a collaborative effort to stall time. It’s an effective technique at first; loud knocks are scary at night; but the threat wears thin after a while.

my rating : 3 of 5

2008