The Strangers

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The Strangers

R

2008

1h 26m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

50%

Tomatometer

167 Reviews

48%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are expecting a relaxing weekend at a family vacation home, but their stay turns out to be anything but peaceful. First, a mysterious and dangerous woman arrives at the door while James is out on an errand. When he returns, he accidentally kills his friend Mike (Glenn Howerton), mistaking him for an intruder. And then real danger does show up -- in the form of three masked torturers, leaving Kristen and James struggling for survival.

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Critics Consensus

The Strangers has a handful of genuinely scary moments, but they're not enough to elevate the end results above standard slasher fare.

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Sara Vilkomerson

Observer

03/31/2019

The movie is best before the mayhem actually starts: First-time writer-director Bryan Bertino gets right some priceless details as the couple try to deal with the evening's earlier fallout, and elevates his movie above other horror films.

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Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

03/31/2019

The formula of calm followed by shock is repeated until one tires of the technical polish of Bryan Bertino's directorial debut (with nods towards Funny Games and the French Them?) in the absence of coherent plot or character development.

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Adam Nayman

The Ringer

03/09/2018

Bertino's directorial smarts are on display from the first slow-cut montage of rural homes glimpsed from the window of a moving car. It's a passage suggesting free-floating, arbitrary menace.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Jan 1

1/4

This anemic "torture porn" thriller isn't scary, just tedious.

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Bryce Hanson

Horror Movie Talk

Sep 23

8/10

The Strangers is in a group of super nihilistic horror films that use lack of motive, message, and pretense to their advantage. The dread felt in this movie is strong, and is caused by the confusion and hopelessness of the protagonists’ situation.

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 12

4/5

From the character design of the strangers to the overall anxiety-inducing tone, The Strangers sets the contemporary standard for home-invasion horror.

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Rich L.

@turnerfan77 Mar 18

If you start a movie off with “based on a true story” you have me hooked whether it’s true or not. This plot device always works on me. So when The Strangers starts with this Bryan Bertino has my attention! This is a horror/suspense movie that builds the tension perfectly through out the whole film. The tone of the movie just makes my skin crawl no matter how many times I have seen it. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman give great performances as they are stalked by the crazy creepy Strangers! Overall this is an awesome horror movie that will sit with you long after the credits roll. By The Numbers breakdown: Cast-4 Acting-8 Trailer-10 Ending-10 Story-10 Visuals-8 Direction-10 Sound-8 Genre-10 Sub Genre-10 The Faces For Radio score - 88

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Jason H

@RT50328122 Mar 13

The opening narration is ludicrous, and I could have done without the "jump scare" at the end. The rest of the movie is terrifying. "Because you were home" is one of the most chilling lines I've heard.

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Theodore F.

@Sirhotness Mar 11

I don’t get why this movie has such a low rating. I consider this one of the scariest movies I’ve seen up there with the exorcist in the conjuring. The lighting and sound is amazing how a horror movie should look and sound like Liv. Tyler performance was good. I know a few people that worked on this one and their stories while working on this I found very interesting.

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Jacob D.

@jacobihy Mar 8

if you like movies that are built on suspense over gore it’s pretty good

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Matt H.

@hodnick Mar 4

Great horror movie, fear is based on suspense and not gore

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Steven F.

@SteveGotScored Feb 17

The best one out of all of them!

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Synopsis

Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are expecting a relaxing weekend at a family vacation home, but their stay turns out to be anything but peaceful. First, a mysterious and dangerous woman arrives at the door while James is out on an errand. When he returns, he accidentally kills his friend Mike (Glenn Howerton), mistaking him for an intruder. And then real danger does show up -- in the form of three masked torturers, leaving Kristen and James struggling for survival.

Director: Bryan Bertino
Producer: Doug Davison, Roy Lee, Nathan Kahane
Screenwriter: Bryan Bertino
Distributor: Rogue Pictures
Production Co: Mandate Pictures, Vertigo, Intrepid Pictures, Rogue Pictures, E1 Entertainment
Rating: R (Violence/Terror|Language)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 30, 2008, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 15, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $52.5M
Runtime: 1h 26m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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