Rama’s SCREEN

This one of the scariest horror flicks that I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Finally, after all the crappy Japanese remakes out there and all the other porn torture mumbo jumbo… an original stuff like THE STRANGERS has restored my faith in horror genre. There have been many movies out there about intruders and people messing up with people’s minds, but only… a few have successfully done a frightening job. This movie will scare the hell out of you. It creeps up when you least expect it, the suspense brings chills down your spine.

After returning from a wedding reception, a couple staying in an isolated vacation house receive a knock on the door in the mid-hours of the night. What ensues is a violent invasion by three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. The couple find themselves in a violent struggle, in which they go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive.

I’m not going to classify this in the same level as Vacancy or Funny Games or any other movies that are about intruders.
What filmmaker Bryan Bertino has crafted is a movie that relies heavily on those moments before the shock effects sink in.
Ya know.. those aching minutes and seconds you’re counting, knowing that the bad guys are right behind you and you’re trying to think if there’s really anybody there or trying to plan out you next move of counter-attack.

What I truly appreciate about this movie is that it doesn’t waste any precious time.
15 minutes into the movie. Bam! The banging on the door sends a strong signal that the ride is not going to be comfortable from there on out.
It uses the darkness and the space available and all the elements that are there and utilizes them to their fullest extent, all in the name of freakin’g the sh*t out of the audience.

The word ‘Intense’ is not enough to describe how crazy this movie gets.
Gotta give it props for making the masks look like they have a power to stop a heart from beating and the fact that we never see the faces makes the feeling leave with you after the movie’s done.

The acting is great, Liv Tyler gives a brilliant performance. Jessica Alba has a lot to learn from Liv when it comes to giving that scared facial expression as if you’re going to see life taken from you in a blink of an eye.
Her reactions make the audiences stay alert on all four toes, they give goosebumps and keep us at the edge of our seats.
Nobody else could’ve done a better job.

THE STRANGERS is a great horror movie that should’ve been released during Halloween season.
Every other horror/suspense movie greats like Wes Craven and Alfred Hitchcock would be very proud of this simple yet effective accomplishment.

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