The Strangers

The mask is ever an effective device in the wicked wonderland of horror — as potential victims ourselves, we feel that if we could just look our attacker in the eye, read his expression, or relate face-to-face, we may have a chance at survival. But with an implacable barrier between our flesh and theirs, there's an obstacle which takes away all sympathetic human interaction.  

In turn, a mask gives the attacker the power of anonymity. "It's not really me doing this," would be the rationale. Or is it indeed the real person doing the evil deeds, and their everyday face is the actual mask?

Those are the things to contemplate when The Strangers invade the quiet, cozy (and yes, isolated) Hoyt home in the wee, dark hours of the morning. At 4 a.m., after an emotional discussion on the state of their long-lasting love relationship, Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman), are drained. Then, there's a knock on the front door. Kristen's appropriately tentative, listening as the tiny, female voice comes from outside, "Is Tamara there?"

And the game of hide and seek begins. Then it continues for another hour and a half. Home invasion seems to be the new torture-porn, but in the sense of pacing and feel, The Strangers is more Vacancy than Funny Games. The cruel cats don't speak to their mice; but we get a decent sense of who they are, through their disguises. Mask (Kip Weeks) wears a burlap sack that's reminiscent of a scarecrow presiding over his crops; Dollface (Gemma Ward) only seems sweet and harmless; while Pin-Up Girl (Laura Margolis) hides more than she shows.

Kristen and James are moderately sympathetic characters because they have an aura of realism about them. While the things they do sometimes seem incredibly dumb and too impulsive given their circumstances, at least writer/director Bryan Bertino thought things out (why cell phones won't work, how come the kitchen knives aren't at the ready, reasons they can't just drive away).

The look and feel — cinematography, score, original music and sound design, sets and locations — are rich, textured, layered and sumptuous. But The Strangers, like an adversary wearing a mask, remains impenetrable — and in my case, impervious to the invitation of curiosity. I really didn't care or wonder who these people were, and by extension, didn't feel a whole lot of sympathy for the victims (though I will admit, Bertino did set Kristen and James up in the beginning as dimensional humans, and that's refreshing). While the acting was good, it seemed a waste on such a simple setup and inevitable conclusion.

For me, there was zero suspense. Everything I thought would happen, did happen. In many instances, that's great: that is why it's called a payoff. In The Strangers, however, I felt all that was missing was a paint-by-numbers kit.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson

Read Horror.com's exclusive interviews with Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, and Bryan Bertino