Organized Confusion

Dollface: Could I have one?
Mormon Boy #1: Are you a sinner?
Dollface: Sometimes.
(Mormon Boy hands her a CHRISTIAN LIVING pamphlet.)

The Strangers
PJ Cinemas - June 11, 2008

Proceed with caution…

In order to provide any worthy review, a critic must be open and well-rounded enough to appreciate all genres of film. For the better part of my existence, I have been turned off by the horror genre, mostly because my first horror film experience was Carrie… when I was 7. A thoughtful babysitter brought it over and proceeded to watch this gruesome display in front of me and my 9 year old sister. The crucifixion scene alone was enough to scar me for life.

Including The Strangers is a whole-hearted attempt to round out the Orgconfuz cornucopia, as recently I have resided in Comedy-land. This was the first trailer for a horror movie I’ve seen in a long time that actually interested me. By comparison, the last of this genre that I saw and loved was the original Scream. No, I have not seen any of the Halloweens or Friday the 13ths or even the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So if you’d like to take my reaction with a grain of salt, I don’t blame you. With these fresh unjaded eyes and open mind, I dove head first.

Inspired by actual events, this movie appeared to have a refreshing sense of realism (similar to that of the Savages, but in VERY different ways) where the viewer ponders “What would I do in that situation?” Not only from the perspective of the prey, but of the masked culprits of seemingly random violence. Everytime I hear the words “Inspired by” or “Based on true events”, I will always think of the Coen Brothers. Back in the day, this famous duo pulled a Milli Vanilli on everyone in the industry. During the opening of the comedic thriller Fargo, the Coens included the following statement:

THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.

Later, they confessed the movie to be totally fictional, but based on several real murders thrown together to make up one story. Still, the text is oddly similar to the opening of the Strangers, which is as follows:

“The film you are about to see is inspired by true events. According to the F.B.I. there are an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes in America each year. On the night of February 11, 2005 Kristen McKay and James Hoyt went to a friend’s wedding reception and returned to the Hoyt family’s summer home. The brutal events that took place there are still not entirely known.” (Plus, we could have done without the creepy voiceover. We can read… thank you very much.)

SPOILER WARNING: Turn back now if you want to see it anyway, the proceeding is for those who have already seen it or just don’t care. If you really need the star rating, scroll down fast. lol

I am most confused about the opening of the film, so that’s where I’ll begin. There is an 911 emergency call recording playing over two boys who discover the scene of a horrific crime. A woman in clear danger calls out for help and states her name as Jordan or something Jordan. As so often with these movies, the default reaction is to assume that the film is employing some sort of foreshadowing technique. Picking up details from this call, my mind was preparing for the events to play out as described in the call. However, as the film does play out, all possible phone connections are destroyed, including an old CB radio. Therefore, what was that at the beginning of the film? It has been debated that the recording merely serves as one of the phone calls setting the mood for random intrusion and gory senseless violence that will occur. Others have purported that the recording is in fact not a voiceover and was actually playing at the scene on the record player when the victims are discovered. I can’t decide. Through my research, I have found only that I am not alone in this confusion.

The premise is simple: Young couple retreats to boy’s summer home after a wedding reception and rejected proposal. They proceed to be harrassed and attacked by masked assailants. Lots of peek-a-boo editing aka now you see me, now you don’t, aid in the suspense of the plot. Even the director is quoted as believing this movie to be more of a thriller, because a lot of the focus remains on the psychological aspects of the characters. Toying with their prey, the three masked psychos are clearly proficient in their craft. In the end, the killers reveal their faces only as a confirmation of the hostages impending death.

After all is said and done, Laurence Toppman explains it best in his review for the Charlotte Observer: When we’re finally set for a revelation, they find out why this happened to them: “You were home.” The line so casually placed in the eerie trailer turns out to be the sole point of the film. Maybe Bertino thinks he’s making a comment about the randomness of violence in society. But in this context, when he purports to explain events surrounding a tragedy “based on real life,” his refusal to provide further explanation looks like sheer laziness. (It turns out there never were such people, anyhow.)

At this point, I’d like to say that I really could have done without the ending. The interaction between the killers and the boys not only ruined the events of the night, it just was outright cheesy. The slow breaking truck. The slow turn of the three characters heads at the same time. The girl getting out and asking for a born-again christian pamphlet, which can only be described as an “Alanis ironic moment”. Then to top it off, the (mother figure?) Pin-Up Girl says “Don’t worry. It’ll be easier next time.” U-g-h.

On another note, are we actually supposed to believe that James’ parents only own country records, or only a record player for that matter? True, it was used as a clever device for scare tactics (and possibly part of the killer’s M.O. based on where you stand on the opening sequence.) Nevertheless, I found that one of the main songs used entitled “The Sprout and the Bean” was actually composed by Joanna Newsom. I had heard of her as one of the top NPR or WFUV new artists of last or the previous year. Hold the phone! I’m supposed to believe that not only do the Hoyt’s have a record player and all country records, but that they sought out a fairly recent artist and purchased her album… on vinyl?? Yeah right!

Interview with The Strangers director Bryan Bertino at The Filmmaker’s Bible. The interview is a little tough to read, seeing as the translator puts every “uh, you know” in. Interesting story on how Bertino went from being a grip to directing a major motion picture. Kudos to him for living the Hollywood dream!

While scouring through Google Images for scenes from the film, I came across a couple that puzzled me. Those who know the film know that the image above is actually a fake-out. We know that Man in the Mask (love how they don’t even have names…) should be coming up behind Mike, the unfortunate but dead friend. Here, we have James (Scott Speedman of Felicity fame, who in my opinion tries a little too hard to be “a normal dude” when he is clearly got the slick surfer boy thang happening). There’s another fake-out image out there of Kristen (Liv Tyler) crawling away from Pin-up Girl, which is CLEARLY photoshopped due to the fact that they both should be coming from the shed, not the house. Would it have been such a spoiler to show her coming from the shed? Weird

A Positive Review from bloody-disgusting.com

Another not so positive review by Cinema Attraction ending in “Damn, glad that shit was free.”

Most of the reviews I researched on this movie are quite scathing, but I think I’ll have to agree with them. I was also fortunate enough to see this movie for free, saving me the agony of defeat. Another positive note for me was the film’s running time of 80 minutes, which felt surprisingly short by the end. But if the best thing one can say about a film was that it was short… hmmm. lol

RATING: **/5 (My first 2!)
Recommendation: I can’t in good conscience say that this movie sucked, because it didn’t. I just wouldn’t recommend it.