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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Mike B

@MikelMotarcycl 19h

The Strangers understands that the scariest monsters don't need a motive. By stripping horror down to silence, shadows, and unbearable tension, it turns ordinary spaces into nightmares. Simple, merciless, and chillingly effective, it's proof that what's left unexplained often stays with you the longest.

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Carter H

@quality_finds 4d

This movies nearly unwatchable The movie builds up to a conflict that doesn’t exist nor is explained The entire movie you are on edge for an ending that leaves you with nothing, no art at all The acting was very good so I gave the movie an extra half a star You may say, that’s the point This isn’t Halloween 1978, it doesn’t work well when there’s 3 people and it doesn’t explain that your not supposed to know till the movie ends and you realize jt But the movie had no explanation and I think it is the worst movie I’ve seen in a while

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James E

@JamesE167 6d

This is creepy in a way that makes you uncomfortable in your own home, but does little outside of that.

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Sheeri M

@1st-Of-Her-Name Jul 11

Sadistic terrorizing and murder of a couple “because [they] were home” does not merit 1 hour and 26 minutes of anyone ‘s time. That this happened in real life is a tragedy. That a movie was made based on the event with no redeeming value feels exploitive.

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Fantazynerd 1

@RT48179632 Jul 4

I cant with home invasion movie's

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Gononan B.

@biggononanotthelilone Jun 8

The Strangers (2008) has some genuinely creepy moments, especially when you see the killers lurking silently in the background shadows. The atmosphere is great, but it gets a bit frustrating watching the main characters make classic, panicked horror-movie mistakes. It’s a decent slow-burn thriller, but the ending leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions.

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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)