Home Entertainment
DVD Corner: The Strangers
Greg Kaczynski |
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 The Strangers is a frustratingly middling film, and the unrated DVD that came out this week is, frankly, abysmal. Based on “true events” (more on this later), it tells the story of a couple besieged by a triplet of mayhem makers in a summer ranch home.
The movie begins promisingly enough; after a deep-voiced narration reminiscent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) states facts about random violence Americans experience in their own homes, viewers meet Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, who are believable and engrossing as James and Kristen, a couple experiencing a difficult evening. Earlier, as shown through structurally unnecessary flashbacks, James had proposed to Kristen and she turned him down, leading to an awkward evening as James had prepared the ranch that night for celebration. The sadness between them is palpable, and pathos comes with an ease hardly seen in genre films.
James makes a call to his buddy to come pick him up, he lights a fire for Kristen and he offers to go to get cigarettes for her. Then comes an ominous knock at the door (accompanied by dramatic scary movie music). James opens the door to find a strange woman asking if “Tamara” is home. They tell her she’s got the wrong house, and politely close the door on her.
 After the weirdo girl disappears into the night, James leaves his lady alone and goes to get the smokes. Shortly after he leaves, though, the knocking returns, and this is where The Strangers reaches a crossroads. Here it could become a claustrophobic tale of a woman trapped by three maniacs who have a goal, or it could become a mess of a meditation on random violence, lacking focus or any meaningful plot tension. Writer/director Bryan Bertino chooses the latter.
While random violence, in small doses, is indeed terrifying, a feature-length film cannot be held up by such a weak concept. At first I pondered likely plots: was it a scheme by the jilted boyfriend to get even with Kristen for breaking his heart? Or maybe Kristen was losing her mind? In time, when it became clear that neither of these predictable plots were what was happening and that it was actually something more mundane, it became challenging to maintain interest.
James returns and gets involved in the troubles. His buddy shows up and also stumbles into a bit of nastiness. But nothing interesting ever happens. There are no stakes. These “frightening” characters have no goals or purpose--they are simply a device.
 On top of this, Bertino insists on relying on lame genre tricks: the cell phone doesn’t work; the couple splits up for some reason; the record player somehow is bumped, causing it to play ironic background music; the titular strangers seem to blink in and out of existence, making us wonder if they are ghosts, and making the eventual outcome of the film even less logical. And, of course, the intense, eardrum-blowing scary movie soundtrack continues to pound along, telling us when we should be scared.
All said, The Strangers is a bland film that had so much potential. From the first 15 minutes, there is hope that what will come to pass is something better than just another genre film. There is hope that this is a class above the junk that flows out of Hollywood, written and produced by committee. But in the end, audiences are left with the bitter taste of disappointment over brilliant production values and excellent casting, but a wholly mediocre film.
In between seeing The Strangers in the theater and waiting for it to come out on DVD (Universal Studios Home Entertainment; MSRP: $29.98), fans may have been hoping for a features-packed special edition loaded with an insightful commentary and behind-the-scenes documentaries. To all of those fans out there who still haven’t bought the DVD: move along, there is nothing to see here.
 First off, there is no commentary, so any insight into the movie is nowhere to be found. The only thing given to us is slightly less than 10 minutes of deleted scenes and a “documentary” titled “The Elements of Terror.”
Insultingly, one of the touted special features is the inclusion of the R-rated, edited theatrical release. Don’t ask me why someone who buys the unrated version of The Strangers would want to see the two-minute shorter version, but it’s there. Also of concern is the inclusion of a disclaimer displayed when choosing which version to watch stating that the unrated version may cause “playability issues” in certain DVD players. I’m hoping this is just a reference to chipped players that may be childproofed to not play unrated movies, but I am not assured.
The deleted scenes (two at 4:50) are more exposition about James and Kristen’s relationship (the thing that was actually interesting in the film), and the documentary (9:10) is a bare-bones behind-the-scenes mishmash of information. It is in this documentary that viewers learn of the “true events” The Strangers is based on. When Bertino was a child, apparently a stranger would knock at the door and ask if someone who didn’t live there was home. They would then move on, and the next morning, he would learn that a house had been broken into. Yep. Those are the “true events.”
 Clearly Bertino was making a statement on the terror of random violence, but the film falters because that core concept is not enough to carry an entire movie, and without purpose or tension, The Strangers falls flat. If you’re hoping that the special features on the DVD could be a saving grace, offering insight and information, look elsewhere--there is absolutely nothing worth checking out on this lackluster DVD.
The Strangers is now available on DVD.
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