THE STRANGERS (2008)
Standard Edition Blu-ray
Label: Second Sight Films
Region Code: B
Rating: Cert. 15
Duration: 85 Minutes 10 Seconds (Theatrical), 87 Minutes34 Se conds (Extended Cut)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Brian Bertino
Cast: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis, Gemma Ward, Glenn Howerton
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Spooky home invasion thriller The Strangers (2008) opens with young couple James (Scott Speedman, Crimes of the Future) and Kristen (Liv Tyler, Lord of the Rings) driving out to secluded summer home that belongs to the family of James. Earlier they'd been at a wedding reception for a friend where he proposed to Kristen, who turned him down, causing the drive to be an uncomfortably quiet one. Once at the cabin there's still a palpable tension between them, but that quietness is disturbed by an eerie knock at the door at 4 a.m.. Outside the cabin a young blonde woman says she is looking for someone named Tamara. They tell her she has the wrong house and she leaves, but not before saying that she will see them later, and she's not lying about that.
James leaves to go by some smokes and Kristen is left alone, she lights up the fireplace but the place begins to fill with smoke setting off the smoke detector. She manages to knock the squealing smoke detector off the ceiling, but then there's another knock at the door - this time it's someone wearing a creepy pin-up doll mask. Frightened and alone she closes the door and locks it, but then realizes that certain things have been moved around inside the house while she was at the door - the smoke detector she left on the floor has been moved to a chair and her cell phone she left charging has altogether disappeared. Frantic and unnerved she is out-of-her-mind with fright by the time James returns, and while he doesn't seem to believe her at first he eventually comes around when he realizes there are three masked strangers prowling around outside, we have Dollface (Gemma Ward), Man in the Mask (Kip Weeks) and Pin-up girl (Laura Margolis), three very quiet and creepy strangers who fully intend on harming the young couple for reasons unknown, surrounding the home and taunting the couple, it's a nerve-shredding situation that is well exploited by the film.
This slice of home invasion is so very thick with dread and atmosphere, the rural and isolated setting is perfect, the lighting is creepy, looking at times like it's lit by only candles, and the three motiveless masked-killers lurking around are absolutely terrifying. The burlap sack masked killer was the most terrifying to me, bringing to mind Jason from Friday the 13th Part 2 and more than a bit of the Scarecrow from Batman's rogues gallery. The violence in this one is not too shabby either, we get an unfortunate shotgun blast to the face and some vicious stabbings, but it's not a gore film either, this is a deep-tension film. What works for it is the unsettling creepiness of the masked characters, the hopeless situation the faltering lovers find themselves in, but working against it are some bad decisions made by our protagonists in the face of mortal danger. At one point they find a gun and some ammo, it's seems a great opportunity for survival but they don't handle the situation with a great deal of thought in my opinion, they really fuck it up actually. Then again, these are supposed to be average people, not tactical strategists, so maybe that's the more realistic approach, but it irked me just the same. There's a nice homage to a slasher classic when the Man in a Mask emerges from a shadowy hallway behind Kristen, she doesn't even notice him, but the way he emerges and disappears reminded me of a similar scene from John Carpenter's Halloween, it's a scene that still gives me the goosebumps.
This is a film I dragged my non-horror loving wife to back when it hit the theaters originally, she was digging her nails into my arm the whole time, and was actually pretty stressed out by the ordeal and the unhappy ending of it all. The movie is a serious downer, and I think that settled on me even more this time around, it's a real gut-punch of a home invasion flick, though that seems to be par for the course with the home invasion movies, it does not usually end well for the good guys. The movie is well shot and stylish, with a great score and sound design that amps up the tension and melancholy of the movie.
Audio/Video: The Strangers (2008) arrives on region B-locked Blu-ray from Second Sight Films, offering both the theatrical and unrated versions, there is no information on the standard release version about this being a new scan, so for now I would assume that these are the same HD masters used by licensor Universal for their U.S. Blu-ray. I thought the image looked great, this is a very dark film, and thankfully the black levels are up to the challenge, and colors while a bit muted by design look accurate. Audio includes the option of English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, the sound design for this one is very nicely designed with some wonderful use of the surrounds and creepy atmospherics that does good work pulling you into this home invasion thriller, optional English subtitles are provided. The U.S. Blu-ray from Scream Factory also included a stereo track, which is not found on this Second Sight release.
Second Sight give is a terrific set of extras, we get new-ish interviews by way of the 57-min Because You Were Home: Interview with Director Bryan Bertino; 43-min Cutting Moments: Interview with Editor Kevin Greutert; the 17-min The Fighter: Interview with Actor Liv Tyler; 20-min The Pin-Up Girl: Interview with Actor Laura Margolis (Pin-Up Girl). The new interviews are very good, we get plenty of talk about the making of the film, disagreements with the studio, the deleted scenes and why the identity of the strangers are not revealed, as well as some comment on the sequel for the film. It was also great to hear Liv Tyler talk about her early love of horror films, mentioning how she watched stuff like The Hand (1981), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) with her mom when she was young and how that affected her.
Archival stuff comes by way of the 9-min The Element of Terror: Interviews with Cast and Crew; the 10-min Strangers at the Door: Interviews with Director Bryan Bertino and cast; 5-min Deleted Scenes and the 27-second Trailer, all of which were present on the U.S. releases from Scream Factory and Universal.
For the sake of comparing the extras the U.S. release from Scream Factory also included a different set of interviews with Director Bryan Bertino, Editor Kevin Greutert and Actress Laura Margolis (Pin Up Girl), but the Second Sight interviews are longer and a bit juicer. Present on the SF disc but missing here are an interview with actor Kip Weeks (Man in the Mask), but Second Sight also have an exclusive new interview with Actor Liv Tyler - so they both have their own exclusives, pluses and minus.
This is the single-disc standard release version Blu-ray, Second Sight initially released this as a limited edition release with a rigid slipcover and booklet back in 2020. This standard version arrives in an a black Blu-ray keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- Includes Theatrical Cut and Extended Cut
- Because You Were Home: Interview with Director Bryan Bertino (56:56)
- Cutting Moments: Interview with Editor Kevin Greutert (43:01)
- The Fighter: Interview with Actor Liv Tyler (16:50)
- The Pin-Up Girl: Interview with Actor Laura Margolis (19:55)
- The Element of Terror: Interviews with cast and crew (9:13)
- Strangers at the Door: Interviews with Director Bryan Bertino and cast (9:37)
- Deleted Scenes (4:57)
- Trailer (0:37)
The Strangers (2008) is a modern home invasion classic with top-notch dread and edge-of-your-seat tension, plus a great secluded location, memorable masked-killers, and a terrific cast. This standard edition release from Second Sight Films is fantastic, featuring the same set of disc extras from the limited edition set, it comes highly recommended, with the caveat that you should know that Scream Factory are released their own 4K UHD on 9/10, this far no 4K UHD has been announced from Second Sight.
Screenshots from the Second Sight Films Blu-ray:
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