The Strangers

Saturday, May 31, 2008

It's a nice feeling when a much anticipated horror movie lives up to my expectations. The Strangers looked to be a mature, serious and genuinely scary horror flick. Horror movies mean a lot to me, so I take this shit pretty seriously. I was worried at first that it was going to be a let down, because it opens with a bunch of unnecessary text, made worse by the fact that a narrator also reads the text outloud. It doesn't provide any useful information, and they read it to you like you're a fucking baby. I mean, seriously, what the fuck?

But then what followed was a well-made, well-written, well-acted, tense, creepy horror film, another bright spot in what I think has been a good era for the genre. I see it's getting a lot of comparison to Them, because they are both home invasion themed, but the treatment is really a lot different.

It did remind me why I hate going to see horror movies in the theater sometimes... people in the audience who won't shut the fuck up. I don't get it, man. Movies like this rely on passages of silence to build tension, but there's always a few assholes in the theater who can't sit still if it gets quiet for more than a few seconds, and they have to start talking and chime in on their thoughts like anyone gives a shit. Just watch the fucking movie.