Peter Marlowe
10-23-2008, 09:13 PM
Not sure where this one belongs because this is, of course, a high definition format site, but I put it here and in the "DVD Players" section because I really don't know of a better section of the forum to share the review; if this isn't the best place for it, moderators please advise where this would be or feel free to move it.
At any rate, rented this last night for $1 from the Redbox rental kiosk after remembering the trailers intrigued me...but like most of the "horror" that has been coming out as of late (the last three years or so?) it just ended up disappointing again. It wasn't as bad as some of the Asian remake/retake projects that have really bombed, such as Shutter, but it just fell flat at the end and left you scratching your head thinking "what?" In all fairness, the film began with some promise, but even the "Unrated Extended Cut" which was included on this Universal disc clocked in at under 90 minutes and the stretch to the end was just that -- a stretch. The very end left me miserably disappointed and wanting.
Liv Tyler and her boyfriend return home from a friend's wedding reception, their house in the middle of nowhere as is the backdrop of blood fests like House of Wax, Cabin Fever, Wrong Turn...you know -- and immediately a tension is created whereby the boyfriend has picked this night to propose to Tyler and ask her to marry him, yet something is not quite right...she claims she "isn't ready." After a minor bickering, the boyfriend leaves to get some cancer sticks (cigarettes) and Tyler is left alone in the house on this dark night in the middle of the woods...but wait. Let me back up a bit. Before the boyfriend leaves, the couple are haunted by a seriously loud knocking at their front door, where a young girl asks if a certain girl is there...claiming she has the wrong house, the couple close the door, and then the boyfriend leaves -- once gone, Tyler gets the knock again and that leads to a series of strange noises and events which were actually quite effective and terrifying if it weren't for the ultimate destruction by the weak ending.
Three masked "strangers" get into the house and begin terrorizing Tyler and eventually the boyfriend, who returns home, but it's never made clear why they target them or what they want. I won't give away the rest, as per my promise to my audience over in the Blu-ray Reviews section for future film reviews only to say that you will still wonder what these three wanted from the couple and why they did what they ultimately did to them. The featurette on the making of the film shows crew explaining that this was more of a "terror" film than a horror film, but it still didn't explain anything to me. But much like the immortal Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this film will have you wondering "what do these creeps WANT from these people? Why is this happening?" and perhaps that was the objective of the screenplay. It doesn't, however, come nearly as close as classics like Chainsaw in that regard, though.
Alas, this was a one-time-only rental for me and that's all I can recommend it as. As I said, I selected the "Unrated Extended" version on the disc's menu, and that didn't really "extend" anything beyond 80 or so minutes, nor did it seem to exhibit any off-the-wall gore of any kind. Sure, there's some blood, but nothing that's excessive.
VIDEO ANALYSIS:
The widescreen transfer of The Strangers was unconverted on my Panasonic DMP-BD10A Blu-ray player to 1080p, which does a horrible job on DVD upscaling, and as such, the film didn't look that good from that standpoint -- but the biggest problem was that the transfer was DARK. I mean REALLY dark -- my brightness has been calibrated several times with different test discs, but there was black crush on this transfer that you wouldn't believe. Forget about shadow detail -- there was none. The first half of the film takes place in a dark house in a dark forest, and the last (maybe less) half takes place during the next morning, and those daytime scenes looked rich and vibrant. But the dark sequences were horribly dark, to the point you couldn't really make out what was going on sometimes.
AUDIO ANALYSIS:
ENGLISH DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1
Universal provided an English Dolby Digital 5.1 standard mix on this disc, and the audio was aggressive and outstanding -- dialogue was a bit low and lost in the mix at quiet moments, such as when Liv Tyler is whispering to her lover, but when the "shock" moments popped in, this soundtrack was wildly aggressive and loud. Bass was ample and while surround usage was a bit lean, the overall volume, heft and punch of the track was downright jarring. Nice job here.
The extras included some deleted scenes and a featurette that broke down the elements of making the film; the people interviewed seemed like they had better things to do and didn't appear too enthusiastic about the project.
Please discuss your thoughts about The Strangers if you have seen it, or plan to!
At any rate, rented this last night for $1 from the Redbox rental kiosk after remembering the trailers intrigued me...but like most of the "horror" that has been coming out as of late (the last three years or so?) it just ended up disappointing again. It wasn't as bad as some of the Asian remake/retake projects that have really bombed, such as Shutter, but it just fell flat at the end and left you scratching your head thinking "what?" In all fairness, the film began with some promise, but even the "Unrated Extended Cut" which was included on this Universal disc clocked in at under 90 minutes and the stretch to the end was just that -- a stretch. The very end left me miserably disappointed and wanting.
Liv Tyler and her boyfriend return home from a friend's wedding reception, their house in the middle of nowhere as is the backdrop of blood fests like House of Wax, Cabin Fever, Wrong Turn...you know -- and immediately a tension is created whereby the boyfriend has picked this night to propose to Tyler and ask her to marry him, yet something is not quite right...she claims she "isn't ready." After a minor bickering, the boyfriend leaves to get some cancer sticks (cigarettes) and Tyler is left alone in the house on this dark night in the middle of the woods...but wait. Let me back up a bit. Before the boyfriend leaves, the couple are haunted by a seriously loud knocking at their front door, where a young girl asks if a certain girl is there...claiming she has the wrong house, the couple close the door, and then the boyfriend leaves -- once gone, Tyler gets the knock again and that leads to a series of strange noises and events which were actually quite effective and terrifying if it weren't for the ultimate destruction by the weak ending.
Three masked "strangers" get into the house and begin terrorizing Tyler and eventually the boyfriend, who returns home, but it's never made clear why they target them or what they want. I won't give away the rest, as per my promise to my audience over in the Blu-ray Reviews section for future film reviews only to say that you will still wonder what these three wanted from the couple and why they did what they ultimately did to them. The featurette on the making of the film shows crew explaining that this was more of a "terror" film than a horror film, but it still didn't explain anything to me. But much like the immortal Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this film will have you wondering "what do these creeps WANT from these people? Why is this happening?" and perhaps that was the objective of the screenplay. It doesn't, however, come nearly as close as classics like Chainsaw in that regard, though.
Alas, this was a one-time-only rental for me and that's all I can recommend it as. As I said, I selected the "Unrated Extended" version on the disc's menu, and that didn't really "extend" anything beyond 80 or so minutes, nor did it seem to exhibit any off-the-wall gore of any kind. Sure, there's some blood, but nothing that's excessive.
VIDEO ANALYSIS:
The widescreen transfer of The Strangers was unconverted on my Panasonic DMP-BD10A Blu-ray player to 1080p, which does a horrible job on DVD upscaling, and as such, the film didn't look that good from that standpoint -- but the biggest problem was that the transfer was DARK. I mean REALLY dark -- my brightness has been calibrated several times with different test discs, but there was black crush on this transfer that you wouldn't believe. Forget about shadow detail -- there was none. The first half of the film takes place in a dark house in a dark forest, and the last (maybe less) half takes place during the next morning, and those daytime scenes looked rich and vibrant. But the dark sequences were horribly dark, to the point you couldn't really make out what was going on sometimes.
AUDIO ANALYSIS:
ENGLISH DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1
Universal provided an English Dolby Digital 5.1 standard mix on this disc, and the audio was aggressive and outstanding -- dialogue was a bit low and lost in the mix at quiet moments, such as when Liv Tyler is whispering to her lover, but when the "shock" moments popped in, this soundtrack was wildly aggressive and loud. Bass was ample and while surround usage was a bit lean, the overall volume, heft and punch of the track was downright jarring. Nice job here.
The extras included some deleted scenes and a featurette that broke down the elements of making the film; the people interviewed seemed like they had better things to do and didn't appear too enthusiastic about the project.
Please discuss your thoughts about The Strangers if you have seen it, or plan to!