The Strangers is a simple home invasion movie that spawned a franchise. Part one of a new trilogy just opened this year, but the original still works as both a standalone and the origin story.
Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler play a couple going through relationship issues when three masked killers stalk their vacation home. It’s really creepy how the strangers mess with them before ramping up to violence.
The photography holds up beautifully in 4K with all the dark corners of the house, driving their at night and arriving at the house in the dark. You still get a sense of all the rooms and shapes of the furniture. A traffic light glow is hauntingly beautiful on the way there.
The Strangers uses surround sound effectively, with all the knocks at the doors and screeches when they open in the rears. Of course all the big jump scares boom, and even the Rogue Pictures logo is in full surround.
Is is an issue with the movie that they speak in a whisper, but don’t turn the sound up because the sound effects are full blast. Use the subtitles.
If you want to hear from director Bryan Bertino and two of the strangers actors, pop in the Blu-ray for their previous interviews.