The Mini-W Reviews: The Strangers

I know it's really hard to believe, but the Wave-inatrix is actually the mother of two teenagers, 17 and 15. The Mini-W, my daughter, is a burgeoning writer and a film fan, just like mom. This summer, the Mini-W will be reviewing a handful of movies here on The Rouge Wave, for your reading pleasure. The perspective of a teenager (the target audience for summer blockbusters dontcha know) is a valuable one for aspiring writers. So here's movie review number one, a little behind the curve, it's not a summer blockbuster, but still, a recent horror flick. Rest assured, the Mini-W is hard at work attending every summer blockbuster her mom can drive her to in order to fulfill her journalistic duty.

***

The Strangers

As I walked out of the theater after seeing the latest horror flick “The Strangers” starring Liv Tyler, I was pleasantly satisfied with what I thought would be one of those movies that just plain disappoint a horror freak like myself. I had anticipated a plotless slasher film, but “The Strangers” provided not only a few good old blood and guts scenes, but a sense of psychological fear. The plot was simple, yet not cheesy, and although we all still picture Liv Tyler as an elf (from her previous role as a love interest in “The Lord of the Rings” series) her performance was dedicated and realistic.

The Strangers starts out with a struggling couple staying the night at an isolated cabin in the country. The film is slow at first and the set up is somewhat cliché, but it quickly escalates when a group of mysterious people wearing masks start to terrorize the pair.

**SPOILER**

When our heroes are finally overtaken and killed, one of the scariest factors of the movie presents itself: the motive. As the strangers stand in front of our pleading heroine, her dead husband bound to a chair next to her own, they answer her last question of “why” with a simple “because you were home". This part stayed with me because there was no real motive, making it easier to picture happening to myself. There are a few of those pop out moments to make you jump out your seat, but The Strangers definitely haunts you after the fact. Overall, this movie was satisfying, and for somebody looking for a good scare, The Strangers is worth the time.

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