The Strangers 4K Review (Scream Factory)

The Strangers is a 2008 suspense thriller horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino (The Dark and the Wicked, The Monster, Vicious, and Mockingbird). Mark Romanek (Static, One Hour Photo, and Never Let Me Go) originally wanted to direct this but he kept pursuing a bigger budget so the studio gave writer Bertino a chance on his film-making debut. Originally scheduled for a November 2007 theatrical release but it ended postponed until May 30th 2008. It was a success and it made $82.4 million at the box office worldwide.They made a sequel years later under the title The Strangers: Prey at Night and a brand new reboot trilogy has been made. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is now available!!!! James Hoyt (played by: Scott Speedman from Animal Kingdom, Underworld franchise, Grey’s Anatomy, xXx: State of the Union, Felicity, and Dark Blue) and Kristen McKay (played by: Liv Tyler from the Lord of the Rings franchise, Armageddon, The Leftovers, Empire Records, One Night at McCool’s, and The Incredible Hulk) leave their friend’s wedding reception to go to the James’s summer family home. After everything is not going as expected between the couple. The tension starts building between the two. James was ready to ask her to marry him but he starts to question it after this awkward situation. He decides to call Mike (played by: Glenn Howerton from It’s always sunny in Philadelphia, Serenity, Fool’s Paradise, The Hunt, Crank franchise, and Fargo) to rescue him from this disaster. They hear a loud knock at the door. A mysterious girl asks “Is Tamara is there?” They tell her she has the wrong house. They later see various people with masks outside stalking them. James leaves the house and he tries to help them escape all this madness. A masked man (played by: Kip Weeks from Seeds, Ragged Isle, and Glory Road) starts breaking down their door with an axe so they decide to hide inside. Two other masked women Pin-up Girl (played by: Laura Margolis from Higher Power, The Diabolical, Masters of Horror, and Dirty Sexy Money) and Dollface (played by: Gemma Ward from The Black Balloon, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and The Great Gatsby) help terrorize these unlucky victims. After this night through hell the couple was finally close again but was it too late????If you are a fan of the home invasion sub-genre, you are going to love this one. Just don’t go expecting a gory slasher with a high body count because it’s honestly not that type of feature. The Strangers has a real small cast only with very few characters involved in the story so these performances stand out more. Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler have great chemistry in this. Their complicated relationship goes from hate to love like it’s nothing. They become much closer after this chaos. It feels very claustrophobic and isolated to it’s one main location during it all. The main villains have a great look to them and it became a legit horror franchise after this original film. They are honestly some of the better real life type of monsters in modern horror. It’s more psychological when it comes to the horror elements here. It’s loaded with suspense, it has plenty of thrills and jump scares to keep your attention on The Strangers. You never know what’s going to happen next. The Strangers takes a different approach compared to most of the bigger mainstream horror movies at the time. You keep thinking about it way after it’s been over. The Strangers just stays with you after each revisit and it makes you want to explore it again to see there’s more hidden behind the lines on each viewing, RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Scream Factory! This 2160p (2.35:1) unrated transfer (91 minutes) with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is from a brand new 4K restoration from the original digital intermediate. It has a nice night visual style to it thanks to it’s DP Peter Sova (Diner, Donnie Brasco, Lucky Number Slevin, and Push). The Strangers is a darker film when it comes to the visuals but the HDR really elevates it so it’s a rather nice upgrade compared to Scream’s own original collector’s edition blu ray home video release. This is the best that this horror home invasion feature will ever look. This is definitely the main reason to pick up this new UHD. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks on disc 1 on this set. The audio is the same as the previous one but it was great back then so luckily so that’s a positive thing here. All of the dialogue is crisp, the tension is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. Disc 2 includes the Theatrical version (86 minutes) of The Strangers. It has the 9 minute “The Element of Terror”, it’s an EPK featurette that includes additional behind the scenes footage. It has a variety of interviews featuring Bryan Bertino, Sonny Mallhi, Jeffree Bloomer, Liv Tyler, Glenn Howerton, Vincent Schicchi, and Cal Johnson. They say it’s a different type of horror film. They go into great detail about the main location for the production. They focus on sounds like screaming, knocks, and so much more when it comes to the suspense. It has the almost 10 minute “Strangers at the Door” that was previously included on the original major studio home video release. It has interviews with Bryan Bertino, Liv Tyler, Laura Margolis, Kip Weeks, Scott Speedman, Glenn Howerton, and Gemma Ward. It’s a quick making of that explores The Strangers. They chat about what got their attention about the project. They discuss fears in this. They go over the small cast and chemistry.They share their experiences from it. They bring up the look of The Strangers. It has almost 5 minutes of “Deleted Scenes” which includes “James Reflects at the Bar” and “Bathroom Discussion”. It has 3 “TV spots” and a “Theatrical Trailer”. Disc 3 has the previously exclusive bonus material that Scream Factory produced for it’s original collector’s edition. It has the almost 30 minute “Defining Moments: Writing and Directing The Strangers”. It’s an interview with writer and director Bryan Bertino. He goes over some of his inspirations. He chats about the origins and how The Strangers turned into a full length feature. He talks about the two leads here. He goes into great detail about the horror film. He brings up how it changed his entire career. It has the 11 minute “All the Right Moves: Kip Weeks on Playing the Man in the Mask”. It’s a discussion with the man behind the mask Kip Weeks. He goes over his audition and how he got the role. He says a Gorilla at the zoo inspired me for this. He says Dollface is the leader of the demented group. It has the 14 minute “Brains and Brawn: Laura Margolis on Playing Pin-Up Girl”. It’s an interview with fellow stranger Laura Margolis. She says that she didn’t have to audition for this. She chats about her character in this. She discusses scaring the leads here. She talks about working with the other Strangers in this. She brings up how they changed some scenes for the final cut. It has the 20 minute “Deep Cuts: Kevin Greutert on Editing The Strangers”. It’s a conversation with veteran horror editor Kevin Greutert. He chats about his history with the Saw franchise. He didn’t expect them to do another sequel so he took this gig. He talks about his collaboration with Bryan Bertino for this original film. He goes over his editing process. He mentions that they had to make some changes after some test screenings. Last but not least you get the little over 4 minute “Still Gallery” which features photos from the production and movie posters from all over the world. It comes with a slipcover, and two blu rays. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!