Starring Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman. Written and directed by Bryan Bertino. (14A). 85 min. Opens May 30.
Fright-flick fans have been googling their nights away trying to figure out just where the “true events” this movie was allegedly “inspired by” took place. Here’s a tip: the tagline should actually read “inspired by three decades of home-invasion slasher films that on occasion were based on true events, plus some serial killer urban myths and the Manson Family murders.” (I guess that was too long to fit on the poster.)
To his credit, first-time filmmaker Bryan Bertino has seen enough horror movies to know what to avoid: frolicking frat boys, gore for gore’s sake and knowing winks to scary movies past are mercifully absent from this genuinely disturbing (albeit fictional) story of a young adult couple terrorized in a remote home by three masked strangers.
Kirsten (Tyler) and James (Speedman) are drunk and distraught at 4am — James’ marriage proposal “didn’t work out as planned” — when an odd blond girl comes not-so-gently rapping at their door. The incident doesn’t seem threatening enough to stop James from going out for smokes. But once alone, Kirsten finds herself seriously spooked — and with good cause. What starts off as a late-night kid’s prank soon spirals into a sinister cat-and-mouse game with bloody results.
Like the house itself, Bertino’s film is deathly quiet, with the barest score pierced by scratchy country tunes on the record player, wind chimes, broken window glass, a scrape of a kitchen knife or — as with the reveal of the “bagman” — the screams of audience members. It’s effectively unsettling.
Too bad then that onto this creepy canvas are placed such dull performances. The Strangers is all about the victim’s perspective but Liv is no Scream Queen. After an hour of watching her crawl around avoiding certain death it feels like Bertino is toying with viewers too, dragging out his suspenseful intro long past its lifespan, then tacking on a not-at-all unforeseen shock ending. His debut is above your average serial-killer thriller but having no bad ideas is not the same as having a good one.