In The Strangers Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler play James Hoyt and Kristen McKay, a couple at a crossroads in their relationship. As the film opens, James and Kristen are making their way to an isolated vacation home in the middle of the country. From the moment we meet these characters, we can sense something is wrong. After arriving at the home, the couple attempt to resolve the issues at hand, but shortly thereafter, these particular issues become the least of their worries. James and Kristen soon find themselves fighting for their lives after a psychotic trio of intruders break into the home.

The Strangers is much better than your average horror film. At least for the first act. First time director Bryan Bertino does a good job building tension through an ominous sense of quiet. While many of the current onslaught of horror film directors would rather shock you with gore and audio tactics, Bertino is more interested in tone and the power of silence. Clearly he was inspired by the likes of John Carpenter,

Sadly, the movie peaks in the first thirty five minutes. I could handle the obvious horror flick cliches that follow. They sort of come with the territory. Sometimes, it's fun to yell at the characters on screen for doing something stupid. The real problem with The Strangers is redundancy. It's simply too much of the same thing for a big chunk of it's running time. And given that the film is only eighty minutes, well that just doesn't cut it. And the ending of the picture is positively ridiculous. What starts as a terrific exercise in concept and tone, abruptly ends with the cheapest of scares.

The Strangers earns points for being a work of straight up horror. There isn't anything remotely funny about it, and many will, no doubt, be disgusted by the nihilistic direction the film takes (think Funny Games or Wolf Creek). This is a movie in which bad things happen to good people. These acts are carried out by a presence that we as an audience never get to understand. When Kristen asks these soul-less killing machines why they're doing this to them, one of them matter-of-factly replies; "Because you were home." A terrifying concept indeed. This isn't a story about morality. These mask wearing deadbeats are nothing more interesting than psychotic opportunists.

The Strangers certainly has a lot going for it. The acting is solid, the tone is creepy, and Bertino is quite competent behind the camera. It's too bad the second half of the film doesn't live up to the set up. Still, this is far more effective than dreck like Prom Night and as weirdness in the woods go it edges out Dreamcather.