The Stranger's - Review

[hostelmovies]

So I finished my Blu-Ray Horror Movie Trifecta today with The Stranger's.

I saw this in the theater and was unsure what to think. I kinda sat with me after I left of what I just saw. And I think Liv Tyler "seems" to be one of the sweetest things on the planet, so that might have been it. The movie did not concentrate on horror as much as it did pure terror, kinda like Silence of the Lambs or Vacancy, which it gets compared to left and right. I do like Vacancy as it is well done and seems original. So I was kinda eager to watch this and see what I thought the 2nd time around. And it does work on few levels and fails on others. The flat out creepyness of the Stranger's is what makes this work. Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler both impressed me with making it believeable. Tyler really puts on a show in a way that we have never seen her before.

The picture quality is great. Another good transfer. It kinda sits at one level through the whole movie but does enhance the viewing of it. Not much grain, but adds to overall tone of the movie. The DTS-HD audio track is the superstar of this Blu-Ray. A lot of the scares in this movie are audio scares and bass hits. I had knocking and banging coming from all over my theater room and I even jumped a few times with some of the sounds. I really enjoyed the outside ambient noises, like crickets and dogs barking. It adds to the overall enjoyment of the movie. My center channel was clear and bright and I could hear every word. And it did not overpower everything else. A awesome mix. The whole soundtrack did what a horror movie mix is suppose to do, add to the movie. What would the original Halloween be without the soundtrack, this compares, nothing as catchy, but effective.

The Stranger's is another Universal "Blu-Ray" homerun. Some may not like the movie. But the PQ and SQ are excellent, not reference but solid. There are a few things wrong with it, as people will point out below. It is at least worth a rental for you to make up your own mind

I liked the movie. I liked it more after the second viewing. And like the Ladies Man once said, that is my opinion and I can have that.

MOVIE: 3.5
PQ: 4.5
SQ: 5.0 (Seriously, sounded great on my system)
Features 1.5 (Some deleted scenes and 10 min. doc)

Watching Poltergeist right now. Might through a review up later.