The neo-classic horror film, The Strangers has been given a 4K UHD upgrade from Scream Factory. The results are stunning picture and sound.
The Film
What separates a truly great Horror Film from an average one is its ability to provoke not just a base reaction of scares or disturbed unease but to provoke a truly emotional reaction as well. The greats of the genre do just that; The Exorcist, Halloween, The Conjuring, and Silence of the Lambs all have a strong emotional component that works beyond the horror. The Exorcist is not only one of the scariest films of all time it’s an effective parallel drama about a Priest coping with the passing of his mother and a mother and daughter dealing with the ramifications of divorce. The Strangers is made with that same sort of care. It works as both a chamber drama and a home invasion story. Because of the care the filmmakers put into making The Strangers it has aged much better than its contemporaries. Slowly climbing the ranks of truly exceptional horror films.
The film directed by Bryan Bertino follows Kristen McKay (Tyler) and James Hoyt (Speedman) as they must fend off three masked strangers who set upon tormenting the couple throughout the night. What is often the premise for your standard issue home invasion plays out nothing like a standard issue entry into the subgenre. The story never delves into the sort of trashy exploitative junk that many home invasions do. Rather the film relies on the bond that has been formed between the audience and its main protagonist.
The dance that Tyler and Speedman play over the course of the film is one of the trickiest in recent memory. The film has to feel like a part of a whole and not two separate films. Neither plays things conventionally. There isn’t a “final girl” moment. There isn’t some act of bravery or uncommon brawn. Nothing feels out of step by the characters and the actors. There’s a delicacy that Bertino handles the performances with that’s still striking after fifteen years. The care and time Bertino allows the film to spend with these characters’ relationship before the horror begins makes The Strangers closer hued to Bergman or Antonioni.
Therein lies the power of the film. Rather than focusing on histrionics, Bertino turns his attention to the couple. Kristen and James are in the midst of a breakup as the film begins. We are only given fractals, glimpses of what happened. These opening scenes play out like Antonioni’s La Notte less narrative and more expressionistic. As both writer and director Bertino knows the film shouldn’t spell everything out. This isn’t beautiful people in for a weekend of fun, drugs, and sex of a standard-issue horror movie. It is a couple at the end of their relationship thrown into a situation that is as much a mystery to them as it is to us.
The work done by Tyler and Speedman is front and center here, and marvelous. The Strangers asks both actors to take things seriously beyond the horror premise. Neither fails to live up to what the script (written by Bertino) asks of them. The first thirty minutes play out like an intimate drama. Bertino leans into the couple’s drama. Rather than play this out as quickly as possible. As a film, The Strangers understands that this is as important, if not more so, than the horror.
We see Kristen and James happy earlier at a wedding but we also see the scorched crater after. There is much that is implied and inferred by the film rather than explicitly stating the obvious. At certain points, The Strangers is smarter than most dramas of the same ilk. Bertino’s sensitivity in these moments is what makes the film so special. He makes us invest in Kristen and James. We want to see them work everything out. We want to see them survive this horrendous night. Which makes everything in the last twenty minutes some of the most harrowing and effective sustained horror of the last twenty years.
The film doesn’t rely on gore like Inside or Martyrs for a reaction but on the emotional connection, we have to Kristen and James. In its final moments, the film finds both uncommon beauty in stark brutality.
The Strangers is transgressive horror at its best.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K Presentation from The Original Digital Intermediate Presented in Dolby Vision of The Unrated Cut is about the upgrade to 4K allows the widescreen cinematography from Peter Sova to breathe and have the subtly not in even the Blu-Ray Scream Factory released years earlier. There is not a scratch or blemish on the film. The transfer looks as beautiful as the film did when it was released back in 2008. There is a beautiful sheen of grain on transfer that makes the film come alive in a way that feels like you’re watching a beautifully preserved 35mm print. The transfer’s black levels and color reproduction in Dolby Vision add extra details that only refine the work done by Scream. This is a truly wonderful upgrade that shouldn’t be missed by any fan of the film.
The Extras
They include the following;
Note: The 4K UHD disc of the Unrated Cut only houses the movie. All of the special features appear on the Blu-ray Discs of the theatrical and unrated cuts of the film.
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY – THEATRICAL VERSION):
“The Element Of Terror” Featurette
“Strangers At The Door” Featurette
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer & TV Spots
DISC THREE (BLU-RAY – UNRATED VERSION):
“Defining Moments: Writing And Directing The Strangers”
“All The Right Moves: Kip Weeks On Playing The Man In The Mask”
“Brains And Brawn: Laura Margolis On Playing Pin-Up Girl”
“Deep Cuts: Kevin Greutert On Editing The Strangers”
Still Gallery
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY – THEATRICAL VERSION):
The Element of Terror (9:12) – an EPK style making-of featurette on the finding of the house that plays a major part of the film – the various sets and locations they used, and the challenges they faced during the production. Comments by production director Bryan Bertino, designer John Kretschmer, producer Sonny Mallhi,
Strangers At the Door (9:37) – an EPK style making-of featurette on the creation of the story and the screenplay – including comments on why they were drawn to the script, and the simplistic and primal nature of the movie and story. Comments by director Bryan Bertino, actors Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Laura Margolis, Kip Weeks, and more.
Deleted Scenes (4:56) – two deleted scenes; ‘James reflects at the bar’ and ‘Bathroom discussion’.
Theatrical Trailer & TV Spots (2:45) – 1 trailer and 3 TV Spots
DISC THREE (BLU-RAY – UNRATED VERSION):
Defining Moments: writing and directing The Strangers (29:37) – The interview with Bertino begins with how his love of horror films began in the 1980s when going to the Video Store on a Friday night to choose a film. The director discusses the panic that set in directing his first feature, the film sitting on the shelf for a year before being released, the origins of the project, and the making of the film itself. Bertino is justifiably proud of the work he’s done. He also gives some juicy tidbits on the other directors who attempted to make the project, some honest reactions about the budgets in horror films now, and much more.
All the Right Movies: Kip Weeks on playing the man in the mask (11:34) – The interview with Kip Weeks who played the Man in the Mask opens with just how good the script was, and how the film turned out. Weeks discusses his audition and the production itself. There are some good tidbits on how the process of making the Strangers into more than just a mask, the fact that he didn’t get the full script but just a breakdown of the character, that he was required to sing a folk song, the mistake that they were going to film in Florence Italy, getting the part and the work/research he did to make his performance more physical, and much more.
Brains and Brawn: Laura Margolis on playing the pin-up girl (13:44) – interview with Laura Margolis plays the Woman in the Pin Up Girl mask begins with what makes the film so terrifying for her and working with Bertino as a director. Margolis like Weeks discusses her audition process but also discusses her part and how it evolved Bertino’s work with her on the part as the leader of the group, her approach to the character, and much more.
Deep Cuts: Kevin Greutert on editing The Strangers (20:29) – interview with editor Kevin Greutert and his superb work on the film. The interview is fascinating for anyone who is looking for a “nuts and bolts” discussion of what an editor does on a film and specifically a horror film – he gives some truly great information about how they assemble cuts and the use of other “odds and ends” from various scenes to make other scenes work. A great notion of the accomplishment once the film is released and seeing it with an audience – including the darkest of transgressive moments. The way that the script and Bertino’s original intentions for the ending and other moments and how the studio changed those things by request and how they approached the change. Greutert’s work is so vital to the film’s success and is definitely the best bonus feature on the disc.
Still Gallery (4:02) – the gallery consists of 48 production stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and poster art. The gallery will play automatically but you can use your next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote to navigate.
The Final Thought
The Strangers is horror at its most emotionally effective. Scream Factory delivers the goods with a great transfer and thoughtful extras for a neo-Classic. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS
The neo-classic horror film, The Strangers has been given a 4K UHD upgrade from Scream Factory. The results are stunning picture and sound.
The Film
What separates a truly great Horror Film from an average one is its ability to provoke not just a base reaction of scares or disturbed unease but to provoke a truly emotional reaction as well. The greats of the genre do just that; The Exorcist, Halloween, The Conjuring, and Silence of the Lambs all have a strong emotional component that works beyond the horror. The Exorcist is not only one of the scariest films of all time it’s an effective parallel drama about a Priest coping with the passing of his mother and a mother and daughter dealing with the ramifications of divorce. The Strangers is made with that same sort of care. It works as both a chamber drama and a home invasion story. Because of the care the filmmakers put into making The Strangers it has aged much better than its contemporaries. Slowly climbing the ranks of truly exceptional horror films.
The film directed by Bryan Bertino follows Kristen McKay (Tyler) and James Hoyt (Speedman) as they must fend off three masked strangers who set upon tormenting the couple throughout the night. What is often the premise for your standard issue home invasion plays out nothing like a standard issue entry into the subgenre. The story never delves into the sort of trashy exploitative junk that many home invasions do. Rather the film relies on the bond that has been formed between the audience and its main protagonist.
The dance that Tyler and Speedman play over the course of the film is one of the trickiest in recent memory. The film has to feel like a part of a whole and not two separate films. Neither plays things conventionally. There isn’t a “final girl” moment. There isn’t some act of bravery or uncommon brawn. Nothing feels out of step by the characters and the actors. There’s a delicacy that Bertino handles the performances with that’s still striking after fifteen years. The care and time Bertino allows the film to spend with these characters’ relationship before the horror begins makes The Strangers closer hued to Bergman or Antonioni.
Therein lies the power of the film. Rather than focusing on histrionics, Bertino turns his attention to the couple. Kristen and James are in the midst of a breakup as the film begins. We are only given fractals, glimpses of what happened. These opening scenes play out like Antonioni’s La Notte less narrative and more expressionistic. As both writer and director Bertino knows the film shouldn’t spell everything out. This isn’t beautiful people in for a weekend of fun, drugs, and sex of a standard-issue horror movie. It is a couple at the end of their relationship thrown into a situation that is as much a mystery to them as it is to us.
The work done by Tyler and Speedman is front and center here, and marvelous. The Strangers asks both actors to take things seriously beyond the horror premise. Neither fails to live up to what the script (written by Bertino) asks of them. The first thirty minutes play out like an intimate drama. Bertino leans into the couple’s drama. Rather than play this out as quickly as possible. As a film, The Strangers understands that this is as important, if not more so, than the horror.
We see Kristen and James happy earlier at a wedding but we also see the scorched crater after. There is much that is implied and inferred by the film rather than explicitly stating the obvious. At certain points, The Strangers is smarter than most dramas of the same ilk. Bertino’s sensitivity in these moments is what makes the film so special. He makes us invest in Kristen and James. We want to see them work everything out. We want to see them survive this horrendous night. Which makes everything in the last twenty minutes some of the most harrowing and effective sustained horror of the last twenty years.
The film doesn’t rely on gore like Inside or Martyrs for a reaction but on the emotional connection, we have to Kristen and James. In its final moments, the film finds both uncommon beauty in stark brutality.
The Strangers is transgressive horror at its best.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K Presentation from The Original Digital Intermediate Presented in Dolby Vision of The Unrated Cut is about the upgrade to 4K allows the widescreen cinematography from Peter Sova to breathe and have the subtly not in even the Blu-Ray Scream Factory released years earlier. There is not a scratch or blemish on the film. The transfer looks as beautiful as the film did when it was released back in 2008. There is a beautiful sheen of grain on transfer that makes the film come alive in a way that feels like you’re watching a beautifully preserved 35mm print. The transfer’s black levels and color reproduction in Dolby Vision add extra details that only refine the work done by Scream. This is a truly wonderful upgrade that shouldn’t be missed by any fan of the film.
The Extras
They include the following;
Note: The 4K UHD disc of the Unrated Cut only houses the movie. All of the special features appear on the Blu-ray Discs of the theatrical and unrated cuts of the film.
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY – THEATRICAL VERSION):
DISC THREE (BLU-RAY – UNRATED VERSION):
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY – THEATRICAL VERSION):
The Element of Terror (9:12) – an EPK style making-of featurette on the finding of the house that plays a major part of the film – the various sets and locations they used, and the challenges they faced during the production. Comments by production director Bryan Bertino, designer John Kretschmer, producer Sonny Mallhi,
Strangers At the Door (9:37) – an EPK style making-of featurette on the creation of the story and the screenplay – including comments on why they were drawn to the script, and the simplistic and primal nature of the movie and story. Comments by director Bryan Bertino, actors Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Laura Margolis, Kip Weeks, and more.
Deleted Scenes (4:56) – two deleted scenes; ‘James reflects at the bar’ and ‘Bathroom discussion’.
Theatrical Trailer & TV Spots (2:45) – 1 trailer and 3 TV Spots
DISC THREE (BLU-RAY – UNRATED VERSION):
Defining Moments: writing and directing The Strangers (29:37) – The interview with Bertino begins with how his love of horror films began in the 1980s when going to the Video Store on a Friday night to choose a film. The director discusses the panic that set in directing his first feature, the film sitting on the shelf for a year before being released, the origins of the project, and the making of the film itself. Bertino is justifiably proud of the work he’s done. He also gives some juicy tidbits on the other directors who attempted to make the project, some honest reactions about the budgets in horror films now, and much more.
All the Right Movies: Kip Weeks on playing the man in the mask (11:34) – The interview with Kip Weeks who played the Man in the Mask opens with just how good the script was, and how the film turned out. Weeks discusses his audition and the production itself. There are some good tidbits on how the process of making the Strangers into more than just a mask, the fact that he didn’t get the full script but just a breakdown of the character, that he was required to sing a folk song, the mistake that they were going to film in Florence Italy, getting the part and the work/research he did to make his performance more physical, and much more.
Brains and Brawn: Laura Margolis on playing the pin-up girl (13:44) – interview with Laura Margolis plays the Woman in the Pin Up Girl mask begins with what makes the film so terrifying for her and working with Bertino as a director. Margolis like Weeks discusses her audition process but also discusses her part and how it evolved Bertino’s work with her on the part as the leader of the group, her approach to the character, and much more.
Deep Cuts: Kevin Greutert on editing The Strangers (20:29) – interview with editor Kevin Greutert and his superb work on the film. The interview is fascinating for anyone who is looking for a “nuts and bolts” discussion of what an editor does on a film and specifically a horror film – he gives some truly great information about how they assemble cuts and the use of other “odds and ends” from various scenes to make other scenes work. A great notion of the accomplishment once the film is released and seeing it with an audience – including the darkest of transgressive moments. The way that the script and Bertino’s original intentions for the ending and other moments and how the studio changed those things by request and how they approached the change. Greutert’s work is so vital to the film’s success and is definitely the best bonus feature on the disc.
Still Gallery (4:02) – the gallery consists of 48 production stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and poster art. The gallery will play automatically but you can use your next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote to navigate.
The Final Thought
The Strangers is horror at its most emotionally effective. Scream Factory delivers the goods with a great transfer and thoughtful extras for a neo-Classic. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS
Scream Factory’s 4K UHD Edition of The Strangers is out now.
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