The Unenthusiastic Critic

The Unenthusiastic Critic


THE STRANGERS (2008)

October 29, 2020

There's no place like home, as The Unenthusiastic Critic's 2020 Halloween Movie Marathon concludes with Bryan Bertino's harrowing home-invasion thriller THE STRANGERS (2008), starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman.

Michael has been disappointed with Nakea's absence of actual fear throughout her horror movie ordeal, so this time he's chosen what seems like the perfect movie to creep her out, one that plays to all of her particular paranoias. Critically panned when it arrived in 2008, Bertino's feature debut has since been recognized as a tough, efficient, expertly crafted chiller that uses silence, space, and suspense to create an almost unbearable ordeal. But will this one have Nakea locking all the windows, turning on all the lights, and reaching for the butcher's knife?

Join us for a discussion of white suburban anxieties, sad break-up sex, and how these pre-pandemic killers prove that there's nothing you can't do while wearing a mask.

Program

00:00: Prologue: from The Strangers
00:44: Intro and Donation Acknowledgement
04:23: Cultural Osmosis: Pre-Viewing Discussion
13:50: Interlude: Original Trailer
15:42: The Verdict: Post-Viewing Discussion
56:18: Outro and Next Week's Movie
57:42: Outtake

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