First of all, if you haven’t watched The Strangers I highly urge you to do so before reading this. You will definitely like it (unless you’re a major movie critic that perceives the horror genre as lowest of the lows–and in that case, I must politely ask you to leave my page!)
Secondly, I get it. Nowadays, so many movies have plot-holes, and surely this film had its own, but you got to give props to director-screenwriter Bryan Bertino for scaring the crap out of you with this one.
*SPOILERS*
That scene where the woman appears at the front door has to be the most unsettling of the whole film. Now, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely loved it when the crazed, masked killer watched the oblivious, poor Kristen (Liv Tyler) have a cigarette in the kitchen. That moment had me SCREAMING. Still, there’s something about that girl at the door that sends chills down my spine, to this day.
Here’s why:
“Is Tamara here?”
“No, you got the wrong house.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.”
“See you later.”
Let’s break it down:
From the very moment they open the door, they sense something is off about this girl. Like, who wouldn’t? She just stares at them without uttering a word. And I must say, I absolutely LOVE the fact that this girl can perfectly see Kristen and James (Scott Speedman) while they cannot see her. The only two things they have to work with are broken lightbulb and a woman’s menacing silhouette.
Again, let’s go back to the eeriness of the staring.
After James, once again, assures her that she’s got the wrong house, she just stands there not saying a word–the most uncomfortable pause in cinematic history that is downright frightening. You can even sense the terror by the look of their faces–they look scared out of their minds!
And finally, she ends it with “See you later.”
You might ask, how the hell is that scary? Let me explain. When someone says “see you later”, they do so with the intention of meeting you sometime in the near future. In this case, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. She knows she’ll be back and with only one intention: to kill them.
Now, go back and watch that scene, and tell me you don’t agree?
AllthingsUncanny 