MovieChat Forums > The Strangers (2008) Discussion > What were they thinking???

What were they thinking???

posted 13 years ago by DalcassianKnight
30 replies | jump to latest

What a piece of garbage. This movie was so unrealistic, it's almost funny. They say it was based on a true story. Let's face it, it was very Very VERY loosely based on a true story. In fact, about the only true fact they kept to was that a murder took place in a cabin.

I could go on all night but I just have one question, what were the killers thinking? Stay with me here and be honest. Not that any of you are deranged killers but, IF you were going to kill somebody and brought along an axe to do the deed, then find out that your intended victim is armed with a freakin' shotgun, would you seriously stick around... or might you think "forget this, I'll go pick on somebody else".

I know if it were me and all I had was an axe and somebody fired at me with a shotgun, I'd hightail it outta there. I think most people would. You can't tell me that THAT part of the story was true. I think most of the "events" in this movie were completely fabricated.

True story????? Yea right.

[–] Bindweed6 13 years ago

If you're a troll, you fail at trolling. If you're being geniune, you fail at being an intelligent person. Thanks and goodbye.

[–] DalcassianKnight 13 years ago

My humblest apologies Bindweed. I was not aware that my observations would offend you so deeply and you would subsequently feel the overwhelming need to insult me. I can only hope that you feel better now that you've had an opportunity to vent your penned up anger and can move on with your healing process.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] skb77 13 years ago

Exactly! They say just having a dog will deter your house from "strangers".......much less a shotgun. And I believe that factually most murders occur by someone you know. Come on guys....just think a little and write a story. This was too easy.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] moviedude346 13 years ago

OP i cannot agree with you more. The Strangers in the movie are too stupid, but they dont hold a CANDLE to the bumbling idiots that are Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman's charcters. If I was trying to kill someone and they were *THIS* close to blowing my brains out with a shotgun I would get the hell out of there.

When the couple gets the gun and hides in the closet, why dont they just LEAVE? there car is still working but its just smashed up a bit. Even if the car wasn't working they could just WALK away. They have a freaking GUN! Of course the rules of horror state that the heros need to loose the gun in order for the strangers to continue the terror, but the way they loose the gun is just so damn DUMB. "There *MIGHT* be a RADIO in the barn, which I will somehow use to call for help. Kristen, stay here in the house that the killers can get into with ease while my stupid ass takes our only weapon outside."

Seems legit.
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"GARBAGE DAY"!

[–] scottstvshop 13 years ago

Their best option was the small area they were hunkered down in, then they had a chance to make them come to them, but once they lost the gun plus I would have stayed in the car, they could keep ramming it but the car would have kept going for awhile at least to someplace less remote.

[–] KopCity 13 years ago

I rate this 5.5/10 only because acting was good and director succeeded as i thought it was slightly scary...some really stupid parts! silly ending

[–] SillyPhilly 13 years ago

So collectively we're saying in that situation a gun solves all, it's a wrap for the Strangers,game over? In your real lives, you would handle this unnerving dilema like trained professionals?

IIRC, the main characters didn't have much firearm experience. They were in the middle of nowhere. They were both emotionally drained. You really can't say how you would react to a situation like that until they are literally kicking in your door. I'm not defending a 5/10 movie(although I enjoyed it for the most part), I'm just questioning your "this is what I would do" bravado.

As an afterthought, the only reaction I would be certain of in my life would be to not separate. No way would someone say stay here I'll be back and expect me to just wait in the house. Strength in numbers.

[–] Ginnn 13 years ago

people who say it is rubbish are the ones who know that they are really defenceless if the same happens to them. Thank you for letting us know, you might be next )

[–] ninjagaijin 11 years ago

"people who say it is rubbish are the ones who know that they are really defenceless if the same happens to them. Thank you for letting us know, you might be next ) "

The situation in this movie has NEVER happened to anyone and NEVER will.

[–] riverwalk 13 years ago

''As an afterthought, the only reaction I would be certain of in my life would be to not separate. No way would someone say stay here I'll be back and expect me to just wait in the house. Strength in numbers.''

what got me is how liv tyler left the house after the boyfriend and was unarmed when any normal person would have a knife at all times

[–] riverwalk 12 years ago

''So collectively we're saying in that situation a gun solves all, it's a wrap for the Strangers,game over? In your real lives, you would handle this unnerving dilema like trained professionals?

IIRC, the main characters didn't have much firearm experience. They were in the middle of nowhere. They were both emotionally drained. You really can't say how you would react to a situation like that until they are literally kicking in your door. I'm not defending a 5/10 movie(although I enjoyed it for the most part), I'm just questioning your "this is what I would do" bravado.

As an afterthought, the only reaction I would be certain of in my life would be to not separate. No way would someone say stay here I'll be back and expect me to just wait in the house. Strength in numbers.''

i get your point but yea in this case the gun can solve all,like ive never used a gun myself but in a situation like that if i had it in my hands and was being terrorised i would not be seperated from it or the person i was wiv under any circumstances,the gun is were the writers screwed up.No1 in their right mind would be dumb enough to get seperated from it.

[–] RomeoKnight 10 years ago

Acting was good? Mmmkay...

[–] ragreen259 13 years ago

First, there's no claim it's a true story, clearly you're in a fog on that one... and the incident it was BASED on was nothing like the story. Sorry you spent a half hour writing something based on your own imagination.

[–] FireWave 13 years ago

I was disappointed by this movie. It's slow, boring and unrealistic. I enjoyed, for example Vacansy so much, but this was stupid. Main duo seemed uninterested in this one.

You can't cheat Dheath, unless you're not Sidney, Gale and Dewey... :)

[–] slambadger 12 years ago

The "true" in this "true story" was an event that happened to the writer as a child. One night people came knocking on doors in their neighborhood looking for someone, nobody thought of it until there was a string of burglaries from the houses that had no answer. Yes it is, other than that, a complete work of fiction.

I fell that the couple were very real, barring the reviewers ability to relate having loved so much it hurt to let go, losing someone special to you or having been rejected after putting ones self on the line, I can let go, not everyone has ever had that happen and thus cannot relate to eh emotions on the screen and see it as dull or boring or even stupid and funny, I was 13 once too. Back to my point, however, people are careless, and they are woefully aware of their surroundings and when something goes down that pulls them from their singular happy and tranquil track of reality, they simply fall to pieces.

Why did he leave his phone in the car? Why did they leave the room after they shot his friend? It was still the most guarded and secure position to maintain. Why did they stop when the truck came up from behind them? (I personally would have gunned it out of there)

Yes they had a gun, but the strangers were watching them from the get go. They had everything under control. It was their maze, and the couple, having been frightened out of their wits, were never in a clear state of mind to see their way clearly through it, and they ultimately paid for it with their lives.

Ultimately I feel this movie although fiction, to be quite realistic. If it seems unreal that's probably because you are not observing people close enough to understand them in times of panic and peace.

[–] BlackDog123 12 years ago

I've never shot a gun in my life. I like to think I'd learn pretty quickly if I was in a situation like that, but if someone came at me fast enough I doubt I'd be able to load it or whatever in time. I don't think their reactions were inconsistent with real life. First of all, the strangers had them in a state of extreme terror and panic. When you're panicking, you don't think clearly and you get shaky. Secondly, who expects something like this to happen? When you hear something outside, you may be scared for a moment (I'm a big wimp and I scare easily), but you tell yourself it's just the wind and you're overreacting. You may be nervous, but you never TRULY expect to see a knife wielding, mask wearing maniac at your window. They were being toyed with in a remote area with the phone out of service. Liv Tyler had never been there before. Their tires were slashed. Once Scott Speedman shot his best friend, it was all over - he was a wreck.

The strangers themselves were thrill seekers. They seemed like they were on drugs. I doubt they'd be afraid just because someone had a shotgun.

I don't think this was the greatest movie ever, but it gave me a scare because I can see a city person like myself acting similarly. Not everyone is cut out to be Rambo. My major complaint is that the first 15 minutes are kind of boring and seem to belong to a different movie. I gave it a 6 out of 10.

They're coming to get you, Barbara!

[–] lyndieirons 12 years ago

Ok, I'm not going to be too harsh on this movie because I believe the sound, pacing, visuals and music where all combined beautifully by the director to really build up the suspense and really make it horrifying.

But I have to agree the plot makes little sense AFTER you think about it. Considering that it is two against three, two of the strangers are female (hey I'm a girl so you can't accuse me of being sexist but have you seen the pictures of the females who played the masked killers? They are both skinny supermodels)

Besides that and the points already raised, how did masked man get in the house in the first place and then appear outside again in the window? How did the strangers disappear so easily when Scott got home? Why didn't he just keep on driving ? Why do they keep running back into the house? The house is the least safe place to be. Why did Liv not kick dollface or pin up girls ass when they where in her face? She is built better than them.

The way I see it, had her phone been charged (cell phone) cops would have been there in no time. They cut the chord to the main house but obviously reception wsa good enough for her to call her husband. He left his phone in the car. If he hadn't, or if he had picked it up when they tried to drive away again, police would have showed up.

With those complaints in mind, the fact that the strangers all wear masks has a pretty chilling psychological effect on you. They seem out of this world. Like demons. Like Mike Meyers. But if you imagine the movie without the masks, how scary could these two super model girls and one hairy hipster actually be? How strong could they realistically be? How fearless could they actually be?

But anyways I still enjoyed the movie, because it did what it set out to do, it creeped me out and made my heart race. It reminded me of the best Japanese horror films and old classic horror movies that spend a lot of time on build up and suspense over blood and gore effects. I also like that they tried to humanize the characters and give them a back story and emotions, unlike so many horror movies where you feel nothing for the victims because they are just there to be victims (like hostel etc) I was surprised that people felt the characters lacked depth because let's face it, this is a horror movie, characters never have depth, they are either victims or survivors, that's it. And at least you got a sense that these people had lived their lives as lead characters in a romantic drama before ending up the victims in a horror movie.

One more thing, when is Scott Speedman going to get naked in a movie? LOL Any movie that has Scott Speedman in it where he is not naked is wasting a perfectly good Scott Speedman. The man should be shown in as little as possible as often as possible :-D

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] ninjagaijin 11 years ago

here here. Too true. It was a disgusting waste of money.