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In a nutshell: a slasher movie with only two victims.

The Strangers was a huge disappointment.  I had heard how scary this was and how it wasn't like any other horror movie ever before it.  Well ...

For a few, brief minutes The Strangers really is scary.  One of the main characters is locked in the house while someone is trying to break in.  Not being safe in a safe place -- in a home -- is frightening, one of them most frightening scenarios.  Other than that, The Strangers is not scary.  It's just frustrating.  It's frustrating because it's just the same old horror movie cliches again, not done with any particular panache.

Stop me if you've heard this one:

A Girl and a Guy go to a remote house out in the sticks.  There's nobody around.  The Girl and the Guy have an argument, which leads to the Guy leaving for a while.  The Girl is terrorized by people in masks and freaks out.  She can't call for help because they cut the phone lines.  Eventually, she thinks one of them has gotten inside but it's only the Guy.  The Guy doesn't believe The Girl at first, until he too has a run-in with the masked people.

You can proably write it yourself from there on out.  Hell, toward the end, The Girl even hides in a closet with a louvered door (from people wearing SCARY WHITE MASKS, mind you).  Hmm, where have I seen that before?

The victims aren't any brighter than most slasher victims, but the killers are a different story.  They actually ARE smart.  For slasher movie killers, they're practically geniuses.  They don't do anything complicated or particularly brilliant, but they use *gasp* common sense!  Before they attack, they check the house to see if anyone's home and how many people are there.  They only attack when their victims are separated, so that it's three-on-one.  They use well-coordinated teamwork.  They obviously had a plan before going in.

They were very worthy slasher movie killers, and I wish their movie had given them victims worthy of them.  Here's hoping for a sequel that raises the bar.

I almost rented this the other day.  Instead I got "The Happening".  (which wasn't too bad)

I've heard mixed reviews of The Strangers.  About half loved it.  The other half hated it.  Pretty evenly split down the middle.  I want to see it and judge for myself.