The Strangers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Strangers Blu-ray Movie Review

In 2008 University of Texas-Austin filmmaking alum Bryan Bertino got a major break when he received a Motion Picture Academy grant for his screenplay, The Strangers (only the third script he'd written). Universal Pictures had read it and wanted to make it but as he recounts in a new interview on this package, Bertino was disappointed that the studio removed him as director. After passing the script around with no takers, the project eventually fell back into Bertino's lap as the twenty-nine-year-old made it with the aid of Rogue Pictures and other production firms. The Strangers is perhaps the first contemporary mainstream film to capitalize on the home-invasion thriller, raking in over $52 million at the domestic box office. The picture brought in a larger audience than the similarly themed Vacancy (2007), Screen Gems' sleeper starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale. It also fell on the coattails of the torture porn surge, although such scenes are minimal in The Strangers and depicted in a more restrained fashion. For a complete critique of the movie, you can check out my colleague Marty Liebman's 2008 review.

Kristen better get the butcher knife in the drawer before the masked figure reaches her!

The Strangers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Shout! Factory has acquired The Strangers from Universal and put out a commemorative two-disc "Collector's Edition" with a slipcover containing both the original theatrical version (85 minutes) and the unrated extended cut (87 minutes). (Packaging incorrectly lists the latter with a run time of 91 minutes but the unrated version is just two minutes longer.) While Universal's 2008 US and UK discs includes both cuts, they are placed on a single BD-25 and use the VC-1 encode. Shout! has given each cut its own BD-50 using the MPEG-4 AVC encode. Authoring and compression are also vastly superior. Average video bitrates on the Universal are a paltry 17.04 Mbps. Both cuts on the Shout! discs approach a mean video bitrate of 35000 kbps. (The total bitrate on each reaches 42.91 Mbps.) Shout! touts on the packaging that each is extracted from an "all-new film transfer" and "taken from a 2K digital intermediate." DVD Talk's Adam Tyner has made the prescient observation that the palette on the Universal transfer "has a slightly skewed look that could've been nicked from half the '70s grindhouse flicks off 42nd St." That was Bertino and Sova's intent so it must be taken into account when evaluating the image quality. In his 3.5/5 video review on the Universal release, my colleague Marty Liebman notes "a slight softness to much of the transfer...blacks appear crushed in certain scenes, but deep and accurate in others, and in some scenes, the blacks take on a hint of gray." I reckon that overall, blacks appear more solid and a bit deeper in the new transfer. 90-95 percent of The Strangers was shot at night and it maintains a very dark appearance throughout, with occasional fill and source lights covering spots. The red hue that Marty references is also here, particularly in Screenshot #19 where Tyler's face is burning up. Film grain is preserved during the darker shots in which a face's pores are faintly visible. There really aren't hardly any compressional or film artifacts. Background detail seems a bit more pronounced on this transfer. The German-based Wicked-Vision review notes motion blur on the DE Kinowelt Home Entertainment edition (which also employs an AVC-encode) but blurriness is a non-issue on the Shout! discs. Daytime scenes in the outdoors look warm and colors are sharply defined.

Shout! has provided twelve scene selections apiece.

The Strangers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! has included two sound tracks on both cuts: for the Theatrical, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (3577 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1978 kbps, 24-bit); for the Unrated, A DTS-HD MA 5.1 (3575 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD MA 2.0 (1985 kbps, 24-bit). I primarily listened to the 5.1 mix for this review. The center and front speakers display James and Kristen's murmurs and hushed tones with aplomb. There is excellent separation on all f/x noises. The door knocks on the Hoyt's front door are very loud and captured well by the satellite speakers. Footsteps and thuds are accented with some good bass. The car crash, barn scene, and shotgun roars are also highlights on this track. tomandandy's (the composing duo of Andy Milburn and Thomas Hajdu) original score is performed by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra and is given more than a decent workout here. Bass, cello, guitar, and other strings are supplemented with electronic sounds which overlay a spooky atmosphere for the film's dimly lit setting. Musical sounds are synchronized well with character movements and objects (such as the axe). Period songs on the record player demonstrate high fidelity and some discreteness along the fronts.

Optional English SDH are available for both cuts, although I didn't have to turn them on during my first viewing.

The Strangers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

DISC ONE: THEATRICAL VERSION

• "R" Rated Theatrical Cut (1:25:10, 1080p)

• NEW "The Element of Terror" featurette (9:12, upconverted to 1080) - an EPK featurette with B-roll footage and interview snippets with cast and crew. In English, not subtitled.

• "Strangers at the Door" featurette (9:37, upconverted to 1080) - a holdover from Universal's US/UK discs. We hear remarks from production designer John Kretschmer, director Bryan Bertino, executive producer Sonny Mallhi, production sound mixer Jeffrey Bloomer, key makeup & prosthetics artist Vincent Schicchi, stunt coordinator Cal Johnson, as well as actors Liv Tyler and Glenn Howerton. In English, not subtitled.

• Deleted Scenes (4:46, upconverted to 1080) - two deleted scenes titled "James Reflects at the Bar" and "Bathroom Discussion" that are upscaled from SD and presented in non-anamorphic 2.35:1. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW TV Spots (1:34, upconverted to 1080) - three full-frame TV spots with film clips presented in letterboxed 2.35:1. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Theatrical Trailer (1:11, 1080p) - this is more of a teaser and is presented in about 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. It was left off the Universal US and UK BDs. In English, not subtitled.

• Unrated Cut (1:27:34, 1080p)

• NEW Defining Moments: Writing and Directing The Strangers (29:37, 1080p) - director Bryan Bertino gives a thoughtful interview about how The Strangers came to fruition, his reasons for choosing Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman for the leads, his philosophy for making films, horror then and now, and how the movie changed his career. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW All the Right Moves: Kip Weeks on Playing the Man in the Mask (11:34, 1080p) - Weeks describes the audition process for The Strangers and how he created a personality for the wordless masked killer. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Brains and Brawn: Laura Margolis on Playing Pin-Up Girl (13:44, 1080p) - Margolis talks about what it was like playing Pin-Up Girl, working with Gemma Ward and Kip Weeks, and some shots that were altered after test screenings. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Deep Cuts: Kevin Greutert on Editing The Strangers (20:29, 1080p) - Greutert looks back at the Saw sequels that he cut and later collaborating with Bertino. He delves into the myriad editorial decisions that went into shuffling and transposing various scenes and shots (partial and whole). He recounts audiences' reactions at sneak previews of The Strangers and subsequent changes made to the eventual theatrical cut. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Still Gallery (4:02, 1080p) - the first three minutes of this slide show present thirty-three minutes of color photos from the production of The Strangers including some snapshots of Bertino on the set. The last minute contains about thirteen posters from the US, Japanese, Spanish, and other foreign market publicity campaigns.

The Strangers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ten years following its original release, The Strangers holds up as a primal influence on the home-invasion terror thriller. It's largely successful at what it tries to do, although I think there have been better and stronger genre offerings made since. Part of the The Strangers' mystery resides in the unexplainable realm and that is the film's point. Still, the similarly plotted You're Next (2011) and even Greutert's Jackals (2016) have more substance and intriguing things going on in their stories. I more appreciate than like The Strangers for its fine craftsmanship. Shout! Factory has assembled the definitive package of the film to date. The upgraded video looks stellar and true to its makers. Shout! has incorporated a couple of vintage extras on disc one that were not on Universal's releases and added four splendid new interviews on the second disc. The movie is RECOMMENDED with my qualifiers while the Shout!'s two-disc set earns a STRONG RECOMMENDATION.