The Strangers (2008)

3.5/5 stars

While I'm sure everyone whose seen or heard of this has noted that it is a bloody great edge-of-one's seat cat-and-mouse thing--total suspense mode--I'm sure not everyone noted how smart it is for other reasons:

1 - A long time before anything horror related happens, as the psychological tension is built up around the relationship between the two protagonists, which really comes to a head in a serious motherfucking way by the end of the film. A total new layer to a horror narrative I've never before seen used.

2 - GEMMA WARD IS ONE OF THE KILLER PEOPLE HOLY COW BRILLIANT. And when you see her you can barely see her face and it is one of the spookiest moments I've seen onscreen since probably, like, Signs (whatever that means). Her character's name is Dollface so how smart is that?? Anyone who knows Gemma knows that she's basically the dollface of the fashion world.

3 - Killer peeps have NO REAL MOTIVATION which makes it ALL THE MORE EERIE and post-9-11 all the way.

One of the best horror films I've seen in the past ten years and literally must-see viewing for anyone who appreciates a creeper.