Can we finally acknowledge that horror films have largely turned into another genre, that of sadism? There is a huge difference between film bloodshed and gore that is a part of a horrific/suspenseful scenario, and that which is done so the audience can watch people undergo agony, as in the 'Hostel' franchise. I can't take it. It is not scary; it's just disgusting. As in this film. Take away the idiot decisions about the gun, going outside, leaving your girl alone in an isolated home after a freak comes by, calling for help, etc., and there's the making for good, scary suspense. Turn it into an exercise in extended sadism, and it's purely gratuitous in a disturbing way. Do people actually think it's 'scary' or 'suspenseful' to watch the girl beg for her life, as she sees her guy stabbed and stabbed? It's not. It's unrelenting misery and there's something way wrong with anyone who thinks it's good filmmaking. The strangers were extremely terrifying, and there are psychopaths out there. But this nightmare of torture and sadism is NOT a great scary movie (which I love as a genre), or suspenseful. It's mean and ugly, and what scares me is how torture is the new horror.
Review of The Strangers
