Let’s set the record straight. If a movie is said to be INSPIRED by a true story, does it mean that it is a blow-by-blow account of a real-life event? No. It only means that the film borrows fragments of a real life event and makes a story out of this teeny-weeny fragment. The result is still fiction and that ‘INSPIRED by a true story’ tagline is just a marketing ploy.On the opening credits of “The Strangers”, it proclaims that it is INSPIRED by the real-life deaths of James Hoyt and Kristen McKay in 2005. The premise is simple: a couple staying in a desolate summerhouse start hearing loud knocks on their door, followed by random acts of violence perpetrated by three masked strangers. It is basically a thin story spread over a 90-minute running time. The scares soon die a natural death, leaving us with nothing to hold on to in the end.
Just so you would understand why I watched this film in the first place, take a look at its trailer. The looping music and the clever editing make up for a creepy after-effect.
