Movie - The Strangers

Good lord, did I have the weirdest movie experience last Saturday. Even though I had wanted to see The Incredible Hulk, I settled for the earlier show of this Liv Tyler-Scott Speedman thriller, The Strangers. I live for these kinds of movies and it being a Saturday night, I couldn't think of anything better than cozying up with some mystery, suspense, and gore.

For the first time in my life, I was scared out of my mind. I never get scared. I've even watched movies where the guys are freaked out and asking me why we picked this movie. I live for all things sci-fi and horror. But this was a completely different kind of terror. It was so quiet and stealth, and some of the scariest scenes were so unexpectedly jarring that I just could not take it. I barely watched most of the movie, I swear. I had my hands covering my eyes for about 2/3 of it (because not much happens in the first 1/3 except the set-up for all the fright to follow). My friend actually had to tell me what was going on. And every time I cracked open my fingers, I saw those scary, white-masked murderers and nearly had a heart attack. I've always been creeped-out by the idea of killer clowns and all sorts of evil hidden under goodness, so these 3 murderers in their smiling masks nearly made my hair go white with fright.

I don't know if I'm getting old or if this movie was really that good. In retrospect, I think it was a little of both. I don't think I can take how randomly awful the world can be sometimes. I had to go to TGIF's (yes, there is actually one near my house) to shake off the fear over some buffalo wings and a drink. And I read beauty magazines with the lights on until I finally fell asleep. And I locked all the windows. And oh yeah, I will never live in a country cabin on a dirt road. Actually, I'm a bit impressed that I suffered even a measly 6 hours after watching this movie. No amount of film or television as ever been able to do that. Just for kicks, I may have to see this again - and this time, I might actually be able to watch it. It's gotten some pretty good reviews, too. If you want to test the scare factor of a horror flick, go check this out.