Shout Factory continues to churn out the horror classics, but not all of them are from way back. Their latest release is 2008s The Strangers from director Bryan Bertino who states that the story was based on something that occurred when he was a kid as well as the Manson Murders while others claim it was based off the 2006 French film Them.  The film stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman which comes at the perfect time with the release of its sequel The Strangers: Prey at Night currently in theaters. Now fans can bring home an all-new collector’s edition to relive the nightmare, but does it hold up or will it be an invasion not worth reliving?

​

The Strangers follows a couple staying in an isolated vacation house receive a knock on the door in the mid-hours of the night. What ensues is a violent invasion by three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. The couple find themselves in a violent struggle, in which they go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive. The story here works really well with director Bertino building great suspense throughout instead of trying to go right to the blood and gore. While I am a fan of slasher films filled with blood, this tension building added something different to the mix than most. The killers are memorable and offer up the simplistic reasoning behind their savagery which is simply because they can.

​

Speedman and Tyler do a great job here, but the long build-up of their troubled relationship gets a bit played out with very little direction that plays up in regard to the overall story. I know they were going for a more realistic approach and had we not known anything about where this film is going might have worked better, but instead I found myself just eager to get through it and not really caring about their issues. Overall though the film holds up and does one major thing that the new sequel does not and that is offer up victims that at least try to fight back instead of just watching themselves get killed and tortured.

​

This new release not only offers HD master of the theatrical cut, but also deleted scenes, a still gallery, interviews, featurettes and an unrated version of the film as well. Preapre for who is knocking at the door and grab your copy of The Strangers: Collector’s Edition available now on Blu-ray from Shout Factory.

For more information head over to www.shoutfactory.com