Plenty of tension in 'The Strangers'

'The Strangers' is an edge-of-seat thriller about the battle of wits between a young couple and three masked misfits who invade their home in the dead of night.

For the first hour, writer-director Bryan Bertino’s debut feature is riveting, cranking up the suspense until our knuckles are white with fear as the trapped lovebirds creep nervously around the house, unaware their tormentors are hovering in the shadows.

Tension dissipates once best friend Mike (Glenn Howerton) arrives at the house to collect James (Scott Speedman) and walks to his bloody doom, and the film’s logic buckles noticeably to ensure Kristen (Liv Tyler) ends up back in the house, at the mercy of the deadly trio for the gratuitously violent finale, rather than running down the driveway to flag down a passing car.

Rating: 3/5