Analysis - The Strangers

At the beginning of the opening sequence of The Strangers (2008), we see the film credits which include the producers and directors. After these have passed, three slides of text appear saying, “What you are about to see is inspired by true events. According to the FBI, there are an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes in America each year. On the night of February 11, 2005, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt left a friend’s wedding reception and returned to the Hoyt family’s summer home. The brutal events that took place there are still not entirely known.” All of this is written in dark yellow writing with a slight bit of pink underneath on a black background. A male’s voice is heard reading the text as it appears on the screen before fading to black each time. Even though the yellow writing stands out on the black background, yellow, pink and black are not colours you would necessarily put with one another which could even be unsettling to look at or read yourself. This could then symbolise the unsettling nature of the rest of the film.

By saying “inspired by true events” and “there are an estimated 1.4 million violent rimes in America each year”, the fear is increased in the spectator before the film has even started as we are being told that something very similar has happened before which may not seem too uncommon due to the statistics given. The beginning of the story is told of Kristen McKay and James Hoyt. This piece of text explains that these two people are people are coming back from an event, as many people do, which is also saying that there is nothing special about these two characters; they just live a normal life. The spectator then gets the idea that this “brutal” situation could happen to anyone, including themselves, as Kristen and James were not said to be targeted for a particular reason.

As the final piece of text fades to black, the engine of a car is heard turning on. The screen stays black for a few seconds as the eerie non-diegetic sound begins and plays against the car engine. The camera fades from black to a couple of houses passing from right to left. This could be seen as a point of view shot as the camerawork is uneven, due to being in the car we heard earlier. After a few seconds of seeing the houses, it slowly fades back to black for about 2 seconds. This happens seven times in total, all of which are not in normal speed, but in slow motion. As we see more shots of houses, the lighting outside gets darker as it turns to night time, which is often the seen as the perfect time of day for the scenarios which happen in thrillers.

As the camera fades to black a final time, we hear a woman on a telephone asking, “911, what’s your emergency?” Another person is heard on the other side of the call, not saying anything but breathing quickly and heavily, as if she is out of breath from running from something or someone. This then grabs the spectator’s attention and their curiosity increases as to why she is breathing like this and adds enigma to why she is calling emergency services. The woman then repeats the line, “911, what’s your emergency? Are you there?” Again, more of the other woman’s breathing is heard before she says, “the-there are people here” The stuttering and shakiness in her voice confirm that she is indeed running or hiding from intruders. As this line is said, the screen cuts from black to the front of a car with the glass smashed; the hole in the glass almost looks like a heart. Romance is the complete contrast of the situation that this woman is in which leaves a disturbing atmosphere for the spectator. The camera moves slowly from left to right, revealing two young boys looking towards the camera, standing inside the hole in the distance.

This telephone call turns into non-diegetic sound as the boys cannot hear this because we can tell that this is the outcome of the woman’s situation. As the call continues with the woman giving the emergency services her details, the two boys are shown walking in through the open doors of the house. The next shot shows a record player playing but with no sound coming out as it is at the end of the record. This suggests that the owners had no time to turn it off due to their circumstances as if it was the least important worry of theirs. The next few shots show a ring box on the floor surrounded by flower petals, a knife half covered in blood, a bloody stain on the wall, and a firearm on a kitchen counter. These are all shot with handheld cameras as if we are the boys seeing this setting. The ring and petals suggest that the two characters mentioned were going to have a romantic night, but the camera quickly cuts to some disturbing props, making the spectator forget all about the happiness that had once been. The camera then cuts to black, with the woman’s voice echoing, “There’s blood everywhere.” The little detail given to the spectator makes them curious and increases their interest in this couple’s situation.