The Strangers (2008) - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Shockingly, a little horror film titled The Strangers has become a monster cult hit since it debuted in theaters in 2008. That $9 million budget captured the terror of a sadistic home invasion film that brought in over $80 million at the box office and fans keep talking about it almost 20 years later. The film spawned a sequel in 2018 and most recently as of 2024, has three back-to-back sequels made by the '90s action-film legend Renny Harlin. Similar to John Carpenter's classic low-budget chiller Halloween, it all started with this small terror flick of masked people appearing in the darkest corners of the house ready to murder. 

Director Bryan Bertino took his cues from the Manson Family murders and a few other serial killings in the United States. He utilized those details to bring The Strangers to life. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman play a couple who are vacationing in the woods after a friend's wedding when mysterious masked people show up and start to terrorize the couple leading to a fairly gritty climax. The narrative itself isn't anything new, however, bertino's artistic eye for dread and suspense packs a meaningful punch when this couple has to navigate survival from masked killers. The eventual reason for this bloody chaos is scarier than the normal outing because it seems so random, where Bertino might have been commenting on the violence in America over the decades. Whatever the reason is, The Strangers is still an entertaining horror film that is even more frightening today with the popularity of Airbnb vacation rentals.

Check out our full review here.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
The Strangers intrudes its way to 4K + Blu-ray via Scream Factory. The three discs are housed inside a hard black plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. The 4K Disc is pressed on a BD-66 disc and has the Unrated Version and the two BD-50 Blu-ray discs are for the Theatrical Version and unrated movie. There is no insert for a digital code. The artwork is a movie still of the film of Liv Tyler standing alone in the living room with a masked killer looking at her. It's creepy.

The Strangers finally comes home with a 2160p UHD 4K transfer with Dolby Vision. The first release of this film had its Blu-ray debut back when the format was born. Scream Factory later gave it an upgrade with a 2K transfer that has now resulted in this 4K image that looks the best it has since theaters. The movie is dark in nature and tone and has a very specific color palette. The amber glows of the lights inside the cabin that brings forth the brown furniture and cabinetry, along with the yellow and reddish household items look great here. There is a yellow and amber tint throughout the movie that makes the image look like it's decaying. There are very few instances of cooler, earthier tones.

The black levels are inky and rich with the help of the Dolby Vision giving it a more haunting look that contrasts nicely with the amber lighting. The skin tones are mostly natural but have that yellow glow to them. The detail is sharp and vivid, even in those darker sequences. Closeups reveal facial pores, individual hairs, textures in the masks and clothing, and antique-like textures in the cabin. The filmic quality is not lost here and gives the film that nostalgic edge of '80s horror films. This is the best the film has looked since its initial release and doesn't have any major issues to speak of.

The same DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix comes with each Disc in this set. An accompanying DTS-HD 2.0 stereo option is also available with each disc as well. The movie still sounds great when it needs to and relies on those creepy voices and footsteps throughout the house. A Dolby Atmos track would have enhanced the audio landscape, however, this 5.1 option does the trick.

Click Here for the full Audio Review.

There are 108 minutes of extras located on the two Blu-ray discs. There are no bonus features on the 4K disc. The extras are comprised of older and newish interviews with the cast and crew and are worth watching.

• The Elements of Terror (HD, 9 Mins.) - The cast and crew talk about working on the horror film, Liv Tyler talks about screaming, and how some of the sets were built.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 5 Mins.) - A few deleted sequences that don't add much to the overall film.
• Strangers at The Door (HD, 10 Mins.) - The cast and crew discuss reading the screenplay for the first time and realize it was not funny, along with casting information.
• Defining Moments (HD, 30 Mins.) - A newish interview with the director who fondly reminisces about making the movie and working with the cast. He also talks about how he came up with the idea and how he wrote the screenplay.
• All the Right Moves (HD, 12 Mins.) - Kip Weeks talks about his role in the film, his audition, and how excited he was to film in Italy, but was sad to only film in South Carolina.
• Brains and Brawn (HD, 14 Mins.) - Laura Margolis discusses her role in the horror film and what it was like to work in the mask.
• Deep Cuts (HD, 21 Mins.) - Editor Kevin Gruert talks about the editing process and how the terror came alive during his process.
• Still Gallery (HD, 4 Mins.) - A collection of production photos and promo art.
• Trailers (HD, 3 Mins.) - A couple of trailers for the film.

The Strangers still packs a terrorizing punch almost twenty years later. The slow-burn horror, mixed with the haunting masked figures still scares up big frights in this modern era of vacation house rentals. Scream Factor's 4K transfer with Dolby Vision looks excellent and the same DTS=HD 5.1 audio track sounds wonderful. There are some great bonus features as well. The 4K image and all of the bonus features combined into one release are reason enough to upgrade here.  Highly Recommended!