tMC MOVIE DEATH MATCH - The Strangers vs High Tension

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Permalink Reply by Nick Harper on October 25, 2008 at 11:15pm

ohhhhh, this is such a tough one.

as much as i loved Strangers, im gonna have to go with High Tension. i'm gonna try not to ruin it if you haven't seen it, but come on, who saw that ending coming? i certainly did not, and the violence was just the perfect amount and well, the tension is certainly high.. haha

but this is by far the closest one i have commented on

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Permalink Reply by Daniel the Awesome on October 26, 2008 at 1:33am

Arg, two I've wanted to watch. I guess I'll have to rent them now. Hopefully The Strangers is better than Funny Games and High Tension is better than Wolf Creek.

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Permalink Reply by Shari on October 26, 2008 at 10:50am

Daniel... I haven't see Wolf Creek(??) but High Tension, I'm certain would beat it! My goodness that was so freaky! I was working as a projectionist at the time and when I had to check occasionally to make sure that the film was running okay, in the dark all alone was not a place I wanted to be. Funny Games sucked so you MUST know that The Strangers, which had me almost crying like a baby, was far superior. Good match up, guys!

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Permalink Reply by Lauren S. on January 2, 2010 at 12:28pm

The Strangers completely, its a classic horror film.

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Permalink Reply by Shari on January 2, 2010 at 1:53pm

Watch High Tension.... scared me to DEATH! I'll put Wolf Creek in my queue.

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Permalink Reply by silly goose noelle on January 2, 2010 at 6:34pm

i didn't like the strangers-- it was a piss poor american version of ils, aka them, the whole point of ils was how mundane violence could be, but what's worse, the best part of ils was in the first 8 minutes.

while i have my issues with haute tension (i think it's disingenuous, and lies, blatently to the audience-- a cardinal sin in my book), it's a kazillion times better than the strangers. i think a better match is Inside Vs. Haute Tension, which shared a lot of the same crew . both are mean motherf*cking french home invasion movies, but inside wins, everytime. both are super suspenseful, brutal, and have great use of special effects, and sound.

inside is better however, imho, because it purposefully crosses lines you don't expect-- even in horror movies. it's structure-- it's structure is straight brilliant. you can just take it as pure horror or you can dissect it into an analogy to france's immigrant population, the rich vs. the poor, or even a look at women and motherhood. it's a beautifully horror constructed film, and that depth makes all other horror films wilt in comparison.

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Permalink Reply by Shari on January 2, 2010 at 7:25pm

I recently got "Them" but haven't watched it yet (along with many, many others). It comes very highly rated and now you say it's good too. I need to get to my "haven't watched" pile soon!! :)

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Permalink Reply by silly goose noelle on January 2, 2010 at 7:41pm

heh....i didn't exactly say it's good. the first 8 minutes of ils/them is fantastic suspense. the last 8 minutes is just a great, almost sarcastic capper to the film. that last 8 minutes is the exclamation point of the sentence that was the film. it's wit, however, must have gone over the head of whoever wrote the screenplay of the strangers since they re-wrote it in a way that is flat, dumb and useless. but we were talking about ils. and while i liked the header and the foot of the film, the rest? meh, not all that interesting to me. that said, it's tons better than the strangers.

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Permalink Reply by Shari on January 2, 2010 at 8:22pm

I'll let you know what I think when I get time to fit it in.

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Permalink Reply by silly goose noelle on January 2, 2010 at 8:26pm

please do. i actually like people who disagree with me quite a bit. :) feel free to tell me i'm full of it. really. it makes me smile.

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Permalink Reply by Shari on January 2, 2010 at 9:03pm

I will if I disagree. No need in my telling you that The Strangers scared the crap outta me... I already said it, but sadly, have yet to see what you are comparing it to. Can't wait!

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Permalink Reply by Clark Metheny on January 3, 2010 at 10:25am

High Tension by a mile. If you want to see the better version of The Strangers, do me a favor and pick up Ils like the rest of you people have been recommending. Definitely worth a look at the very least.

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