What if everything we remember never happened, but someone wanted to make us think it did?

Rating: 10/10 (24 May 1999)

A superb cast, a thought provoking story, action, special effects... what more can you ask for? The story is definitely "out there", no pun intended (see the sequence towards the end where the truth behind the city's existence is revealed) & very original.
How to describe it's look? Some have said "Blade Runner meets The Crow" but I think a better way would be to say that "Hellraiser meet Terry Gilliam in 1950s Chicago". Certainly The Strangers bear more than a passing resemblence to Clive Barker's Cenobites, down to the clicking teeth & the tendency to draw sharp blades along the wall as they close on their terrified prey.
But this film ploughs it's own furrow not only in terms of it's story line, but also between the 2 possible extremes of style in such a manner that I found it hard to fault. It's not too lightweight, avoiding the all too easy option of relying on special effects to entertain, while similarly avoiding becoming too heavy & obscure enough to confuse the audience & fail to get the plot across. If only other film makers could learn from this there would be a lot less rubbish filling our cinema screens!
I did think that William Hurt's police inspector was a little too easily persuaded by Rufus Sewell's explanation, although being able to levitate objects would, I admit, be rather startling evidence of something!
Also the ending is a little twee, that's only to be expected as the forces of good prevail. But again it avoided being grossly overdone & the hint of bitter sweetness keeps it in tune with the rest of the film (Rufus Sewell doesn't get the girl in the end, but all is not lost, etc., etc.)
Keep an eye out for Richard O'Brian as one of the Strangers. Needless to say he plays the un-hinged one & does it very well! Ian Richardson is equally sinister as MR. Book, leader of The Strangers, using his ability to be about as warm as a cold, dead fish to good effect.