No Hables Con Extraños

A holiday overseas with wife and daughter, leads to friendship (with another family of three) when out on a sunny saunter, back at home a card arrives, come and see how well we thrive, spend a night or three within, our bricks and mortar. You take up the invitation and set off, unaware of just how this couple like to trough, or indeed how they behave, and the trinkets that they crave, if you did, it may just cause a mighty scoff. It's fair to say that your encounter's like no other, it doesn't end in the same way as Danish brother (or sister), which is a shame as that was better, it was unshackled and unfettered, leaving the viewer with more than, drainpipes and a gutter.

James McAvoy is brilliant, alas the ending isn't - watch the Danish version for that.

No I'm not talking about McAvoy, but we'll get to that.

First act: The setup is masterful. Nothing big happens this entire act, yet I found myself smiling and intrigued. It's a perfect example of how you can still create intrigue without needing action, or even worse, without having an opening scene that spoils what happens later in the movie.

Second act: Okay, now the lack of anything big happening is becoming a detriment. We should be seeing some escalation, but it just feels like a lot more setup.

Third act: Escalation finally arrives, but not enough. The potential doesn't reach the heights to make it memorable. And there are a couple of idiotic character decision. One almost made me facepalm in the theater.

As for the husband played by Scoot McNairy, I'm not sure if I've ever seen a lamer husband in my life. I know it was intentional and it didn't hurt my enjoyment, but all I kept thinking is, "Man up, you little...."

Overall, this was a mildly enjoyable, single-viewing type of movie. The reason I feel disappointed is because it could have been awesome if they "went for it" more. But McAvoy is a beast.

(1 viewing, opening night 9/12/2024)

Definitely worth viewing at the cinema - had such a blast watching this film!

The slow start is never boring as it carefully lets out clues that there's something deeply wrong going on, although you can't yet pinpoint what it is. You, as well as the guests, want to like those characters, even though they seem more and more obnoxious, and you wouldn't dare to be rude.

I was surprised at how much humor there is in this, yet it doesn't undermine the tension, that builds up like fire throughout the film. On the contrary, it makes it all more eerie and unsettling.

Without realising, you've been on the edge of your seat the whole time, just waiting for the inevitable to happen, yet praying that it doesn't. And then, when it's finally all loose, the third act pays off handsomely.

Mcavoy is insanely good in this movie and his range is what fuels the several emotions you go through while watching. The film revolves around him, around his ability to hook both the characters and the viewer, only to scare them out of their minds.

Topic says it all. I really was curious how Hollywood would adapt the original, as it was one of the best real-horror flicks i have seen in years and one with a message. I still rate this remake with 6 stars, because everything was good: especially the actors, the screenplay etc., but the end is awfully bad compared to the original. If the original movie (crew) had the money and the actors from the remake, then it would have been something, you would not forget in years.

Hollywood simply has no balls to do such a movie, instead it created something that is pretty fast forgotten. Moreover it completely misses the message and the feeling you have, after the ending of the original movie. So it is just a cliche ending so typical for Hollywood, it makes me sad.

The Wicker Man (1973), The Vanishing (1988), Speak No Evil (2022) - three exceptionally good European horror movies with chillingly dark endings. All of them have been remade by American film studios and this is the latest. I'm trying to imagine the thinking behind the process: 1. This movie has been really successful but it's foreign. 2. Americans don't watch foreign films. 3. If we remake it as an American film Americans will watch it. 4. The ending though! It's really dark. We need to rewrite that and give it an ending people will enjoy more! - Wrong, wrong, wrong! I like James McAvoy and he's excellent in this movie, easily switching between charismatically charming and unsettlingly sinister. All the actors are good. The film is coherent. The plot holds. It's suitably tense with an undeniably exciting finale. On balance it's a fine film but it's been stripped of many of the elements that made the original a success. There was a time, notably the '70s, when America made genuinely outstanding original horror films - The Exorcist, Halloween, The Omen, Carrie - but those days seem long gone. I honestly can't fault this film and I enjoyed it but I'd urge anyone to seek out the originals and enjoy what made them different.