The Strangers (15)

First-time director Bryan Bertino, who also wrote the screenplay, does not rely on gallons of gore or slasher-wielding fiends to put the frighteners on you. Instead, he plays on your real fears, the fact that you can imagine this happening to you.

The story centres on Kristen McKay and James Hoyt (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman), who arrive at the Hoyt family's holiday home in the woods in the early hours after attending a wedding.

All is not well, as she has turned down his marriage proposal. As they consider how to proceed, there is a knock on the door. It is a girl asking for someone who doesn't live there. That marks the beginning of their ordeal at the hands of three masked strangers.

The film starts off on a slow burner, but, once it gets going, it is chilling. Bertino concentrates on the use of sounds to scare you, a record skipping a beat in the middle as it turns on a record player, as well as a sense of claustrophobia and paranoia.

He turns the cabin, a safe and cosy haven, into a fortress. He also allows us to see things the couple can't, such as a glimpse of an intruder in the background.

Tyler and Speedman are very convincing as the terrified couple spending most of the time either running or hiding. Tyler, in particular, has developed a horror scream to be proud of.

The three strangers, played by Kip Weeks, Gemma Ward and Laura Margolis, are truly menacing.

They say very little throughout the film, simply staring out from behind their innocent masks as they torture the couple.

Eighty-five minutes of heart-pounding and breath-holding fear.

MARIA DUARTE