Such a frustrating disappointment

From my favorite movies..

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

While this film has an interesting premise and could have been a really good story, the execution is just so dull, slow and overly- dramatic that it really does suck all the joy and entertainment value out of it. What's more it takes ages to show the audience what most people will have guessed in the first five minutes. With all the grandstanding and wasted time taken away this really could have just been a solid short rather than a feature film.Overall it is hard to recommend The Stranger since it doesn't really provide enough entertainment or originality to justify its existence. Only watch if you for some reason enjoy really slow, not- horrorific in any way, horrors that have only the smallest amount of substance to justify their overly-serious tone.

Despite a fairly unimaginative title and promotion, this is a gem of a film. In fact, its unassuming marketing suits the small-town mystery of its story. It concerns the plight of drifter Martin (Cristobal Tapia Montt) who, having finally found that his missing wife is dead, also seems resigned to die at the hands of three local roughnecks who accost him. If only things were that simple.Co-produced by Eli Roth, this is a bleak affair, but one that moves at such a pace there is no real time to become really mournful. Every rapidly moving occurrence is explained fully and there are no gaping plot-holes. The local Lieutenant De Luca (Luis Gnecco) is probably the least easy to believe in – which is saying something, considering the breed of characters he shares the stage with – because he is so blatantly evil. With his bravado brutality (a trait he seems to have passed onto his son, Ariel Levy's vile Caleb), you would have thought his actions would have been discovered and he would have been drummed out of the force a long time ago.Due to his nature, Martin is equally brutal in his determination not to let his 'infection' spread, and yet he emerges as a true hero, alongside the faithful young Peter (Nicolás Durán) with whom an unsaid degree of trust has been formed. I am carefully trying to avoid spoilers with this, because there are so many twists and revelations that to reveal any one of them would undermine the experience of watching this hugely enjoyable, rather overlooked film.

This movie was pretty good but it had the potential to be great. Ooooh I'm so bothered. Everything lined up: the story, the camera-work, the directing... then there was one character and his acting. My oh my how terrible was his acting. Lieutenant De Luca was his name (Luis Gnecco). He was abysmal. A bald, tough guy, rule breaking cop with a loose cannon for a son that he would stick his neck out to protect. Even when his son assaults and terrorizes random people in the small town the lieutenant makes sure to cover up for him. But he was so over the top with his acting and such a caricature. You know how there are some bad guys that you respect because of their badassness (ala Darth Vader, the Joker, Michael Myers) and there are some bad guys that you loathe because of how wicked and evil they are (Mommy Dearest, Chucky, etc.). Lieutenant De Luca was neither. You just hate him because he's trying to be something he's not. He wants to be the Darth Vader but he is more like Dark Helmet--doesn't look the part of villain and can't act the part of villain. He romped around his small town doing as he pleased with total disregard of any semblance of laws. And because we've learned that in a small town you can do that, the other police as well as the townsfolk accepted it as commonplace. It wasn't simply his overt flexing of his executive muscle, it was the total lack of tact, guile or cleverness and the absolutely silly pathetic look he displayed when he was supposed to be tough. He was neither tough nor smart as hard as he tried to portray that. His stature and face conveyed "pity me" and the forced nature of his gruff tough guy voice conveyed "Let me make a good impression in this role." None of it worked. His character didn't work for him and he didn't work for his character.I was so torn. The two main protagonists and the story had me drawn in but I just kept being nagged by that lieutenant. He was like a cut lip when you're trying to enjoy a good meal. The food is so good but the overall enjoyment is ruined by the pain.

This Indie has Insurmountable Problems from the Get-Go. First, the Dialog Sounds Dubbed and the Ultra-Melodramatic Overacting by Everyone has to be the Fault of the Director. Also, in almost Every Scene Characters are Told to Do Something and They just Stare, are told to do it Again, more Staring, and in a Louder Voice told to do it Again, and then They Slowly Begin to do what They are Told. This makes for an Awkward Flow and the Movie Hiccups this way Throughout. Add to that when different Characters Use the Phrase..."You piece of Sh*t"...at least Three Times, all Hope is Lost for this to be anything but Amateur Hour.The Dark, almost Black Color Template with Bright Red Blood Splattered about calls Attention to itself most of the Time and it Looks quite Silly. The Story attempts to be Ambiguous and Clever but Never is Mysterious or Intriguing.The Film really Doesn't Manage to do Anything Remarkable but it's Not Awful. The Filmmakers are just Stretching Their Talent Beyond its reach. If there is Such a Thing as Trying to Hard, This is it.