When Strangers Appear (2001)

Who payed the critics

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A Major Disappointment

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

WHEN STRANGERS APPEAR, a low budget Kiwi thriller set around a remote diner, has the potential to be a minor classic of the genre. It has a tight, focused script and lots of suspense scenes that work well given the constraints of the budget. A shame, then, that Scott Reynolds is a better writer than he is director, because it's the indifferent direction that really lets this down.The first half hour of the film is the best. We're introduced to the tough, focused heroine (an easy job for Radha Mitchell), her life, and the mysterious strangers who come into it. We don't know much and things work better that way. As the story goes on, though, it seems to become less focused and just involves people chasing other people around, and I felt less and less invested in the story. Sure, there are some good twists here, but by the time of the unbelievable climax I was eager for the story to end. The plot is too simplistic and the running time seems padded out.It's not all bad, and in places this is much better than your average Hollywood thriller, but it could have been so much more had greater effort been made in terms of staging and originality. More set-pieces and less waffle would have been better, I think. Still, there's quite a lot to commend here, not least some assured performances from Josh Lucas and Barry Watson.

When Strangers Appear has a mostly American cast in the leads, the only name though that is any kind of recognizable to American audiences is Barry Watson from 7th Heaven. Being unknown the rest of the cast has an opportunity to escape with reputations intact because they have no reputations.We call the film a Kiwi Klunker because though the story location is American it was shot in New Zealand. They too, were smart not to be associated with the movie.Radha Mitchell who bears a slight resemblance to Christina Applegate from Married With Children is the owner/proprietor of a small restaurant that is dying on the vine for lack of business since a new Interstate took a different route. This isolation is partly the reason for the strange goings-on.Barry who is a surly loner comes into her place and she's not quite believing him. Later on three surfer type dudes come in and he takes to hiding. Radha of course doesn't know who to believe and spends the rest of the film trying to figure out who the good and the bad guys are.No life gets breathed into this film at any time. You get to the point where you absolutely don't care about halfway through the movie. As for Barry Watson, he was better served in his career with Sorority Boys.Pass this Klunker from down under right on by.

Am I the only one that disliked this? I found myself rooting for the villains. For surely Radha Mitchell was absolutely the worst actress ever. Her screaming, over acting and generally annoying presence made me want the three guys to do her in. No such luck. She survives. I didn't even find her that attractive. With acting talent that maybe goes to a 2 level, she ruined this film for me. Scott Mitchell who wrote and directed this must have been in cloud nine when he cast her, as everybody else wasn't that bad. I liked Josh Lucas and Barry Watson and would like to see more of these guys in a more likable movie. Glad this was on LMN TV as I didn't have to pay for it. If I did, I'd ask for my money back. What kind of a name is Radha anyway?

I wasn't even going to watch this movie because of it's awful title (n Germany it's called "Highway Psychos" - um, yeah...), but I'm so glad gave it a shot. It really kept me guessing. I absolutely I loved Josh Lucas in this, as I have a thing for sexy bad guys, and he really pulled it off. I also like the fact that we never find out what's on the CD. I like movies that leave at least a little bit to the imagination. I kind of agree about the ending, though, it was a little overblown and, sadly, very unrealistic - if you are drenched in gasoline, you're just not going to survive just by crouching down if the explosion is right next to you. But I can look past that as the rest of the film more than makes up for that. My favorite scene was the one with Josh Lucas and Radha Mitchell in the gas station's restroom - very suspenseful, and, to me, erotically charged (but that's just me cause I'm weird). I will definitely get the DVD, if only to find out what happens after the credits. See this movie, especially if you like movies that keep you guessing and killers who are easy on the eyes.