When Strangers Appear

2001

Action / Mystery / Thriller

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 57% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 57% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.3/10 10 3331 3.3K

surfer motel drifter carjacking roadside diner

Plot summary

A man enters a roadside diner run by a young woman and claims he is being chased by murderers.

Director

Scott Reynolds Photo
Scott Reynolds

Top cast

Radha Mitchell Photo
Radha Mitchell as Beth
Josh Lucas Photo
Josh Lucas as Peter
Dra McKay Photo
Dra McKay as Lynda
Barry Watson Photo
Barry Watson as Jack Barrett
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
922.52 MB
1280*544
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds ...
1.85 GB
1920*816
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by claudio_carvalho 7 / 10

Still a Good Thriller When Revisited More Than Twenty-Years Later

In an abandoned secondary road, Beth (Radha Mitchell) owns a diner and a motel inherited from her father. Every day she needs to walk on a lonely road from the hotel to the diner. One day, when she opens her diner, the starving and moneyless Jack Barrett (Barry Watson) arrives, and she serves a free meal to him. Soon three surfers - Peter (Josh Lucas), who is the leader, Stephen (Johnny Blick) and Roger (Eryn Wilson) - arrive at the diner and Jack hides himself in the kitchen. The trio asks for meal and Peter is nice with Beth. When they leave the place, Beth talks to Jack and takes him to a room in her motel. She finds that he is stabbed on the belly and drives him to her only friend in town, Dr. Eric Leonard (Steven Ray). She does not want to call the local Sheriff Bryce (Kevin Anderson), who raped her in the past, but when Dr. Leonard records a strange message in her answering machine, she calls Bryce and asks him to investigate his clinic. Bryce sees a notice saying that the clinic will be closed for a few days, and he does not enter the clinic. Beth meets Peter and asks him to go with her to the clinic, where they see blood everywhere and Dr. Leonard and Jack missing. When she sees Jack, he tells her that Peter and his friends killed Dr. Leonard and will kill them. Who is telling the truth?"When Strangers Appear" (2001) is still a good thriller when revisited more than twenty-years later. The screenplay keeps Beth and the viewer without knowing who is telling the truth and the content of the CD. Despite the low budget, the film by Scott Reynolds is great since the cast is excellent. The music score is also top-notch. After the credits, there is a disappointing footage that I have seen only today. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Quando Estranhos Chegam" ("When Strangers Arrive")
Reviewed by =G= 5 / 10

Predictably unpredictable

"When Strangers Appear" is a B-movie suspense/thriller flick which is little more than one long string of obvious stalk/scream/run/relax contrivances. This kinetic flick is all about three guys who may be psycho and one other guy who may be psycho running around like rats in a maze looking for a babe (Mitchell) who has something they want. In spite of all the obvious flaws from poor character development to an incorrect spelling of an anti-psychotic drug on a pill bottle, "WSA" does manage nominal no-brainer excitement, builds to a crescendo, and smirks at you at the end. Okay for couch potatoes in the mood for some nail biting escapism. (C)
Read more IMDb reviews

3 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment