Among the positive reviews, Jeannette Catsoulis of "The New York Times" said "The Strangers" is "suspenseful," "highly effective," and "smartly maintain its commitment to tingling creepiness over bludgeoning horror." Michael Rechtshaffen of "The Hollywood Reporter" called the film a "creepily atmospheric psychological thriller with a death grip on the psychological aspect." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying that, "This is one of those rare horror movies that concentrates on suspense and terror rather than on gore and a high body count." Scott Tobias of "The A.V. Club" said that "as an exercise in controlled mayhem, horror movies don't get much scarier."