Most horror villains typically have some type of motive or reasoning behind their actions. Freddy Krueger sought revenge on the parents who murdered him, Pamela Voorhees was avenging her son's death, and Leatherface was a product of his upbringing, using his victims to provide for his family. Even characters who represent pure evil, like Michael Myers, target specific locations and people.
These inarguably make for entertaining stories, but the most frightening villains in the genre are those who attack without any motive at all.The Strangers took this idea and turned it into a terrifying home-invasion story that's as unnerving as it is relentless. And it's the film's closing moments that turned a generic entry into one of the most chilling horror movies of the past two decades.
The Strangers Reinvented the Home Invasion Subgenre
The home invasion subgenre has a way of burrowing into the mind, instilling an unsettling sense of vulnerability. Perhaps it's the idea of sheer violation in a space assumed to be safe, or the realism found in true crime accounts. We tend to believe that a small lock or an alarm can prevent an intruder from entering and causing harm, yet these films ruin that sense of security.
The origins of the subgenre stretch far back, with the first notable example being the 1909 silent short,The Lonely Villa.Most home invasion films from the 1920s through the 1960s stayed in the mystery and thriller conventions, but 1968 was a turning point with therelease ofRosemary's Baby. Beyond the general fear of intrusion, the story by Ira Levin is particularly unsettling because the violation occurs without Rosemary's awareness. This concept would fade for a time, only to resurface later in celebrated films within the genre.
When a Stranger Calls,Halloween,andthe deceptively mature Screamall supported the idea that not even the comfort of our homes was safe from the darkest corners of the mind. However, the subgenre did fall into the slasher trap somewhere along the way, making these films just as much about the kills as they were about the suspense. While entertaining, the fear the subgenre once evoked had become derivative and ineffective.
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Released in 2008,The Strangerstook the subgenre back to its suspenseful roots. The film follows James (Scott Speedman) and Kristen (Liv Tyler), a young couple staying at a secluded vacation home. Soon after arriving, they're stalked by a trioof masked intruders, beginning with insistent knocking at the door before escalating into a brutal physical and psychological assault.
The torment of the masked intruders is relentless throughout, and it's apparent early on that they're there purely out of entertainment. That alone leaves viewers with an unsettling fear that these are people capable of anything, and that the main characters are likely to be unspared.
The Strangers just hits differently than anything that came before. It constantly offers hope only to snatch it away in the last moments. And for one of the first timesin home invasion horror, the attackers have no clear motive. As an exhausted Liv Tyler pleads with the killers, "Why are you doing this to us?" they respond with four words that are sure to leave any viewer with chills. The simplicity is terrifyingly absolute.
The Strangers' Closing Moments are a Horrifying Depiction of Real-World Violence
After desperate pleas to be let go and questioning why they were targeted, the unfortunate couple is greeted with the realization that nothing preempted this brutal attack. Towards the end of the film, in response to Kristen's question, one of the masked killers turns around and says, "because you were home."
The genre is known for its twists, so much so that many viewers expected some form of revelation at the end of the film. Perhaps the masked killers were someone the couple knew, or, even more common in the genre, were acting out of revenge on behalf of someone else. However, the reveal that the killers were acting out of impulse, for no apparent reason, was more effective than anyone could have predicted.
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The sad reality is that a majority of the time, crime is motiveless. People act out of greed, power, impulse, or, occasionally, out of enjoyment. WhileThe Strangersisn't perfect, aslow-burning horror with questionable acting and dialogue, its closing moments earned its place among the greatest of all time.
Should the Strangers have been people the couple knew, it would take away the whole concept and message of the film. Director Bryan Bertino intended to make a film that shows random and senseless violence motivated by nothing more than victims being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not only did it take away the comfort of one's home, but it also threw in the thought that anyone could become a target, and anyone could be the perpetrator.
The Strangers is Based on Real-Life Events
Bertino has said that the film draws its story from three real-life events. The first is the infamous Manson Family murders of 1969. Known later as Helter Skelter, these killings were planned by Charles Manson in his attempt to ignite a race war he had predicted. Most notably, the murder of actress Sharon Tate in her Los Angeles home was a stronginspiration forThe Strangers, which features similar violence. The second influence is the 1981 Keddie cabin murders, in which four people were killed in a small California resort town. The motive behind these killings remains unknown, and the case was never solved.
The third inspiration comes from Bertino's personal experience. As a child, one night, when his parents were away, someone knocked on his door, asking for someone who didn't live there. Unlike the film, the intruders were looking for empty houses to rob rather than targeting people inside. Still, the incident left a lasting impression on Bertino and later influenced the depiction of random violence inThe Strangers.
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Non-paranormal horror often taps into realistic fears, which makes it especially disturbing when based on true events. This approach is part of why movies inThe Conjuring Universe have been so successful; even if viewers doubt the existence of ghosts, the films are based on the investigations of Ed and Lorraine Warren.
What makesThe Strangers particularly effective is its focus on senseless and random violence that could happen to anyone. The fact that James and Kristin are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time strengthens the fear.True-crime content has grown popular because it allows audiences to explore their fears safely, and similarly,The Strangers grabs viewers' attention with a chilling what-if scenario.
The Strangers Is the Scariest True Crime Adaptation
Many horror films are inspired by true events, and likeThe Strangers, they often take liberties with the facts. Yet even thoughThe Strangers only loosely resembles the real-life cases that inspired it, the film is still more unsettling than most because of how believable it is. It confronts viewers with the unsettling thought that, while the events may not have happened exactly as shown, they easily could have.
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Filmssuch asThe Amityville Horror andThe Conjuring claim to be based on real stories, but their supernatural elements create a distance from reality. Likewise, movies likeThe Silence of the Lambs andThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre draw from real-life killers such as Ed Gein and Ted Bundy, yet the extreme alterations and gruesome details make the stories less plausible.
The Strangers taps into a universally realistic fear: the intrusion of strangers into one's home and the reality of motiveless violence. The killers' lack of reason is alarming, as it underscores that the victims could have done nothing to prevent the attack. They didn't provoke the crime; they were simply at home.The Strangers forces the audience to confront the terrifying possibility that such a crime could happen, and does happen, and that it could happen to anyone.
