Throughout October, I will be reviewing a different horror movie each week. In order to narrow down the selection, I am focusing solely on what I’ve deemed contemporary horror classics, films that have come out within the last 10 years that have made a significant impact on the genre, garnered cult status or critical acclaim and are unlike any other horror film released within the past decade.
It’s everyone’s worst nightmare: a home invasion. Even scarier: a random home invasion. Bryan Bertino’s 2008 film “The Strangers,” based on a true story, plays on these fears and presents a situation we can easily put ourselves in, making for one of the scariest movies of the last 10 years.
At the start of the film, James Hoyt (Scott Speedman) and his girlfriend Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) have just returned to James’ summer home in rural South Carolina after a friend’s wedding reception. The air is already tense, since Kristen turned down James’ marriage proposal moments earlier.
This helps set the uneasy tone of the film. Unlike other horror movies, we’re never provided with any false optimism. From the get-go, the film is uncomfortable and brooding, as if something is about to happen at any minute, and whether it’s from the couple’s own anguish or from some mysterious outside forces remains unclear.
Soon enough the uncanny dynamic it becomes clear when James leaves Kristen alone, and three masked strangers begin to psychologically terrorize her both inside and outside of the house. Loud banging on the doors and windows, masked figures popping up left and right and a repeating record are all signifiers that something isn’t right. James returns, and it only gets worse.
The couple spends the next hour trying to outsmart the three strangers who seem to have thought of everything. From the beginning, you know the characters are doomed, but it’s how they get there that takes a psychological toll on the viewer and keeps them on the edge of their seat hiding behind their hands.
A surprising commercial success when it opened, “The Strangers” greatly differs from the typical home invasion film in that it relies on building a tense and dreadful atmosphere, rather than using excessive gore and violence, to terrify us. The scariest scenes of the film are entrenched in silence and shadows, utilizing camera angles and wide shots. The film does not relish in violence just for shock value but uses it in a blunt and brutal way, representing the random senseless violence that plagues our society today.
It also serves as commentary on the false notion that pastoral life is safer than city living. Often, it’s the more remote and isolated places that are the locale for the most twisted and disturbing acts of violence. The film is an effective example of this, basing itself on a series of true events like the Manson Family murders and — possibly — the unsolved Keddie Cabin Murders of 1981. “The Strangers” would make anyone think twice about booking a secluded country getaway.
Serving as a modern-day critique of violence and of our false sense of security, the film succeeds. As a harrowing and horrifying viewing experience, the film flourishes.
The subtle touches in the film, as such movement of a fire alarm or the sound of a record player skipping, keep the viewer intrigued and uneasy. The cinematography keeps the viewer thinking there’s something lurking behind the characters, even if there’s not (but there usually is).
And don’t get me started on those masks. The three intruders are people — sadistic humans with nothing to do — who have decided to don terrifying masks to carry out their act of violence. There’s no supernatural element anywhere in the film; this is simply humanity at its scariest.
But the most horrifying aspect of the film is the random nature of the violence. After the cat-and-mouse game between the couple and the strangers, Liv Tyler’s character asks them why they’ve been targeted. One of the strangers responds, “Because you were home.” With that one line, “The Strangers” establishes itself as a film where you’re not thinking about how bad you feel for the characters, but you’re thinking about how possible it is that something like this could happen to you.
And that’s what makes this film, unlike others, so unnerving. It’s a film that could easily manifest itself into real life and likely has at various points in history.
“The Strangers” is not a pleasant experience; it’s a damn scary one. And that’s all we can really ask for, right?

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The Strangers