

As a child, Bertino recalls a night his parents weren't home, and someone knocked on their door asking for someone who didn't live there. The third and final slice of real inspiration for The Strangers derives from Bertino's life experience.


Obvious similarities abound here, with the three masked assailants in The Strangers wandering off into the morning chill after massacring Kristen and James simply " because they were home." Disturbingly, the motive for those murders is still unknown, as the Keddie police department never caught the real-life killer(s), and the case remains unsolved. Four people were killed in a small California resort town, including Sue Sharp, her son John, daughter Tina, and John's friend Dana. The second true story inspiration for The Strangers is the infamous 1981 Keddie Cabin Murders. While The Strangers' insular premise introduces very few characters outside of Kristen (Liv Tyler), James (Scott Speedman), and the three strangers, its microcosmic nature allows an almost unparalleled ratcheting of tension as a young couple fights tooth and nail for their lives. Indeed, while critical consensus remains split on The Strangers' plot, the efficacy of the film's horror elements is unquestioned as a sadistic portrait of a home invasion.

As playful as these nightmarish visions are, most exist in the realm of fantasy, allowing audiences to view them in relative comfort.Ģ008 horror movie The Strangers cleverly subverts this premise, becoming scary precisely because it could happen to anyone watching the film. While the horror genre is often, and not unfairly, associated with tales of monsters, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures, some of the most effective horror films of all time rely on none of those things. The terrifying 2008 home invasion horror film The Strangers was inspired by real-life violent crimes, including shocking and brutal murders.
