The Strangers is a 2008 American psychological horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino. It is the first installment in The Strangers film series. The film follows Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) whose stay at a vacation home is disrupted by three masked criminals who infiltrate the home. The screenplay was inspired by two real-life events: the multiple-homicide Manson family Tate murders and a series of break-ins that occurred in Bertino's neighborhood as a child. Some journalists noted similarities between the film and the Keddie cabin murders that occurred in Keddie, California, in 1981, though Bertino did not cite this as a reference.
Made on a budget of $9 million, the film was shot on location in rural South Carolina in the fall of 2006. Originally slated for a theatrical release in November 2007, it was postponed before a theatrical release on May 30, 2008. The film became a sleeper hit, grossing $82 million at the box office worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its atmosphere and tension, and others criticizing its script and characters.
In the years since its release, it has become a cult film. A sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night was released on March 2018. An upcoming third film is also currently in production and will be subsequently followed by two more films.
Plot
James Hoyt and Kristen McKay arrive at night to James's isolated childhood summer home after attending a friend's wedding. Tension abounds between the couple, as Kristen rejected James's marriage proposal to her after the reception. James calls his friend Mike and asks him to pick him up in the morning. Shortly after 4:00 a.m., there is a loud knock at the door. A young blonde woman, whose face is obstructed by poor lighting, asks the couple "Is Tamara here?" James tells her she is at the wrong house, and the woman leaves. James goes for a drive to purchase a pack of cigarettes for Kristen; before he departs, he starts a fire in the hearth. While waiting for him to return, Kristen hears another knock on the door but does not open it. Upon asking who it is, she learns it is the same woman from earlier, asking for Tamara; Kristen reminds her that she already came by and locks the door as she walks away. Kristen realizes the chimney flue is closed and attempts to open it; smoke emanating from the fire triggers a smoke alarm. Kristen attempts to disarm the alarm when she is startled by another knock at the door and drops the alarm on the floor, unnerved. She calls James's cellphone from the landline, but their call is cut short. Kristen returns to the kitchen, where, unbeknownst to her, a masked man watches her from an adjacent hallway.
Kristen notices the smoke alarm she left on the floor is now sitting on a chair and realizes someone has been in the house. Upon going to retrieve her cell phone from the charger, she finds it is missing and begins to panic. When she hears a noise from the backyard, she arms herself with a knife and opens the curtains to find the Man in the Mask staring at her. Horrified, she stumbles into the hallway and watches as the front door is forced ajar. When she tries to close the door, the blonde woman, now in a doll-like mask, peers inside. After locking the door, Kristen retreats to the bedroom, where she hears a loud crash, before James returns. After she explains what has happened, he goes outside to the car to obtain his phone, whereupon he finds the car ransacked and vandalized, and sees Dollface watching him from afar. The couple attempt to leave in James's car, but Pin-Up Girl, a masked brunette woman, rear-ends them in a pickup truck, forcing them to flee back to the house.
Kristen and James find a shotgun and wait for the intruders in a bedroom. Mike arrives and the strangers shoot out his windshield. He enters the house, and James, mistaking him for one of the intruders, shoots him dead. Devastated, James remembers an old radio transmitter in a barn on the property. He leaves and encounters Pin-Up Girl, searching the backyard with a flashlight. When James tries to shoot her, the Man in the Mask ambushes him and knocks him unconscious, inadvertently discharging the shotgun. Kristen hears the shot and runs to the barn. She finds the radio, but Pin-Up Girl smashes it with an axe. Kristen rushes back to the house and encounters Dollface, who taunts her with a knife. She tries to escape but is knocked unconscious by the Man in the Mask. At dawn, the couple awaken to find themselves tied to chairs in the living room with the intruders standing before them. Kristen attempts to plead with the strangers, before demanding an explanation, to which Dollface replies, "Because you were home."