Helmed by Bryan Bertino, ‘The Strangers’ spins an eerie and uncomfortable tale that centers upon a young couple’s stay at their vacation home which is abruptly ended when three intruders infiltrate their house one night. The chilling home invasion story follows James Hoyt (Scott Speedman) and Kristen Mckay (Liv Tyler) as they arrive at James’ childhood summer home for a holiday. Their lives are thrown into serious jeopardy when three masked strangers set their sinister sights on them.
The 2008 psychological horror film has gained cult-like status for exploring how three silent predators stalk their helpless prey in an isolated home in the middle of nowhere. Bertino’s film gets under your skin with its frightening use of suspense and the tense narrative pacing keeps you on the edge until the real scares begin. If you are intrigued by the film’s chilling atmosphere and story, here are 10 horror movies similar to ‘The Strangers’ that capture the same dread.
10. Jackals (2017)
‘Jackals’ is a 2017 horror thriller film, directed by Kevin Greutert, about Jimmy Levine (Stephen Dorff), a deprogrammer, who is hired by a desperate family to retrieve their son Justin Powell from the clutches of a murderous cult. As Levine sets about his task, it becomes apparent to both him and the Powell family that the cult from which Justin is meant to be extricated, won’t surrender their possession over him so easily.
Very soon, a contingent of Justin’s cult “family” descends on their home with the intent to lay havoc and get Justin back the only way they know: by murdering anyone who gets in their way. If the remote and isolated home invasion narrative of ‘The Strangers’ kept you invested, then ‘Jackals’ will pull you in with the promise of something similar with its setting of a house relegated to the woods while a host of attackers start swarming down.
9. Goodnight Mommy (2022)
The 2022 psychological horror feature ‘Goodnight Mommy,’ directed by Matt Sobel, is about a mother (Naomi Watts) who, after having undergone cosmetic surgery, returns to live with her twin sons Elias and Lukas while covered across her entire head in white bandages that hide her face. Her two children, who have been living with their father since their parents got divorced, are reunited with their estranged mother but find her new bandaged face off-putting and her changed behavior at odds with when they previously lived with her. If the nervous suspense of ‘The Strangers’ was something that kept you glued to your seats, then expect the same air of uncertainty to wash through you as you’re watching ‘Goodnight Mommy.’
8. It Comes at Night (2017)
Directed by Trey Edward Shults, the 2017 psychological horror ‘It Comes at Night,’ features a world that has been ravaged by a contagious disease. As a result, couple Paul (Joel Edgerton) and Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) live in a secluded home deep in the woods with their teenage son Travis. One night, an intruder breaks into their home, and after an altercation, which is resolved with lingering distrust on Paul’s part, he allows the stranger to live in their house with his wife Kim, and son Andrew. ‘It Comes at Night’ isn’t a typical home invasion film like ‘The Strangers.’ But it does take the same premise and plays with your expectations by blending a post-apocalyptic world where survival means everything for a family living in the woods.
7. No One Will Save You (2023)
‘No One Will Save You’ is a science fiction horror film featuring Brynn (Kaitlyn Dever), a young woman who lives on her own in a home that’s surrounded by forests on the outskirts of her town. Brynn, who is a seamstress, is coping with the loss of her mother and best friend by leading a solitary existence on the edge of town while the rest of her townspeople shun her wherever she goes. As she mourns for her losses, her life as a recluse is disrupted when one night an otherworldly intruder finds his way into her home. Like ‘The Strangers,’ this Brian Duffield directorial takes the central horror conceit of an invasive presence threatening your home’s protection but runs it through a science fiction prism.
6. The Visit (2015)
‘The Visit’ is a found footage horror film, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, which follows two young siblings, Becca and Tyler, as they take a trip to their grandparent’s farmhouse for a five-day stayover. Their mother Loretta, has fallen out of link with her parents for 15 years after she married someone they disapproved of, but her kids, who’ve never met their grandparents before, soon discover that not all is right at their idyllic farmhouse. ‘The Visit’ is not a like-for-like horror replacement when it comes to ‘The Strangers.’ However, if you’re familiar with the unsettling elements already present in the Liv Tyler starrer, then the Shyamalan film will flip the script on you by giving you something that’s similarly eerie and long-lasting in terms of scares.
5. Watcher (2022)
‘Watcher’ is a psychological horror film that revolves around Julia (Maika Monroe) and Francis (Karl Glusman), a couple who have just moved to a new apartment in Bucharest. Soon, they are unnerved when Julia discovers a man in the building across their street watching her through the large picture window in their home. The plot gets shaded into even deeper, more unsettling waters when Julia learns of a serial killer being dubbed “The Spider” by the media, who has been going around killing young women. This Chloe Okuno feature directorial debut will tickle all your wanton needs for a stalker-style story in close fashion to one already present in ‘The Strangers.’
4. You’re Next (2011)
‘You’re Next’ is a 2011 horror slasher directed by Adam Wingard in which a family reunion between estranged members is brought to a holdup when a group of masked assassins descends on the gathering with death and violence on their agenda. Set at their vacation home in rural Missouri, the family has to contend with their lives being at play as all outside communication is cut off during their reunion and they have to learn to fend for themselves in the face of a group of murdering savages looking to end their lives shortly. ‘You’re Next’ doesn’t exactly take the same measured approach to a home invasion narrative as ‘The Strangers’ but it’s in the grisly slasher roots of its horror-fueled story where it might pique your interest.
3. Don’t Breathe (2016)
The 2016 horror thriller film ‘Don’t Breathe,’ directed by Fede Álvarez, focuses on three delinquents, Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex, and Money, who regularly break into people’s houses and steal their valuables as a way to make money. Unafraid of the consequences of their lifestyle, the three break into the home of a blind Gulf War veteran, Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang), to rob the fortune he made out of a settlement case against a wealthy young woman, Cindy Roberts. Tense and suspenseful, ‘Don’t Breathe’ is a complete reversal of the home intruder narrative arc presented in ‘The Strangers’ and as such, makes for fantastic viewing because of the clever ways in which it pits the audiences’ expectations against themselves.
2. Hush (2016)
‘Hush,’ directed by Mike Flanagan, is a 2016 horror slasher film about Maddie Young (Kate Siegel), a horror author in New York City, who moves to a remote house in the woods to further her career as a writer only for her to fall prey to a masked stalker looking to add her to his list of murder victims. Having lost the ability to hear and speak due to bacterial meningitis at a tender age, Maddie is both deaf and mute and as she is hunted in her home by the masked man, he soon deduces she can’t hear him at all. A tense and riveting horror film, ‘Hush’ has a similarly devised home invasion premise as shown in ‘The Strangers,’ but presents an ingenious twist in its construction that only amplifies the scares.
1. The Invisible Man (2020)
Director Leigh Whannell’s 2020 science fiction horror film ‘The Invisible Man’ features a young woman, Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss), who is trapped in an abusive relationship with Adrian Griffith, a wealthy businessman who is an optics engineer. Cecilia escapes his clutches after he commits suicide and starts living in a house with her childhood friend, Detective James Lanier, and his daughter Sydney. But soon, she feels a strange presence stalking her in the house, which she believes is Adrian with a newly acquired ability to become invisible. Like ‘The Strangers,’ this Whannell-led film unnerves you with the premise of a strange unknown presence haunting you every step of the way, even where you live.
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