The Strangers (2008 film)

The Strangers is a 2008 American horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino and starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a young couple who are terrorized by three masked assailants, who break into the remote summer home and destroy all means of escape or calling for help by destroying their car, cell phones, and phone line. Produced on a budget of $9 million and after two postponements, the film was released theatrically in North America on May 30, 2008. It grossed $82.3 million at the box office worldwide. Marketed as "inspired by true events", writer and director Bryan Bertino stated that the film was inspired by a series of break-ins that occurred in his neighborhood as a child, as well as some incidents that occurred during the Manson killings. Critical reaction to the film was mixed. It holds a rating of 45% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 151 reviews. Metacritic reported an average score of 47 out of 100, based on 27 reviews. Plot: The film begins in medias res with a recorded 911 call of a boy screaming that he and his friend found two bodies lying in blood in an old vacation house. Kristen McKay and James Hoyt arrive at a remote house owned by James's parents after attending a friend's wedding reception. James had proposed to Kristen there, but she refused, saying she wasn't ready to make this big step. James calls his friend Mike to come pick him up in the morning. Shortly after 4 a.m., a young blonde woman, whose face is obscured by low lighting, knocks on the front door asking for Tamara. When told by James and Kristen she is at the wrong house, she asks if they're sure, then leaves with the caveat that she will "see them later". James leaves to get Kristen cigarettes. Kristen hears another knock on the door; the same woman has returned to ask for Tamara again. Kristen refuses to open up. She hears strange noises, then her cellphone goes missing. As her fear grows, Kristen hears a noise from the back door, grabs a large kitchen knife and opens the curtains to find a man wearing a sack mask staring back at her. Panicked, she hides in the bedroom until James returns. She explains what just transpired and James investigates. He finds his car has been ransacked and the blonde woman, now wearing a doll mask, watching him from afar. His phone has had its battery stolen and he realizes the house has been breached. The couple attempt to leave in James's car, but a third stranger wearing a pin-up girl's mask drives a truck into his car, totaling it and forcing them to flee. Back in the house, Kristen and James find a shotgun. Mike arrives early and is accidentally shot by James, mistaking him for an intruder. A devastated James remembers an old radio transmitter in the backyard shed. He leaves the house and encounters and attempts to shoot Pin-Up Girl, but is ambushed by the masked man. Kristen hears a shot and decides to make a run for the shed. There, she finds the radio and tries to contact someone for help. Pin-Up Girl appears and smashes the radio. Kristen rushes back to the house, where she is confronted by Dollface, who is now armed with a knife. The masked man arrives with the captured James and the gun and incapacitates Kristen. James and Kristen are tied to chairs in the living room. The strangers reveal themselves and take turns slowly stabbing them before finally leaving. Two young Mormon boys who are distributing religious tracts come to the house, finding the totaled car and the door open. The boys head into the house and discover the bodies. Kristen, who is still alive, wakes up and screams.