The 2008 horror film "The Strangers" has become a disturbing classic,
and an excellent example of the home invasion genre of horror.
Lock the door and join us as we explore the meaning of the film's dark, nihilistic ending.
Kristen and James ride in uncomfortable silence. It's a cool night in February,
and the pair are making their way from a friend's wedding reception to James'
summer home. James was so sure that Kristen was going to accept his marriage proposal.
Kristen's tear-stained face says it all: Where do they go from here?
There's a knock on the door. A blonde woman, bathed in shadow,
asks for Tamara. After an awkward exchange, they send her on her way.
James attempts to gather his thoughts and leaves on a night drive, leaving
Kristen alone in the house. Then, suddenly, another knock. More insistent this time.
[Knocking on the door]
[Loud bang]
Kristen grabs a knife and starts charging her phone. The landline is dead
and she can't shake the feeling that someone is in the house.
So begins "The Strangers," which barrels forward with unrelenting energy,
pitting the emotionally strained couple against three masked assailants. James returns to find
Kristen a mess, and he soon finds out why. Together they attempt to survive
in their own home, defend themselves, and call for help, all to no avail.
At the end of their terrifying night, James is missing and Kristen is badly injured.
Her attempts to signal for help from a remote radio are a bust, and upon returning to the
house the power cuts out. Limping and surrounded by the masked intruders,
Kristen attempts to find James, only to be knocked out by the towering male in the group. She awakens
tied to a chair next to James, distraught and defeated with one searing question: why?
Kristen wakes up to the sound of Pin-Up Girl opening the drapes.
Warm sunlight floods the room. Kristen grunts against her tight restraints, kicking
and whimpering as her three masked assailants stand silently over her and the defeated James.
We tend to expect horrific things to take place under the cover of darkness; things that slink,
creep, and strike while we're sleepy, vulnerable, and alone.
Evolutionary psychologists have theorized that our fear of the dark lingers from the days when human
beings weren't at the top of the food chain, when nocturnal predators were a real threat.
Horror films take advantage of our instinctual fear of the dark,
allowing our imaginations to run wild and conjure up worst-case scenarios.
In genre cinema, horrific things tend to lurk in the shadows. That said, there's no shortage
of horror film baddies that work in the light. The man-eating shark in "Jaws" didn't confine
its reign of terror to the shadows and neither do the trio of killers in "The Strangers." And
this is precisely what makes the climax of their murderous assault so disturbing.
They open the curtains before killing Kristen and James, unafraid
and unconcerned with the possibility that some prying neighbor might
see. The fact that "The Strangers" ends bathed in sunlight is both unexpected and terrifying;
further cementing the film's core theme that random acts of violence are exactly
that: random. This isn't the kind of evil that is miraculously banished by the sun.
There are few glimmers of hope throughout "The Strangers." One of them is when Mike
(played by Dennis Reynolds himself, Glenn Howerton)
arrives at the house in response to James' upset voice message. Mike's a good pal. His friend's
marriage proposal fell through and here he is at god knows what hour to pick up the pieces.
Unfortunately, Mike's good intentions lead to his demise. Waltzing into the house,
oblivious of the situation, he's shot in the face by James' itchy trigger finger.
To be fair, when a person blows their best friend's face off, the first reaction isn't
typically to steal his cell phone. Even as an audience member, it's easy to forget
that Mike has a phone that could be Kristen and James' chance to contact the police.
After the incident, James announces that he's going to try and call for help — not
by checking his dead friend's pockets — but by venturing out for the two-way radio in the woods.
To be fair, the movie wants us to forget that Mike has a cell phone, so that it can make a dramatic
appearance in the final act. Bleeding out on the floor, Kristen hears Mike's phone ring,
something we didn't even realize was there.
Upon coming-to, lashed to a chair,
Kristen breathlessly asks the trio what we've all been wondering:
"Why are you doing this to us?" "Because you were home."]
This attack has nothing to do with Kristen and James' relationship struggles,
with the apparent wealth of James' family,
or with any sinister occult purpose. They answered the door. It's just that random and simple.
Indeed, the scariest thing about "The Strangers" isn't the masks, the jump scares,
or the bloodshed. Instead, the film offers a glimpse into the terrifying notion that sometimes
bad things happen ... just because. There's no grand reveal and no explanation for our
villains' actions. When the assailants remove their masks, Kristen and James
don't recognize their faces. The killers are, as the film title suggests, just strangers.
This hits especially hard in these final moments — even at the film's end, there are no answers.
All we're left with is pure dread. Because we know so little about these anonymous boogeymen,
they are able to remain just that: Something that can go bump in the night without
any warning or purpose. The conclusion isn't here to satisfy your curiosity.
Satisfied with the damage they've inflicted, our now unmasked trio exit James' summer
house and pile into their pickup. Their truck passes two Mormon boys, walking their bikes
on the side of the road. They stop and chat with the boys, then continue down the road.
As they drive away, Pin-Up Girl makes a curious comment to Dollface. She says:
"It'll be easier next time."
The internet loves theorizing, and passionate Redditors believe Pin-Up's comment may imply
that the events we see in the film were an initiation rite of sorts for Dollface.
Indeed, if you look at the trio's masks and their credited names, a sort of hierarchy emerges.
Man in Mask never speaks; he’s a dominating presence who towers over his two smaller peers.
Pin-Up Girl always appears assured and well-practiced,
with a name suggesting a degree of maturity. Dollface, meanwhile, is another story;
a weak voice beneath a wide-eyed childish mask. It's possible that she's new to this.
This interpretation potentially puts Pin-Up Girl's comment,
that it will be easier next time, into context. Dollface's struggle with the acts she’s committed
is further implied by her interactions with the Mormon boys. She's a sinner,
and she's a little shaken up by what she's just done. But next time, it won't be her first rodeo.
The idea for "The Strangers" came from a number of different real-life
sources. While you have to go digging through the film's bonus features and production notes
to uncover how writer-director Bryan Bertino's own brush with home invasion inspired the film,
the ending of "The Strangers" hammers home some of the film's more well-known sources.
As our unmasked trio pile into their pickup truck, the connective tissue to the famous
Tate–LaBianca murders is unavoidable. As Bertino recounted in an interview, the film was indeed
in direct conversation with the murders enacted by the Manson Family. Bertino explained that
learning about the story of Charles Manson and his followers, along with the group's seeming lack of
any singular motivation, had a massive impact on him and his understanding of the minds of killers.
Writer Britt Hayes notes another source of inspiration for the film. This incident is
known as the Keddie Cabin Murders, an unsolved quadruple homicide that took
place in a California railroad town in 1981. One of the most unnerving similarities between
"The Strangers" and the Keddie Cabin Murders takes place during the film's conclusion.
With Kristen and James bound to chairs in their living room and stabbed in the early morning,
the scene bears a strong resemblance to the fates of some of the case's victims.
Love 'em or hate 'em, jump scares are an essential part of horror films. While not all screamers,
as they’re sometimes called, are created equal, some are nobler than others.
The word "stingers" describes the jump scare that gives the audience
one last jolt before the credits roll — and believe it or not,
it's a time-honored tradition. There's the dream sequence at the end of "Carrie," for instance,
where our witchy heroine's bloodied arm bursts out of her rocky grave to snatch the traumatized
Sue. And who could forget the final shot of the franchise-originator "Friday the 13th,"
when Jason's decomposing corpse springs out of Crystal Lake for one final shock?
A final jump scare is a totally acceptable (if a bit silly) way to end a horror film.
"The Strangers" keeps that tradition alive. As the two Mormon boys (who are going to need
some serious therapy after this) venture into the house, they spy James and Kristen's mangled bodies
and investigate. Hovering over Kristen, the boys take in the crime scene with a frankly
eerie silence, dumbstruck perhaps at the gruesome bloodbath before them.
One boy hovers over Kristen's body, extending his hand towards her face.
Then: bam. Kristen comes to, screaming. Cut to black.
Considering the film's nihilistic attitude, Kristen's survival is initially surprising.
But upon closer inspection, the assailants leaving her alive gives us some disturbing insight into
the killers' psyche. They are not concerned with the act of killing, or even being caught. All that
interests them is the violence — rhyme, reason, or consequence be damned.
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