Mike arrives and realizes something is wrong after seeing James' vandalized car. The couple attempt to leave in James' car but another masked brunette woman rear-ends them in a pickup truck, forcing them to flee.īack inside the house, Kristen and James find a shotgun and wait for the thugs in a bedroom.
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 the masked blonde woman watching him from afar. After locking the door, Kristen retreats to the bedroom, where she hears a loud crash, before James returns. When she goes to push the door closed, the blonde woman, now in a doll-like mask, peers inside. Screaming, she stumbles into the hallway and watches as the front door is forced ajar. When she hears a noise from the backyard, she arms herself with a knife, and opens the curtains to find the masked man staring at her. Upon going to retrieve her cell phone from the charger, she finds it is missing and begins to panic. Kristen notices the smoke alarm she left on the floor is now sitting on a chair, and realizes someone has been in the house. Kristen returns to the kitchen, where, unbeknownst to her, an intruder watches her, lingering in the adjacent hallway. She calls James' cellphone from the landline, but their call is cut short. Kristen attempts to disarm the alarm when she is startled by another knock at the door and drops the alarm on the floor, unnerved. Kristen realizes the chimney flue is closed, and attempts to open it smoke emanating from the fire triggers a smoke alarm. Upon asking who it is, she learns it is the same girl from earlier, asking for Tamara Kristen reminds her that she already came by and locks the door as the mysterious girl walks away. While waiting for him to return, Kristen hears another knock on the door, but doesn't open it. James goes for a drive to purchase a pack of cigarettes for Kristen before he departs, he starts a fire in the hearth. A young blonde woman, whose face is obstructed by poor lighting, asks the couple "Is Tamara here?" but is turned away by James. Shortly after 4:00 a.m., there is a loud knock at the door. James calls his friend Mike and asks him to pick him up in the morning. Tension abounds between the couple, as Kristen rejected James' marriage proposal to her after the reception. In a secluded area, away from civilization, James Hoyt and Kristen McKay arrive at night to James' childhood summer home, returning from a friend's wedding. A sequel, titled The Strangers: Prey at Night, was released on March 9, 2018. In the years since its release, it has become a cult film. It received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its atmosphere and tension, and others criticizing its script and characters.Ĭontemporary film scholars have interpreted it as a criticism of the perceived safety of pastoral life, as well as an exploration of stranger-on-stranger violence. The film became a sleeper hit, grossing $82 million at the box office worldwide. Originally slated for a theatrical release in November 2007, it was postponed before a theatrical release on May 30, 2008. Made on a budget of $9 million, the film was shot on location in rural South Carolina in the fall of 2006.
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.
The strangers horror movie scripts pdf series#
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. The plot 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 Strangers is a 2008 American psychological horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino, in his directorial debut.