The Strangers

The Strangers film series consists of American psychological horror films. Based on an original story by Bryan Bertino, the plot centers around three masked psycho-sociopathic home invaders that prey on the innocent owners. Though the first film was marketed as "based on a true story", this was a misdirect as the filmmaker stated that he wrote the concept from a series of break-in burglaries that took place in his neighborhood when he was growing up, as well as borrowing elements from the Manson Family Tate killings. Continuing this marketing technique, a "based on a true story" tag was also included at the beginning of the sequel. The first film was initially met with mixed critical reception upon its release, though it made a large profit at the box office. Despite this, it has since been praised by contemporary film critics, as a cult classic in the horror genre. Conversely, its sequel was met with negative reception with criticism directed towards its inferiority to the original, while making much less monetary gain. Alternatively, some critics have positively reviewed the movie with the statement that it too deserves a cult following, stating in elaboration that where the first film was a tribute to 1970s horror films, the second film was meant to replicate the scares of the 1980s. The series will continue in the 2024 with the release of a standalone sequel trilogy of films with The Strangers: Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. Film