10 Great Home Invasion Thrillers!
Christopher Safranski
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3. Ils (Them)
The Strangers drew instant comparisons to this earlier film, and the similarities are plentiful. Once again, a couple are terrorized by unknown assailants throughout the duration of the movie. The attacks begin as harmless pranks and escalate into nightmarish violence. Unlike The Strangers, however, the antagonists do have a motive beyond the couple simply being available to terrify. If you like dark endings, this film won’t leave you disappointed.
2. Inside
While just as gory as High Tension, this French thriller provides a better story, great performances, and excellent direction. A woman mourning the death of her lover is terrorized by a mysterious woman in black who wants to cut out her unborn child and claim it as her own. By the end of this one, the victim’s house has been transformed from a quiet home to a bloodbath. Although Inside does make its antagonist a bit overpowered, the brutality of the movie masks some of its minor flaws.
1. Funny Games
Michael Haneke remade his own movie in 2008, but the original lacks stars like Tim Roth or Naomi Watts, which gives it much more bite. Funny Games is not just a horror movie; it is a challenge to the audience itself to understand just why we are drawn to images of violence and horror. Like in most of his films, Haneke takes us to a dark, disturbing place where we are forced to examine ourselves as the viewers of attacks on other people. The ending of Funny Games provides no relief. The killers will continue to terrorize as long as we are eager to watch.
