Horror occurs in a variety of shapes, sizes, and manifestations. A demonic black goat will sometimes maul you to death before turning your daughter into a witch. Sometimes it is a predatory alien that clings to your face like a drunk sophomore and causes its offspring to explode out of your freakin’ chest. Extraterrestrials and heresy, on the other hand, represent the terror of the unknown, which, if you can suspend disbelief long enough, ceases to be frightening; in fact, it becomes almost amusing.
A horror narrative that merges fiction and reality, frightening you with rational threats that could have just as easily happened to you, is what will give you the literal dread of God. Get Out is a perfect illustration of this, as it leverages racial tension in America as its foundation to produce some of cinema’s most cerebral scares.
But, although that film focuses on the real-life challenges of a small community, there is one subgenre that is based on something that, according to the FBI, approximately 60% of Americans have experienced. It is understandable that home invasion movies go under your skin.
After all, they are the preferred method of burglars across the United States, and the prospect of losing valuables awakens a basic horror in every homeowner’s heart. Even by those measures, though, some of these films are not for the faint of heart. These are the Top 10 Creepiest Home Invasion Movies, so get your baseball bats out and your phone torches ready.
The Collector (2009)
“He always takes one”. If there’s a movie that can give Saw a run for its torture-riddled money, it’s this one. As iconic as Home Alone is, at least Harry & Marv survived Kevin McCallister’s zany traps. Their fates would have been far grimmer had they encountered The Collector, something Josh Stewart’s Arkin O’Brien can attest to.
See, most home invasions are staged in search of money, precious jewels, gems, and other valuable items for selling on the black market. And that’s how this story begins as well, when Arkin, a down-on-his-luck ex-con decides to rob his employers to settle his wife’s overwhelming debts. It looks like he might get away with it too; but then you realize you’re just a few minutes into this hour-and-a-half gorefest and wait with bated breath for the “real” threat to appear.
And appear he does, clad in all-black and devising traps that would put Jigsaw to shame. To call The Collector twisted & creepy would be an understatement; this guy is insanity bottled in a bee-keeping jar. His M.O. is fairly simple: he breaks into homes, neutralizes threats, and always leaves with one trophy.
Except his trophies are human beings, whom he kidnaps after “neutralizing” their immediate family members. This personification of sadomasochism will lace your personal dwellings with medieval traps and take more pleasure in torturing his victims than Ramsey Bolton. The sequel somehow makes things worse by taking inspiration from The Human Centipede franchise, as if the prolonged abuse inflicted upon the Chase family was just an appetizer in a two-course meal of vomit-inducing creepiness.
This movie is a squeamish watch at worst, which makes sense as it was originally pitched as a Saw prequel. But compared to The Collector, Jigsaw looks like the Tooth Fairy; and that is saying something. Endlessly horrifying and smeared with buckets full of blood, The Collector is guaranteed to give you nightmares about nasty bugs and sadistic psychopaths clad in leather.
Panic Room (2002)
What is supposed to be a literal safe space turns into a waking nightmare for a mother-and-daughter duo. Meg (Jodie Foster) and Sarah Altman (Kristen Stewart) have recently moved into a four-story brownstone in the Upper West Side of New York, taking over a reclusive millionaire’s property that comes fully equipped with the furnishing, ample space for Sarah’s push-scooter, and a state-of-the-art panic room complete with CCTV surveillance.
Meg concludes the deal and tucks in for her first night in these new, ostentatious dwellings. Little does she know that 3 men are trying to break into the place, looking for something that belongs to the last owner. After discovering their presence, she rushes to the panic room with her daughter, and the rest of the night devolves into a cat-and-mouse chase between the intruders and the inhabitants.
As both groups struggle against a ticking clock, mounting tensions and dissension amongst the ranks turn a bad situation morbid, and it’s up to Meg to figure a way out while ensuring her daughter’s safety. With around 150 shoot locations, Fight Club took David Fincher’s crew all over the place and was a logistical nightmare by all accounts. So, after making one of the most memorable cult classics of all time, he decided to dial in his next film and go for a more intimate setting, which was key to this film’s dreary aura of desolation.
Writer David Koepp took the real premise of a safety room boom amongst America’s elites and flipped it on its head, turning that safe space into a claustrophobic trap. Fincher’s cast of Oscar winners and nominees did their best to fill it with as much suspense as they could squeeze out of the frame.
The results are equal parts mesmerizing and creepily haunting; with one of the most-accurate on-screen depictions of diabetes to date. Even if you have eyes on everything and ears everywhere else, your safety is never guaranteed and is ultimately in your own hands. That is the horrifying dichotomy that Jodie Foster’s Meg (and you, the audience) must contend with, and forms the crux of this home-invasion tale. Though you won’t find it on Blu-Ray, track this one down; it will be well worth your time.
The Strangers (2008)
If creepy horror stories are grounded in real-life incidents, then this has to be one of the creepiest movies we’ve ever seen. Growing up in Crowley, Texas, Bryan Bertino’s childhood home was situated in an area that was plagued by a string of home invasions where the burglars would often knock and ask for someone who never lived there; if the homes were empty, they’d rob them and leave.
Bertino himself was able to foil one such attempt when his parents were away and he and his sister answered the burglars’ call. He took this real-life premise and flipped the burglars’ roles in it to chilling effect, making it the perfect comeback for Liv Tyler who had not worked since giving birth to her baby a few years prior.
The film begins with the tension between Kristen and her boyfriend James. She has just rejected his wedding proposal and they’re on their way back from a wedding reception to James’ secluded childhood home. That’s when they hear a knock on the door. A young blonde woman enters the frame and asks for Tamara, who supposedly lived there. James informs her that no one called Tamara has ever lived there, and she leaves after listlessly staring at him for a few seconds.
James leaves to buy some cigarettes and it is from this point onward that the film descends into voyeuristic madness, mounting the tension with layers upon layers of malfunctions & misfortune. It’s the subtlety of their actions that makes the trio of murders so menacing- a misplaced fire alarm, moving clandestinely in the shadows, just plain staring at Kristen. And if the excellent set-piece horror doesn’t get to you, their rationale will. When a battered and bloody Kristen asks them why they’re doing this, Dollface simply replies: “Because you were home”. Chilling stuff.
Funny Games (1997)
Many horror films have broken the fourth wall and deconstructed the genre to a comical effect. Wes Craven’s Scream is a slasher-comedy classic and Joss Whedon tried to cram everything horror into his 2011 meta-slasher Cabin in the Woods. But perhaps no filmmaker has captured the sheer voyeuristic creepiness of the act itself quite like Michael Haneke. His 1997 flick Funny Games exposes the sadistic pleasure that horror audiences derive by making them complicit in the act, and it is all kinds of creepy.
On the surface, it looks like your regular home invasion-style slasher: a family of 4 arrives at their vacation home by the lake and is set upon by a pair of strangers: the brutish oaf and the wicked fox. They’re friends with the Schober Family’s neighbor and soon arrive at their place to ask for some eggs. But it becomes fairly clear that this isn’t your regular slasher flick when Peter (the oaf) starts breaking eggs with comical apparentness and Paul starts winking and smirking at the camera.
The true horror begins when he starts playing his “Funny Games” with the victims, involving the audience with his actions. As the movie progresses, Paul does his absolute best to track the Schober family’s torturous existence on-screen by clearly referencing horror movie tropes and actively trying to fulfill them.
He keeps toying with them, giving them contradictory backstories of Peter and alluding to his awareness of the audience through his camera interactions; all the while making sure the movie hits “feature-length”. How? By literally reversing the climactic scene and executing his victims mercilessly, thereby ensuring that the protagonist doesn’t get a happy ending. It’s a satirical watch for people who dislike horror films in general and a creepily self-reflective trip for fans of the genre.
The Purge (2013)
Nowadays, it’s used as a shorthand to refer to anything that we don’t agree with and has been spoofed and been paid homage to for times beyond count. But back in 2013, The Purge was one of the creepiest things filmgoers had ever seen on the silver screen because of its simplistic yet downright bone-chilling premise. In 2014, a corruption-ridden, economically-collapsing America decided to vote the totalitarian “New Founding Fathers of America” party into power in a Hail Mary effort to save the country.
And miraculously, they did; within 8 years, America’s unemployment rate came down to below 1%, with more wealthy people residing in Los Angeles than any other time in its history. Crime became practically non-existent, and it seemed like America had truly become a utopic nation. There was only one problem; they achieved this by passing a law sanctioning the “Purge”, an annual event wherein all crime is legal and emergency services are temporarily suspended.
This is the world where the Sandin Family resides, and they find out to their utter dismay that no amount of money can keep them safe from a crowd of rabid, blood-frenzied Purgers on the “greatest night of the year”. It’s a biting critique of the perception that despite things going great for them, Americans somehow just can’t let go of their violent side and that fact is what generates much of the film’s tense, dramatic moments of horror.
The two groups that attack the Sandins do so for different reasons but choose the same method of dealing with the matter at hand, and that is where you start to question your morality. You see, the Purge law is presented as a morally-acceptable thing in the universe, so when the movie finally gets going, the audience understands just how maniacal the whole thing is. But ask yourself the same question that Purgers do every Purge Night; wouldn’t it be great if all your problems just disappeared into thin air? If you come to the same conclusion as them even as a joke, then you know exactly why The Purge is on this list.
High Tension (2003)
This 2003 offering from Alexandre Aja is a grotesque and psychologically-disturbing love letter to 70’s-and-80’s slasher flicks, set against the beautiful backdrop of Southern France. Best friends Marie & Alex visit the latter’s parents’ house for the weekend to study and have a sleepover. Their innocent plans turn into a deadly game of survival, when a serial killer attacks Alex’s home, murdering her parents and giving chase to Alex & Marie. Alex ends up getting captured by the killer, and Marie pursues them, trying to rescue her best friend.
The twists that the plot takes from this point on will leave you scratching your head, make your stomach queasy and force you to question your own sanity. The ending of High Tension is one of the most jarring exhibitions of the unreliable protagonist being played out on-screen. True to his Splat Pack affiliation, Aja ensures that the gore takes center stage in the film; the gruesome decapitation of Marie’s father is just the first in a string of graphic murders that fuel this gothic, European gore-fest.
What makes it such a compelling watch is the eerie sense of disorientation that creeps into the narrative. With every passing minute, the tension keeps rising, with a stellar first hour that races by. Then the plot takes a sharp left turn on the holy-shit-this-is-not-real lane and transforms the story into a schizophrenic frenzy fuelled equally by love and insanity.
The sheer terror of the reveal was enough to make us renounce love for a long, long time and the climactic scene is burnt into our memory as perhaps the most tragic, unsettling, and graphic visual of the New French Extremity movement. Mind-numbingly violent and sickeningly creepy, High Tension has a mortifying effect on your psyche that will linger way past its runtime and leave you wary of every sleepover you decide to have henceforth.
Them (2006)
How bad can the consequences of refusing a teenager be? According to this French-Romanian horror flick, bad enough to give you permanent PTSD or worse; a one-way trip to Jehovah’s doorstep. Them begins with a cold-open that sees a mother and daughter argue with each other while speeding across the deserted countryside. Predictably, they end up crashing the car.
The mother gets out to check the engine but disappears, while the daughter gets strangled to death. The only thing we know about the possible killer is that they have a soft voice. The next morning, Clementine passes the wreckage, wondering what could have happened as she makes her way home to Lucas, her boyfriend. Little does she know that they’re about to find out exactly what went down.
It starts with some loud music being played outside the couple’s house and keeps escalating from there, turning what looks like a prank into a deadly game of survival. And we say game, because to the intruders in this home invasion scenario, everything is a game, and Clementine and Lucas must play; they have no choice.
As the couple tries to stay alive, they discover the identity of their tormentors and are absolutely horrified by what they find; their assailants are teenagers, and worse, their favorite game is torturing innocent people. It’s a jarring revelation that will make you question the moral fiber of the filmmaker and leave your nerves rattled; and if that was the case, then we can call Them a successful horror movie.
The closing segments of this film are genuinely unsettling to watch, as the group of psychotic teenagers abuses Clementine after separating her from Lucas. Even his heroic antics towards the end are for naught, as the kids eventually catch up to the couple and finally finish their twisted game.
The movie ends with a graphic that tells us that 4 teenagers were apprehended for multiple murders in that vicinity. When asked why they did it, their reply was, “They didn’t want to play with us”. We don’t know about you, but the idea of a 15-year-old staring at us blankly while asking us to play with them is gonna give us the creeps every time it happens, and we blame it all on this creepy & horrific masterpiece.
Hush (2016)
Music and sound are a big part of the horror experience. Ari Aster managed to make a simple cluck the most spine-chilling sound in existence with his immaculate debut film Hereditary. Mike Flanagan took the opposite direction and made this film with a near-silent approach; turns out, not being able to hear what’s going on is way creepier than you might imagine. Maddie Young is a global best-selling author who shifted from New York City to live an isolated life in the woods, seeking inspiration for her next story.
Maddie has a rather inspiring story herself; at the age of 13, she lost her ability to speak and hear due to a severe case of meningitis. She has been able to not just survive but thrive as one of the most prolific horror authors of her time. Little did she know her own life story is about to turn into one of the horror stories she loves to pen. One night, her neighbor Sarah comes to return a book she had borrowed from Maddie. She goes back home but gets shot with a crossbow.
Sarah makes her way to Maddie’s house to ask for help but it’s no use; no matter how hard she bangs the windows, to Maddie (and the audience) it is just a snuffle. The killer realizes this as well, and after finishing Sarah off, engages in a sadistic game of survival with our deaf-mute protagonist.
There’s something so unnerving about The Man’s conviction to kill that you cannot help but feel the creeps. When he unmasks in front of Maddie, it isn’t a sign of recklessness; he is fearless and does not care about the consequences of his actions. Flanagan’s choice to include sparse dialogue and an atmospheric background score amplifies his menacing aura.
By making you hear what Maddie is hearing, he makes you a part of this spine-chilling narrative from the victim’s POV. Of course, no Mike Flanagan film would be complete without mangled body parts and he does a particularly gruesome number on his wife Kate Siegel’s hand in this film. But what makes this film a must-watch is John Gallagher Jr.’s shiver-inducing psychopath of an antagonist, who remains a violent enigma throughout its runtime.
Don’t Breathe (2016)
This film’s premise is similar to the previous entry, but it flips the script by making the disadvantaged person the villain of the story, and it makes for one seriously creepy watch. Rocky, Money, & Alex are small-time crooks who make their living by robbing houses across Detroit City and selling their loot to a rather stuck-up fence. They decide to turn their fortunes around when they get a tip that an army veteran has just scored a settlement of $300,000 and discover that he also happens to be blind.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan: they drugged his Rottweiler, removed their shoes so they could move around without making a sound, and were generally successful in breaking into the place. It’s what happens after that makes this film a borderline uncomfortable watch. Stephen Lang has played a lot of villains in his long career, most memorably the uber-hawk Colonel Miles Quaritch from Avatar. But if there is one film that has cemented his place in the Hollywood Villains Hall of Fame, it has to be this one.
Norman Nordstrom might be blind, but he was a veteran of the long, vicious, and bloody Gulf War, and was a soldier first. Besides, when a person loses their vision, other senses begin to compensate for the loss of sight. Everything is dialed up to 11: the sensation of touch, taste, smell, and most importantly, hearing. It is Nordstrom’s ruthlessness despite his disability that will leave your mouth gaping wide open.
As soon as he comes into contact with Money, he ends his life, and all Rocky can do is watch her boyfriend die in silent horror. Her night just keeps evolving from there as she realizes what caused the settlement, what Norman lost, and what he was willing to do to regain it. The film’s ominous title becomes appropriate when you take into account all the things that Norman Nordstrom can do; because when you’re inches away from a territorial, blind beast, your best chance to survive is to not breathe.
You’re Next (2011)
No, not the catchphrase of the famous pro wrestler Goldberg, although to be fair, the killers in this movie do use it as their calling card. You’re Next is an oddball in the horror pantheon; it’s a heart-racing break-neck thriller that manages to subvert the biggest trope in slasher films in the most clever way we’ve seen so far.
And yet it brings the same, eerie aura of voyeuristic menace that makes a good slasher film great, and a great slasher film into this. Erin accompanies her boyfriend Crispian to his home for a family reunion, and things seem fishy from the get-go. The happy family she pictured is more like a suburban version of Gossip Girls, and things get uncomfortable real quick when Crispian and his father inadvertently begin arguing.
Matters take a turn for the worse when the family is attacked in what seems like a home invasion style, but quickly reveals itself to be a far more sinister plot that involves creepy animal-masked intruders, a hefty inheritance, and the mother of all motivations: greed.
If the story seems familiar to you hardcore slasher fans, that’s because it’s modeled after the infamous 1971 Giallo A Bay of Blood; from the gory deaths down to the murderers’ motives and the ending of the film. Director Adam Wingard is truly indie at heart and lets his actors improvise a lot of the dialogue in his movies, which ended up giving us exceptional moments of black comedy like the crossbow exchange between Crispian & Kelly;
“Crispian: What do your shoulders have to do with your legs? I’m the fastest.
Kelly: He has a fucking arrow in his back!
Crispian: Stop yelling at me, Kelly!”
Sensational stuff. But don’t let the clever dialogues distract you from the fact that this movie is brutal and can be quite unsettling at certain points. Amidst a wave of bland, sassy, teenaged Final Girls, the militarily-trained Erin is a breath of fresh air.
She manages to do what most slasher protagonists can’t; actually beating the killers at their own bloody game, which is conveyed in its rawest form through the erratic, impactful camerawork. Funny, gory, and downright creepy, You’re Next is one home invasion film that you wish will not happen to you; and one you won’t forget anytime soon.