Saturday, June 8, 2013

Top 10 Home Invasion Movies

The only films that truly scare me are ones that could really happen. There’s something so unsettling about how easy it would be for someone to come into your house and terrify the hell out of you. If done effectively, that fear can be the basis of a damn freaky film. In the wake of the home invasion thriller The Purge, here are 10 other worthy flicks in which unwelcome guests arrive and refuse to leave.

Omitted: Movies with memorable home invasion scenes that aren’t fully about home invasion (A Clockwork Orange, Straw Dogs, High Tension) were not considered.

10. When a Stranger Calls (1979)
Well there I go, breaking my own rules already. The home invasion of When a Stranger Calls is not extended throughout the entire film, but this film’s opening sequence alone merits inclusion on this list. You know the urban legend: a man prank calls a babysitter, asking if she’s checked the children she’s supposed to be watching. He keeps calling, so the babysitter calls the police, who soon tell her that the calls are Coming. From. In. Side. The. House.

Sounds cheesy, right? Not in this flick. The opening scene of this movie is scarier than any single scene from any film listed below. Truth.

9. The Ref (1994)
In this razor sharp comedy, Denis Leary invades the home of a bickering married couple on Christmas Eve night. Lloyd and Caroline (Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis) do not get along, and haven’t for years. But, as a victim of circumstance, Gus (Leary) forces them to verbally duke it out and squash their problems. So, in effect, the thief brings the couple together, but not before generating some hilarious un-PC discussion.

8. Inside (2007)
Another Christmas Eve tale of home invasion, but with a decidedly more gruesome tone. While a pregnant woman sits at home alone, mourning the recent loss of her lover, a mysterious woman in black shows up and demands to have the woman’s unborn child. A few key words for what is to follow: scissors, no anesthesia, blood, fetus, blood, blood, blood. Inside is actually a really effective little movie, but its penchant for bloodlust is a little too much, even to those with a strong stomach.

7. Hard Candy (2005)
The unique part about Hardy Candy is that it is essentially a home invasion thriller in reverse. When we meet 14-year-old Hayley (Ellen Page) we think she is a naïve young woman who is about to fall victim to an online predator. Hayley meets up with the 32-year-old Jeff (Patrick Wilson), and he soon invites her to his stylish home. But things aren’t what they seem. The hunter becomes the hunted, and back again. I love the evolution of this warped little movie.

6. Kidnapped (2010)
The thriller Kidnapped, while stuck with a pretty generic plot, deserves to be here based on technical prowess alone. The 80-minute film is comprised of just a handful of extended shots (which, admittedly, are achieved through computer effects, but still…) and successfully implores a split-screen effect for one of its most tense moments. The movie: a couple moves into a house and is soon terrified by three masked assailants. Same old song, but pulled off cleverly, packing one hell of a gut punch of an ending.

5. Them (2006)
Another short French thriller (the French know something about home invasion, it seems) Them is a perfectly paced mystery about a young couple whose secluded cabin gets invaded. Again: same story, effective execution. If nothing else, Them is worthy for its extended chase sequence, which occupies more than a quarter of the film’s running time. It never grows old, it only gets creepier.

4. Panic Room (2002)
David Fincher’s Panic Room is a simple tale of greed gone array. When three relatively moronic masked men break into a lavish New York home, they are surprised to find a strong-willed mother and her ill child living there. The men want the millions worth of bearer bonds that are in the house, problem is, the bonds are locked in the impenetrable panic room that Jodie Foster and Kristen Steward are hiding in. Far from Fincher’s best film, but I enjoy it endlessly.

3. Wait Until Dark (1967)
For my money, the best performance Audrey Hepburn ever gave was as a terrified but strong-willed blind woman trying to evade thieves from her home in Wait Until Dark. A group of thugs (led convincingly by Alan Arkin) are certain that Hepburn is housing a doll filled with heroin inside her apartment. After they break in, Wait Until Dark becomes an ingenious thriller about sensory trickery, which results in a thrilling climax in which an apartment black out levels the playing field.

2. The Strangers (2008)
The entirety of the true horror encapsulated in The Strangers can be found in just four simple words. Late in the film, a terrified Liv Tyler asks “Why are you doing this to us?” One of her assailants, who looks and sounds like a young woman, says matter of factly: “Because you were home.”

THAT’S the kind of shit that scares me.

1. Funny Games (1997/2007)
As usual, I have a hard time gauging which one of Michael Haneke’s home invasion films is more effective – his 1997 German original, or his shot-for-shot, word-for-word American remake. No matter, because point in fact, either Funny Games stands as a horrifying social examination of the people on screen, and the people watching them. It’s rather fascinating how quickly two young, clean cut, approachable young men asking their neighbors for eggs turns into the most devastating home invasion film ever made.

What’s more fearful than the simple plot device of: “You bet that you’ll be alive tomorrow at 9 o’clock and we bet that you’ll be dead.”

Easy, the fact that after one of the criminals says this, he looks right at the camera and asks us if we think the family stands the chance. So, in essence, the audience becomes a participant in the mayhem, which was always Haneke’s point.

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48 comments:

  1. The film that actually came to mind when I was watching The Purge was actually The Strangers to be honest. I've probably only seen, maybe, the first 15 or 20 minutes of that film (is it worth tracking down) but I remember the trailer and the images of the intruders with bags over their heads and it still strikes me as being extremely creepy and awesome at the same time.
    Great calls with the French trio and Hard Candy as well. I remember watching the ladder with my parents (not the best idea I've had - but probably better than the one I had to watch Antichrist with them) and I really dug it but they were really uncomfortable lol. I haven't seen Kidnapped yet, but I've seen it on Netflix and have been meaning to get to it. The other two I have seen and really dug Inside. That movie is just so insane and is definitely up there with High Tension and Martyrs as some of my favorite "horror" films in recent memory.

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    1. I would be very surprised if The Strangers did not act as a major influence over The Purge. And yes, if you like these kinds of movies, I highly recommend The Strangers. I think it's freaky as shit. And not gory at all, which is refreshing.

      Inside is fucking brutal, isn't it? I don't think I'll be watching that one again.

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  2. i didn't care for Panic Room, but i LOVE the others! I'd also add Secuestrados to this list

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    1. Candice - Glad you like most of the picks!

      Mask - Yeah, I keep wondering if I should put the foreign titles in parenthesis next to the American ones.

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  3. I've only seen 3 of these films in Hard Candy, The Ref, and Panic Room. I'm definitely going to add Funny Games to my Blind Spot list for next year, the original version.

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    1. Dude, you will LOVE Funny Games. It's so fucking sadistic.

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  4. I approve of the inclusion of Wait Until Dark.

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  5. Awesome list! 'Inside' really goes overboard with the bloodshed, I noticed it happens a lot in those new French horror movies. Strangers was pretty good, that line you included was horrifying indeed! The randomness of it was really scary.

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    1. Thanks! Yeah, what is it with the French going nuts with blood? Inside is fuckin' brutal.

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  6. I really wanted to see Kidnapped but Netflix Streaming only had the dubbed version. I usually hate English remakes of Foreign films but I prefer the American version of Funny Games

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    1. Dude, please, under no circumstance should you watch that dubbed version of Kidnapped. The dubbing is HORRIBLE. Ruins the effect of the film.

      I dig the U.S. version of Funny Games as well. A solid remake.

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  7. Inside is the reason why my sister refuses to watch any more movies I recommend. We both loved it, but now she's really squirmish about blood and gore. Oops.

    Oh yes, Wait Until Dark. Amazing movie with some really chilling scenes. Audrey Hepburn played that role so well. Another great choice.

    I love you for having The Strangers that high. Most people don't seem to appreciate it enough. It would be my number 1 for this list. "Because you were home". Scary stuff.

    I hated Funny Games' ending and the breaking of fourth wall, but that was Haneke's point. It still does not detract from those scenes when the family is held captive and re-captive and then re-captive again. Brilliant stuff.

    Oh, and When A Stranger Calls is not cheating. That shit scared the shit out of me. When A Stranger Calls Back's opening scene is just as scary.

    I loved this list since I've seen 9 out of 10 of the titles, a record for me with any of your lists!

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    1. haha nice! (Which one haven't you seen...?)

      Yeah, recommending Inside is tough business. That's a damn gruesome flick.

      So glad you're a Strangers fan - I really enjoy that one. When a Stranger Calls scared the shit out of me too. That could happen, you know?

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    2. Haven't seen Hard Candy. It's been on my watch list however, just not very high.

      I'm defo a Strangers fan. It kept me riveted. Also probably one of the best theater experiences I've had what with everybody screaming at the top of their lungs every 5 minutes.

      My mom always told me not to talk to strangers~

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    3. Hard Candy is really good when you get around to it. Very deceptive. I LOVED seeing The Strangers in the theater. Awesome shit.

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  8. Funny Games was always going to top this list. No Doubt!

    I haven't seen about half of the movies in this list but I am happy to see Wait Until Dark and Hard Candy making the list. Love them both though I will probably have Hard Candy a little higher. That movie scared the shit out of me.

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    1. You know it!

      Hard Candy is so good. I love how deceitful it is. You want her to win, then you want him to win, then her. Okay, you don't want him to win but you don't want him to get snipped either. Great stuff.

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  9. Hell of a list, man. I have only seen a few of these, but I'm curious to check out the others now. Love that you included Inside -- that movie messed me up for days.

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    1. Thanks man!

      Inside: Oh God, me too. I saw that once about a year ago, and holy shit. Effective movie but wow. Just... wow.

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  10. Great post, I always get freaked out when the recording keeps repeating on The Strangers, creepy stuff.

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    1. Thanks! Oh same here. That is such a good tension builder. I really like that movie.

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  11. Just watched Wait Until Dark, what a great flick, Mancini's score adds so heavily to the tension of the film, it's so minuet. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend Suddenly starring Frank Sinatra as the heavy and a young Sterling Hayden, it's a political thriller AND a home invasion film. Haven't seen Panic Room for some fucking reason, what's my deal?

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    1. Suddenly was the big hole here, I definitely need to check that one out ASAP.

      So glad you liked Wait Until Dark, I LOVE that movie. Panic Room is great for Fincher fans. I really dig it.

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  12. Hard Candy is such an underrated movie and such a treat. I've seen it twice and I'm still assassinated how twisted it is.. yet, brilliant. Page is great in it as well.

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    1. "I'm still assassinated how twisted it is..."

      What great phrasing. Could not agree more with that. Brilliant!

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  13. Home invasion movies freak me out so much. I just can't watch them. I like that you included Hard Candy though, that's a clever little film. Oddly enough I've had The Ref in my Netflix queue for months, and I keep bumping it down.

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    1. Home invasions are the scariest, aren't they? Supernatural shit never effects me, but some of the films on this list... wow.

      The Ref, however, is a silly comedy that I promise won't scare you. It's really fun!

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  14. Yup -- this is a scary premise, much more terrifying than paranormal horror. Of all these, I've only seen #7, #3, and #1 (German version). I am definitely a fan of Wait Until Dark, and I really appreciated the performances in Hard Candy and Funny Games. I was especially impressed with the lady in Funny Games (whose name I can't recall). While I didn't love the movie, I found her work engrossing.

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    1. Oh yeah, Susanne Lothar is a hell of an actress. I love her work in Funny Games. I'm surprised you haven't seen When a Stranger Calls. It's sooooo freaky.

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  15. Nice job man. Of those I've seen, I love the inclusions of Hard Candy, Panic Room, and Wait Until Dark, which has a killer climax, indeed. Funny Games would be my #1 choice as well, and I haven't even seen the original version yet.

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    1. Thanks dude. I really need to watch Wait Until Dark again. For that ending alone....it's so damn perfect.

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  16. Very interesting top 10 Alex. There's plenty of films I love right here - Wait Until Dark is great, Them is technically superb, and Hard Candy is really well orchestrated. I'm not a fan of The Strangers or Funny Games but there's plenty to appreciate in this top 10. Glad you found a spot The Ref!

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    1. Thanks for reading, Dan! I usually try to list films that may seem unsuspecting, like The Ref here. But it really fits, you know?

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    2. ...the reference to When A Stranger Calls reminds me just how brilliant that opening sequence is AND how disappointing the rest of the film is. Perhaps its greatest legacy is inspiring Kevin Williamson to do the "phone thing" in Scream.

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    3. Yes, I agree with all of that. REALLY disappointing how much the rest of the film is so lacking. Williamson did great work with it though.

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  17. Oh Funny Games have to be number one! Haneke is genius! I never thought such movie can do that, what a 'treat'. Nice list!

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    1. Ha, a "treat" indeed. No other film like it.

      Glad you liked the list!

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  18. The casting for the American remake of Funny Games was, to put it lightly, fucking superb. I already like him, but it gave me a new-found respect for Tim Roth's acting ability.

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    1. Hell yeah man. That's the reason I prefer it slightly to the original version. Roth and Watts killed it.

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  19. The fact I knew the number one before I read the list didn't change how glad I was to see it there. It's also nice to see The Strangers so high, I really liked that film.

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    1. Haneke reigns! The Strangers is a damn effective little horror movie. Not many of those are made in this country anymore...

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  20. As for home invasions I absolutely love the movie "Retreat" (2011). Not the couple (Murphy and Newton) but Jamie Bell as the "invader" is outstanding. Before I forget again, I truly enjoy your lists!

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    1. Ohh I haven't seen that one! I'll have to look it up. Thank you so much for all your comments! I promise I see them all, I just have to approve comments on older posts, to help cut back on spam comments.

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  21. A Clockwork Orange should be there. More so than "The Ref" I think.

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    1. Well, A Clockwork Orange has a home invasion, whereas The Ref is about a home invasion. Know what I mean?

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  22. I stand corrected. Thanks.

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