Guest Post: Home is Where the Horror Is: The Best "Home Invasion" Movies

The concept of home invokes a sense of security and safety from the dangers of the outside world. Invasion movies violate this deeply entrenched human need. The idea that someone could breach this most fundamental barrier strikes a chord of horror, making us wonder how we would react in such a situation. The following movies answer that question in very different ways, but they all tap into the same fear in memorable ways.

Black Christmas (2004)

This holiday classic has someone breaking into the house right from the outset. In a horrifying opening scene, viewers become complicit with the intruder himself and see through his eyes. Revisiting this angle periodically keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, envisioning the horror around the corner. More disturbingly for the characters in the movie, the intruder calls from inside the house and doesn’t have very pleasant things to say. As the bodies pile up, the sorority house itself seems to take on a sinister air. This Canadian thriller really laid the foundation for many of the horror tropes we know today. Interesting tidbit: the film was directed by Bob Clark, who is responsible for another Christmas classic. Guess which one...

The Panic Room (2002)

The Panic Room provides exactly what its title suggests: a film full of panicked characters running from their worst fears which have suddenly materialized. Jodie Foster plays a somewhat wounded divorcee who is trying to start a new life. The new house she moves into with her daughter comes equipped with an impenetrable panic room in case of intrusions. Before too long, some men come by in search of loot, and the panic room becomes a necessity. Unfortunately for the main characters, the panic room itself contains what the intruders have come looking for.

Funny Games (1997)

Director Michael Haneke decided he had to torment as many audiences with this film as possible. So he made this one in Germany in ‘97, and then he remade the film entirely in English ten years later. The “games” depicted in this movie have nothing to do with fun, except for the perpetrators and any seriously sadistic viewers. In this tale of torture and pain, a family vacation getaway turns into several rounds of violence when a few psychopaths come into the picture. Naomi Watts plays the mother of a well-to-do family that runs into a pair of polite and well-mannered killers. Each family member gets a certain amount of time to live and then has to undergo a series of physical and psychological horrors. Holiday activities at the cabin have rarely taken such a dark turn.

Halloween (1978)

Director John Carpenter’s classic horror film changed the genre for good and set off a chain reaction that still reverberates today. The movie opens with a non-intruder, Michael, who commits the first violent deed. Years later, Michael proceeds to maim and kill as many of the people in his old neighborhood as possible. At the heart of the story, though, are a few babysitters who unexpectedly walk into jobs that will change their lives. A quiet night at home would never seem as innocent and peaceful after this film’s release. It’s one of the most successful independent films of all time, and is still shown regularly throughout the United States: the original was redistributed theatrically all over the world. It’s so big, that it’s a popular viewing option even outside of the continental U.S., with many fans catching it through Satellite TV Providers in Hawaii or at Halloween carnivals in Alaska.

Wait Until Dark (1967)

Audrey Hepburn stars a young woman named Susy who has recently become blind ends up facing three intruders. After a series of mishaps and poor decisions at the beginning of the movie, Susy’s husband Sam ends up bringing a doll full of heroin to the house. This brings the miscreants sniffing around for it. Since Susy is blind, the criminals try to find the doll full of drugs without letting her in on it by weaving a series of stories to explain their presence. Their tales begin to wear thin as the clock keeps ticking. The film was praised heartily by Roger Ebert.

When a Stranger Calls (1979)

This classic home invasion movie tunes into the fear of interacting with a stranger who can track your every move. At the outset, the home represents an alien environment, as Jill Johnson is babysitting in another home. Already out of place, she receives another jolt of fear when someone calls the home asking about the children. A seemingly innocuous prank at first glance, the calls continue and Jill becomes increasingly concerned. When she finally gets the attention of the authorities, they have some even more terrifying news for her. The caller has already entered the house and is placing calls from inside it.
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Beth Kelly is a blogger based in Chicago, IL. A horror fan since day one, she also has a degree in Communications and Media from DePaul, University. In her free time you can find her training for a triathlon or watching awesomely-bad monster movies.

Hush

Hush is a home invasion film with the added twist that the victim is deaf. You (like the murderer) might assume that Maddie would be an easy target, but you would be very wrong. The film is successful in playing into many of the typical tropes of its genre, but also doing things slightly differently. Both the killer and the victim are just a bit different than the normal. Right off the bat, the killer assumes that Maddie will be an easy kill, so he resolves to play around with her first, refusing to enter the house until she is begging to die. He makes it clear he enjoys the hunt and the kill. First, he wears an eerie, blank white mask, but takes it off when she tries to reason with him to leave because she hadn't seen what he really looked like. I like this decision because he really is just a person who kills people for sport and isn't a perfect killing machine like Michael Myers. The first part of the film is a cat and mouse game as Maddie tries to escape or get at phone or other helpful resource while she hides from the killer or distracts him. The killer leaves her sick presents at times, but also falls for some of her tricks. One scene that shows his particular prowess is when a neighbor comes over to see what's going on. The killer pretends to be a police officer and tries to bluff his way into fooling the much larger man. He uses every advantage and doesn't play fair.

Maddie is deaf, but it comes with some advantages and disadvantages in this situation. She has to keep a visual on the killer as much as she can because she can't hear him. During the very beginning of the film, Maddie's neighbor is killed while she obliviously washes dishes just inside the window of the murder scene. It shows how vulnerable she is, but she uses other sense to track the killer and keep herself safe. She feels vibrations for his footsteps and feels his breath on the back of her neck at a critical moment. She can use her deafness to her advantage when she sets of the deafening fire alarm that is so loud so the vibrations will wake her if she's sleeping. One of the mental abilities also comes into play that I wish had been used more. She's a mystery writer that can vividly see the possible courses and plot can take and their endings. During a particularly hopeless moment, she imagines her possible actions and their outcomes to find the best course of action. She does have her limitations. She doesn't really know how to stop her bleeding when she gets shot with a cross bow. When she manages to steal that crossbow, she has no idea how to use it and spends precious time trying to figure it out. I also liked that the beginning scene establishes her character in an efficient way while being a fun scene.

Hush is an exciting, tense film that feels just a bit different than all the other home invasion movies out there. The only downside to the film is the wasted mention of Maddie's ex-boyfriend that never really mattered and could have just been removed. Other than that, Hush is a formidable home invasion film. Check it out on Netflix. I am looking forward to more from Mike Flanagan because I've liked Hush and Oculus and I've heard nothing but good things from those who have seen his other films. I'm particularly excited to see Absentia and the upcoming Before I Wake.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

Horror Movie Mini-Reviews: Intruders and Army of Darkness

* Intruders

Anna takes care of her dying brother in her childhood home. She hasn't left it in years and suffers from acute agoraphobia. When her brother dies, she remains at home much to the disappointment of a group of men set on robbing her. This film had been on my watch list for a while and it didn't disappoint. Intruders has a lot in common with Don't Breathe. Home invasion films are fairly formulaic and both change it up by making the supposed victim into the aggressor in different ways.

Anna at first is meek. She couldn't escape if she wanted to because of the debilitating effects of her agoraphobia. In her panic (and other reasons that become clear later in the film), she doesn't call the police. The three men think she's easy to subdue and terrorize, but she proves to be more than they can handle. The best part of this film is that, unlike Don't Breathe, it's hard to pick a side. At the beginning of the film, it's clear that she is an innocent victim. The men are cruel, misogynistic, and disgusting. They don't get any better throughout the film. Revelations come out about Anna and you feel sympathy towards the men even though they are abhorrent. Both sides are painted in shades of grey with compelling points on either side.

One thing annoyed me. Anna isn't very physically strong. She's good at hiding and attacking in other ways. For some reason, she kept attacking the men that are much larger, stronger, and faster than her and always got her ass handed to her. Why try it multiple times? Get a weapon. Do something sneakier. Other than that, the story goes into some of the most unexpectedly depraved places. I couldn't predict where the story was going to go. If you're tired of the same old home invasion films, definitely give this a try.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins


* Army of Darkness

Ash Williams was sucked into a portal at the end of Evil Dead II. Army of Darkness shows that he was dumped into the Middle Ages afflicted by Deadites. With his trusty boomstick and chainsaw hand, he kicks ass, takes names, and kills Deadites. Unfortunately, he's still Ash, so he fucks some stuff up, raising an army of the dead. Will he stay and fight or will he abandon the others in their time of need?

Army of Darkness is my favorite of the Evil Dead trilogy. It may be more comedy than horror, but it's entertaining as hell. The beginning recaps the previous film and I find it hilarious that in each film, Ash's girlfriend is played by a different actress. Ash shines in this film with his usual bravado, arrogance, and carelessness. How he proves himself to the people holding him captive is epic. He battles a Deadite in a water filled bit, using his chainsaw hand and boomstick, then basically enslaves the natives. Setting out to get rid of the Deadite scourge in exchange for passage home, he predictably fucks it all up due to his own arrogance. The army of the dead is amazing with many practical effects and puppets. I love the skeleton playing a bone like a flute when marching to the fight. The final war is awesome and way over the top with explosions, flying Deadites, and Ash's Deadite twin leading the enemy.

Some scenes were a little too slapstick for me like the scene with the tiny Ashes. The horror elements aren't as central as in previous movies, but it's still enjoyable. The ending begs the question why Ash would want to return to his time in the first place. He's a lowly S-Mart worker where everyone thinks he's a bombastic liar and a bore. You'd think he'd love being waited on hand and foot, but he also hates expending effort. I guess we wouldn't have Ash vs. Evil Dead then. This is mandatory viewing if you watch the show. Army of Darkness is a fun action filled horror comedy.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

The Purge

In 2022, the government reserves one night a year where almost all crime is completely legal. That's 12 hours of complete freedom to rape, murder, steal, etc. The rest of the days of the year, the society is damn near utopic with extremely low crime and unemployment rates. James Sandin devoted to his family and has made a sizable fortune selling security systems specifically to keep families safe from the Purge. He and his family always hole up for the night and wait for it to be over, but this year is different. His son takes pity on a homeless man and allows him into their house. Some random hooligans were hunting him and now demand him back or they will kill the family instead. James has to decide which is more important, the life of a stranger or the lives of his family.

I love the concept for The Purge. There are New Founding Fathers who have enacted this policy in order to allow for a practically crime and unemployment free America. I really wanted to know more about these powerful men, how they came to me known as such, and what state of events led to the legalizing of one night of legalized crime. The aim of it seems to be to let people let off steam and to rid the streets of undesirables (the poor, homeless, and nonwhite) at the same time. The quality of life of the people improves without the government having to actually do anything productive like providing more jobs or funding public programs to help the needy. They just get rid of the class of people that actually needs help. Unfortunately, none of these concepts are really explored in depth and, beyond a few small things, the film is largely a typical home invasion film that offers nothing new to the genre.

There are a couple things in the film that comment on society and brought some intrigue to the film. James Sandin is a capitalist through and through, the top seller of security at his work  Unfortunately, the security quality is quite low and doesn't actually withstand a lot of abuse despite its high price tag. The libertarian policies of his company bite him in the ass and leads to his own home being vulnerable to attack. He knew the security was crap and that didn't stop him from selling to hundreds of people and installing it in his own home. Who knows how many other people died as a result of the shoddy workmanship and corporate greed. The homeless man is the only person who is poor and not privileged in the film. He is treated as an animal and a possession by those more affluent. It might have been more interesting to have the story center around more than one person who would actually be affected by the Purge rather than a rich white family that acts supremely stupid at every turn.

The rest of the the film is your standard home invasion film. The attackers have creepy masks (a la The Strangers) and terrorize the family. They were actually pretty decent at being deranged. The family run around like chickens with their heads cut off and make the dumbest decisions on the face of the planet throughout the film. It would have been nice for them to make a decision about the homeless guy and stick with it instead of flip flopping every two seconds. I didn't really feel any sympathy for the family because they directly benefited from scamming people and the Purge plus they were boring. They were frankly getting what was coming to them.

The ending had some humor to it, but the film was overall a disappointment. The backstory was so interesting yet completely ignored after it generally set up the rules of the world. I would like to see a sequel or prequel that delves into the history behind it and focuses on the people who are actually victimized during the Purge.

My rating: 6/10 fishmuffins

The Apartment

Mark and Steph live happily in a nice house in South Africa with their daughter Hayden. Their peaceful life is marred by a home invasion that ending with stolen items but no physical injuries. The psychological harm has taken its toll and the family no longer feels safe in addition to hidden resentments that cropped up as a result. Steph is desperate to get away and heal, so she jumps on the chance to do an online house exchange for a week where she and Mark stay at a delightfully quaint French apartment and the French couple stays in their house. When they arrive, it isn't quaint, but empty, shoddy, and home to vagrants. They also feel a more sinister presence, but don't have the money to stay anywhere else. They will wait out the week. What's the worst that could happen?

When I heard about this book, I was excited that Blumhouse Productions is getting into horror. The studio can be innovative and creative, but their films are overall hit and miss. Anyway, this story has a lot of good things going for it. The family could be any middle class family that struggles financially and suffered such a psychological and monetary blow in the home invasion. A lot of people can relate and I found them mostly sympathetic until they started falling apart. The structure of the narrative alternates perspectives between the couple in every chapter, sometimes backtracking or leaping forward in time. The type of nefarious presence used is interesting and not well defined. Even after reading the story, I couldn't tell you specifically what is was. The rules governing it were unique and made sense. The decision to cut away from the violence made the book more compelling and allowed the reader to make what happened as gruesome as they could imagine. Only in one instance was it a little confusing to the plot.

My biggest problem with the book is Steph. So many wives in horror books and films are stereotypical, unsympathetic shrews. I'm not sure if it stems from the misogynistic view of marriage that these women were awesome and then turned horrible after giving birth and a few years of marriage. It's gross. Anyway, she is simply awful. She has a deep seated resentment of Mark's behavior during the robbery. If he had fought back like she wanted, one or more of them would have probably died. She doesn't have empathy or patience for his extended grief over his daughter's death from a previous marriage. He has problems getting close to Hayden because of his grief and Steph takes offense instead of being understanding. She attributes his behavior to hatred or resentment, creating this bizarre imagined conflict between the two. I assumed she didn't know about his grief by her behavior, but then she mentions it and I lost all sympathy for her. The entire situation is her fault because she didn't thoroughly research a place in Paris or ensure the one she chose had some reviews first. On top of this other moronic behavior, Steph completely avoids voicing her concerns or feelings until they explode out. All of this could have been avoided with some honest conversations and good research. Steph is the real villain of this whole piece.

The Apartment started out as very promising, creepy horror. The writing is pretty good and engaging, but it totally falls apart with Steph, the most infuriating character to read about. It's a disturbing trend in films that mothers and/or wives are unsympathetic shrews that only serve to make the main male characters look better and have understandable resentful feelings towards her. Other than that, the book has an interesting concept in an unspecified nefarious presence with its own rules. It never becomes over explained and I like the mystery surrounding it. It would be easy to write a completely different book about the same presence. I would give Blumhouse Books another chance even though I had some real problems with this one.

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins  

Women in Horror: Kristy

* spoilers *
College student Justine has worked hard for everything she has and continues to do work study washing dishes to earn money, achieve a high GPA to keep her scholarship, and try to have a relatively normal life in the meantime. Thanksgiving rolls around and she can't afford a plane ticket to visit her parents, so she opts to stay at her college basically alone rather than vacation with rich friends who have everything handed to them. She borrows a friend's BMW to pick up some ice cream and inadvertently insults a women in front of her by offering to buy her sunglasses. That woman then storms off, tries to crash into her on the road, and brings a gang of masked intruders to wreak havoc on her campus trying to kill her. Can Justine keep it together and fight back or escape?

The beginning of the film establishes both the heroine and the villain. Our heroine is Justine, a super hardworking college student. Although she is surrounded by the privileged and rich (including her boyfriend and best friend) at an Ivy League level school, she is not rich and has to work hard to achieve and keep everything she has. Her scholarship could be taken away at one bad grade and her work study is mandatory for her to be able to afford living at the school. When she isn't studying, in class, or working, she swims on the swim team and spends time with her boyfriend. Justine is the underdog, someone who doesn't quite belong but who we want to succeed because she deserves it. During this time in the film, the colors are bright and some unexpected camera angles are used. Her life is vibrant and full even though it's busy. I couldn't help but like her. She wasn't beaten down by her misfortunes even though it isn't ideal. It's ironic that her financial situation left her by herself at the school for Thanksgiving.

The villains are part of a faceless online collective called the Fold that hate Kristy. Kristy isn't any one girl, but she has everything; she's blessed, a follower of Christ, pretty, weak, and pure. They find girls like this, hunt her, torture her, kill her, carve a K on her face, and film the process for others to watch and delight in. To them, killing Kristy is the closest they can get to killing god. These faceless people are all over the US, killing innocent girls and leaving their trademark K. They could be anyone. This group taps into the audience's fear of the dark side of the internet, Satanists, the unknown, and the invasion of safe spaces. The university is shown to be secure with guards, but a group of 4 pretty easily dispatches all of it. The latter half of the film (and the first 10 minutes when the Fold is established) is monochromatic with red being the only vibrant color shown, contrasting the earlier establishment of Justine's normal life. The only character whose face is shown voluntarily and has some sort of character establishment is Violet (screen name Drkviolet801). She never hides her face and she's the one who chooses Justine as their next Kristy.

They bump into each other at a convenience store by chance. Violet sees Justine's borrowed car, her innocent demeanor, and her face as prime Kristy material. It's ironic that Justine doesn't even have any of the things the Fold resents except for being pretty. She has worked hard for everything she has. Justine and Violet are foils for each other and the main conflict is ultimately between these two women. Justine could have been Violet and vice versa. Justine could have been bitter about her lot in life, took solace in on an online collective set upon punishing the people who have what she doesn't have, and resolved to create chaos instead of her current state of being. Violet could have been Justine if she worked hard to overcome her obstacles instead of simply punishing individuals for having more than her. Violet also symbolizes all of Justine's anger and bitterness at the people around her, but she eventually overcomes it and moves on.

The home invasion aspects are well done and suspenseful. If you've ever seen a film like this, the tropes are pretty standard and it's usually pretty clear where it's going to go, but Kristy was different. Both sides had new tricks up their sleeves. At one point, Justine calls 911 and Violet answers, gleaning her position in the process and torturing her mentally further. Justine is physically fit through her swimming and uses her knowledge of the university due to her various jobs and responsibilities to evade and trick her attackers. All of the things she did were established in her intro, which shows that the writers know the horror audience. We hate when people are conveniently good at things for no reason, so they showed why she handles herself well underwater, has stamina, and knows the university layout well. Justine does fall into a few of the final girl pitfalls like crashing a car to kill one of the attackers instead of simply driving away, but this can easily be explained by her heightened emotional state. People don't think clearly very well under duress. She did an admirable job through most of the film, but mistakes were made. Ultimately, even though some people tried to come to her aid, she dispatched all of the assailants on her own through her own efforts, her own ingenuity, and her own drive to survive. At the end, she says my name is Kristy because of how the event changed her and how she came to change her own fate. This figure of scorn to a whole organization hunted them in return and won.

Kristy is mostly a typical home invasion film at a college with a few things like characters, cinematography, a small injection of cyber horror, and a few twists to make it stand out. I enjoyed the film, especially the main conflict between Violet and Justine. Both Ashley Greene and Haley Bennett carried the film and provided contrasting, yet compelling characters. The cinematography makes the two parts of the film as different as the two female leads. I enjoyed how her beating this small group of people led to a huge breakthroughs in arresting and dismantling the Fold, but the after credits scene shows that not all of them are caught as they target their next victim. I hope a sequel isn't made because it feels right as a stand alone, but I would probably watch it if it were made.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

Holiday Horror: Better Watch Out (2017)

* spoilers *

It's the Christmas season and 17 year old Ashley is babysitting 12 year old Luke when his parents go out for the evening. He's a bit old for a babysitter, but he sleepwalks and can't be left alone at night. The evening starts out a little bumpy as Luke is pushy and annoying until an intruder enters the house. They throw a brick through a window that says, "u leave u die." Luke and Ashley are cut off from the outside and have to rely on each other to survive this ordeal.

Better Watch Out is one of the best Christmas horror movies I've seen. It starts out with a tried and true formula: a teenage babysitter and her charge are under siege by an intruder. The very beginning of the movie invokes dread with a black car following Ashley as she walks to Luke's house. When she gets to the house, the rich parents are hilariously hateful to each other, Virginia Madsen and Patrick Warburton in tiny but impactful roles. Luke starts off as incredibly annoying as he chugs champagne to impress and awkwardly seduce Ashley, supporting his beginning conversation with his best friend Garrett where they objectify women and talk about how to have sex with them.

The home invasion aspect feels familiar and I start to make mental predictions about what's going to happen, which are all wrong. Ashley and Luke sneak around the house, dodging the masked intruder with a shotgun. Ashley is terrified, but Luke acts like it's another opportunity to prove how manly he is. He seems to be feigning bravery in the face of real danger. The intruder subtly leaves signs that he's watching them like ordering pizza when he knew they wanted to but hadn't don it yet, calling them with a Scream-like question, facing a glowing Santa towards the window when Ashley placed just outside the door, and leaving a knife in the tire of her car where he knew they would see it. Then the identity of the intruder is discovered due to Ashley's attention to detail and the movie takes a significant turn.

The film goes from a home invasion to a hostage situation. Garrett was the invader, but Luke masterminded the entire thing. All of that detail that the intruder designed was his, showing his conniving and intelligent nature. Ashley is tied up, after Luke slaps her and causes her to fall down the stairs, and she tries to logically lay out for them the consequences so they will let her go. Luke enjoys his power over Ashley as he grossly touches her and forces her to play truth or dare. When Ashley's boyfriend and ex-boyfriend arrive (and then die), it's clear that Luke has much more in mind than he has shown. Garrett has no idea Luke would murder someone, but he follows his friend anyway. It's what he's always done.

I was mildly annoyed by Luke at the beginning of the film, but completely infuriated by him after the reveal. Luke is a sociopath with absolutely no regard or empathy for everyone else. He cleverly combines this with his privileged background and the sickly, stunted persona he has built up over the years. In his everyday life, he uses all of this plus charisma to get out of trouble at every turn whether it's getting Garrett out of detention or killing Garrett's gerbil. Whenever anything goes wrong and he loses control, he yells that someone made him do something, mentally absolving him of all blame. Even though he's completely naive, he acts confident that everything he does will turn out fine because it always has. Luke and Garrett talk about sexually assaulting Ashley and then making her forget as if it had never happened. The way we as a society treat young privileged white men and the very different way women are treated is exactly why he thinks and acts like this. 

Ashley, on the other hand, is right about to leave for college. She makes measured, though out decisions at every turn in the film. If it wasn't safe to move, she quietly waited, looking weak and complacent to her captors. When logic doesn't work with Luke, she pits him and Garrett against each other. She knows both well and takes advantage of the secrets she knows about them. When her boyfriend stumbles in (much better in person than what we had heard about him), she isn't sentimental about leaving together. Whoever gets free first gets out of there and brings help. I felt so much anger and frustration for her as well as admiration for how she kept a cool head through the whole thing. Olivia DeJonge, the actresse portraying Ashley, captures reactions very well. Much of the gory violence is off camera and we only get the horror due to other characters' reactions to the event.

Better Watch Out is a refreshing film. It starts off very much like The Babysitter and veers off into its own, much more interesting direction. All of the characters (except Garrett who stays a loser stoner kid) are dynamic and nuanced. Although Luke is an unrealistic version of a child, he still makes human mistakes. This film also puts ridiculous humor right next to tense and uncomfortable scenes that make it border a horror comedy. It's a must watch, especially for Christmas.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

The Grip of It

Julie and James are looking to relocate due to James' financial ruin and gambling problem. They find the perfect inexpensive yet large house, perfect to start over in. It's too good to be true because weird things start happening in their house and increase in severity as times go on until their lives are completely disrupted. What is causing their problems: a nosy neighbor, a ghostly presence in their house, or just them?

The Grip of It is a suspenseful novel that has elements of a haunted house but never defines what's wrong. Julie and James are a young couple reeling from James' bad decisions and struggling to trust each other. That initial fissure in their relationship makes them quick to turn on each other when things go wrong. The weird events start with a strange sound with no apparent cause. They search around for the source to no avail. Bruises appear on Julie's body more and more often, looking deep and severe with no apparent cause. The couple sees children playing in the trees that no one else can see. A terrible smell fills their home and any water from the faucets no matter how clear it looks will fill their mouths with green mold. One day, they wake up with childish drawings all of their wall and both of them denying having done it. Both disbelieve each other and attempt to go one with their day to day life.

Threats come from outside as well in an odd, elderly neigbor who watches them from his window constantly and then lets himself into their home despite rebuffing their efforts to be friendly. When they are on the cusp of calling the police due to his home invasion, he disappears. The police eventually look at the couple with suspicion for their conflict with him as well as their failure to disclose earlier problems at their home. James doesn't help things by staying home from work for weeks on end without letting anyone know and gets fired. He tries to research the history of the house and does reveal that their neighbor used to live there with his family with a tragic death and a dark secret. Sometimes when he discovers something like a hidden room with a cot obviously lived in, he seems to forget it the next day and does  nothing about it.

The Grip of It ramps up to a fever pitch and then ends perfectly. No revelation come out and the reason behind all the craziness is never defined. No psychic comes in to tell them what's wrong and they have no idea how to fix it. I believe it's a combination of the supernatural and their real life conflicts that were never resolved from before their move. The story is told in alternative points of view between Julie and James, highlighting their distrust of and frustration with each other. Although it doesn't really resolve, it feels like it doesn't have to. I enjoyed the journey through this story.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

The Strangers (2008)

James and Kristen come home from a friend's wedding to a remote cabin, James' childhood summer home. A stranger comes to the door at 4am and leaves, only to return multiple times despite being told she has the wrong house. The incidences get more and more frightening as the phone stops working and noises are heard throughout the house. A trio of people torment the couple throughout the night and only time will tell if the couple will survive the encounter.

I first saw The Strangers in the theater when it came out and it still holds up. The characters, the eerie suspense, and the villains make the film memorable despite it's pretty basic plot. James and Kristen are going through a hard time. While most times home invasion movies target happy couples without a care in the world, there is already tension when the movie starts. They should be elated, but instead, they drive home in silence, refusing to look at one another. Kristen refused James' marriage proposal because she wasn't ready and both are pretty upset. They get to a place where they can both move forward and talk rationally about their relationship, but intruders interrupt their relationship problems.

The eerie atmosphere stays throughout the film. It starts with the couple's emotional tension and progresses to quiet, mundane moments punctuated with either intermittent loud bangs or silent intrusions. The loud bangs show how the people outside could be doing anything and use the loud noises to both distract and frighten. The most memorable scene is when Kristen is smoking and getting a glass to drink while a man in a sack mask simply observes from behind her. Our most mundane moments are supposed to be safe and private while these scenes have the intruders boldly observe them without really hiding. This type of scene repeats throughout the film and makes the danger real. Silence and sounds are used effectively from the strained silence of hiding in a closet to the blaring record music to cover James' brother's arrival.

The villains are memorable because of their masks, bold attitude, and surprisingly competent tactics. Nothing is really known about them as people because it doesn't really matter. They randomly chose this couple to terrorize and seem to work well as a team. With three people, it's much easier to strategize and keep eyes on the couple at all times. They anticipate what the couple will do and respond to surprises with supernatural calm. They remove their masks at the end, but their faces are thankfully kept out of the frame. The ending confirms that this is likely be their first kill and they want to do it again.

The Strangers is such an atmospheric movie that feels realistic. James and Kristen fight these intruders and honestly do their best. They don't make many obvious mistakes and they don't make it easy for the intruders. The Strangers: Prey at Night is coming out next year and even though it's coming out a decade after the original, I'm pretty hyped. I hope they follow generally the same formula with the atmosphere and the treatment of the villains at the very least.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

* spoilers *

Mike and Cindy visit family at a mobile home park with their teenage kids Luke and Kinsey. Once they arrive, everyone has gone on vacation, leaving the park empty. The aunt and uncle leave a note that they will be late and they think nothing of it. A strange woman knocks on their door multiple times asking for Tamara. Again, they ignore it and family drama ensues until Luke and Kinsey find their aunt and uncle's brutally murdered bodies. The family is being stalked by a trio of masked strangers who only want murder and mayhem.

I loved The Strangers and I would place it near the top of the home invasion subgenre. Going into this film, I had high expectations that weren't met. The tone and style are completely different. The first one felt real and incredibly invasive in quiet moments. This one is all neon colors, 80's music, dumb characters, and stretched logic. The neon colors and 80's music aren't necessarily bad. I like the aesthetic, but there was nothing to tie it to the film. It felt like a random decision and I was so upset that the song I Think We're Alone Now, which was so perfectly eerie in the trailer, was never actually played in the film. I do appreciate that they included real 80's hits and not generic, unknown ones. The songs also give a contrasting cheery nature to scenes of murder, which I always love.

The family is in a tense place at the beginning of the film due to Kinsey's rebellious behavior landing her in boarding school. She decides to act pouty and childish while everyone else struggles to put on a brave face. Once things go sideways, the family's reactions are ridiculous even for run of the mill people. Cindy, played by Christina Hendricks, literally does nothing to defend herself when Dollface attacked her with a knife. There is also a pretty visually stunning fight in a pool between the Man in the Mask and Luke that I enjoyed until Luke thought it was a great idea to turn his back and leave the pool at a glacial pace while his opponent still had a knife. Lots of hiding places are poorly chosen and they nonsensically shout for each other throughout the film even when they should stay silent and hiding. I'm used to horror movie logic and this was frustrating to watch.

The villains seemed much different. In the previous film, they stayed in the background and toyed with their victims in subtle ways up until the end. In this one, they are much more in your face. Dollface takes a more major role which was nice to see. The Man in the Mask loves to drag his axe along the floor before attacking, sacrificing secrecy for style and induction of fear. Their use of the truck surprised me and made for some good scares. It shows a level of cockiness that wasn't there in the first film and they do end up paying for it. I liked that they changed up the formula and I didn't know where it was going. I was disappointed that Pin-Up Girl did practically nothing except one jumpscare. The biggest flaw of the film is how they seemed to psychically know where every member of the family was in this huge mobile home park. This concept works for a small setting like the first film, but not on such a huge scale unless there were more people.

The Strangers: Prey at Night is largely a disappointment for me because of the expectations set by the first film. Again, it's open for a sequel, but I'm not interested in Michael Meyers-esque indestructable villains. It doesn't fit with this story. The charm of the first movie was largely due to the fact that it felt realistic and the crimes were committed by people for essentially no reason. This film is style over substance and enters into a type of slasher that is tired and unoriginal. I might give the next one a try if it gets made, but this sequel fell flat for me.

My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins

Us (2019)

Adelaide Wilson, her husband Gabe, and her two children Jason and Zora all pile in their station wagon for summer vacation. The family has a bayside summer home near Santa Cruz beach, where Adelaide was traumatized as a child. She is uncomfortable from their arrival and doesn't want to go back to the site of her trauma, but her husband convinces her. Throughout their day on the beach, weird coincidences happen over and over and Adelaide is on edge. The rest of the family is oblivious, but as night falls, a family looms at the end of their driveway and breaks into their home, revealing themselves to be deranged doubles.

Us is a suspenseful, tense film that preys on our childhood fears, fear of the unknown, and imposter syndrome. Adelaide meets her double as a child and lost her speech as a result. After years of therapy and dance training as a child, she recovered her speech but the anxiety and probable PTSD are still there. While everyone else blithely plays or relaxes on the beach, Adelaide tries to see in every direction on high alert to protect her children from any threat. Later on, she's the first to dial 911 before they even know the people are a threat. She is driven by love and fear in equal measure. The other Adelaide, named Red, has experienced many injustices and atrocities including being forced to live underground roughly mimicking Adelaide's actions, forced to be with Gabe's double Abraham, and forced to be pregnant with two monstrous children. Red doesn't have the same attachment to her family, but her reasons for fighting for freedom are also understandable. Having both main characters at odds with understandable motivations makes the film so much more complex.

** spoilers **

Adelaide's reactions and trauma take a different meaning when we find out at the end of the film that she is the underground doppelganger who switched places with and imprisoned Red when they were children. Adelaide's trauma is from being underground and knowing what it was like to essentially have no free will, cooked food, or open air. However, even though she knew people were trapped underground, she did nothing to help them and only lived in fear of her double coming for her. This fact with the failed Hands Across American campaign (that was supposed to help homeless people) being the double's inspiration points to the hidden doubles being symbols for impoverished and underprivileged communities. On the flip side, the affluent people, the Wilson's and their friends the Tyler's, are largely bored and have frivolous concerns like getting more luxury items. Even though they are largely decent people, they still represent the ideals of greed, boredom, excess, and apathy. Many of the doubles were more talented than their counterparts, namely the acrobatic twins and Zora's faster double Umbrae. They are driven mad by captivity and don't have access to opportunities that the surface people are free to reject. They could surpass the surface people if they had the same opportunities. Their decision to conquer the surface world with violence also exposes the violent origins of  and continued violent practices in dealing with people deemed "other" of the United States.

Us is an amazing film that kept me guessing. Jordan Peele has such a unique view with rich imagery and symbolism within a frightening and entertaining story. I watched the film twice in a weekend and I would love to watch it again because I see something different each time. Every aesthetic choice is so interesting, referential, and adds to the tapestry that makes up the film. The film is gorgeous to look at and listen to. Moments of humor break up the tension and feel like authentic conversations between family members. The home invasion scene backed by Fuck the Police by NWA gave me heavy Funny Games vibes and made the scene morbidly funny. The only tiny problem I had with the film was villain monologuing acting as heavy handed explosition. Us will inevitably be compared to Get Out, but they are such different films. It is much more open to interpretation, but still informed by the social and political climate in the US. I can't wait to see the Twilight Zone reboot and any other movie he creates.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

Women in Horror: The Autopsy of Jane Doe

* spoilers *

The police uncover a bizarre crime scene where everyone in the house has died in a violent way and seemed to be trying to escape in addition to the dead body found half buried in the ground. The Jane Doe is taken to a local funeral home to find out where she came from. Tommy is a coroner working to train his son Austin in the trade. Together, they try to figure out how Jane Doe died with each stage of the autopsy exposing stranger and stranger injuries and artifacts. When an unexpected storm traps them in the underground lab, Jane might not be as helpless as she seems.

I first watched The Autopsy of Jane Doe with no expectations and it blew me away. The first half of the movie is completely unique and I had no idea where it was going. Tommy and Austin go through the thorough process of an autopsy from examining each part, marking down injuries and oddities, and taking samples. Tommy's style is very traditional, so he uses an old camcorder, a chalk board, reference books, a polaroid camera, and bells attached to the corpse's ankles. Through the entire procedure, both men are completely professional and treat her body as a typical part of their job and never even remark on her beauty or form beyond their scientific examination. Both seem like they've been doing this for years and have an easy routine that doesn't end where they expected. As they go deeper into the autopsy, things get more and more odd. Her exterior is perfect, but her body hides torturous injuries such as shattered wrists and ankles, her tongue cut out, burned lungs, and deep vaginal cuts. The situation starts out a little odd. progresses to sad when they think she's a victim of sex trafficking, and ends of up at bizarre and frightening.

I immediately liked Tommy and Austin. Their banter feels completely natural as well as the tension when touching upon long standing disagreements. I especially admire their dedication to doing thorough, top notch work although Tommy stops there while Austin wants to figure out more about Jane Doe's situation. Their shared history is shown in small, natural glimpses throughout the film. When Stanley the cat is found mutilated in an air duct, Tommy mercifully kills him, wraps him in scrubs, and incinerates him. This scene could easily be seen as cruel, but the emotion is all over Brian Cox's face. An offputting act is turned into one of love and sorrow. The cat was his last connection to his late wife, whose suicide he partially blames himself for. Tommy and Austin are stuck in time because of this death. Tommy keeps everything as it was, his business literally frozen, and keeps his true feelings buried. Austin doesn't want to inherit his father's business, but goes through the motions anyway while he longs to go to college and pursue something else. Both of these men are so relatable and try to protect each other every step of the way. It's hard not to really care about this father and son as things go off the rails.

The second half of the film is a little more typical and falls into home invasion and supernatural tropes, but I was already to invested and clueless as to where it was going that it didn't really matter. The first indication of something not right is an eerie but catchy song that comes on the radio called Let the Sun Shine In. The lyrics warn of letting the devil in and something simply seems off with it. The radio weather announcers first describe beautiful weather, then a huge storm coming in, and finally directly warning that they don't want to get caught in it. Then things go off the deep end. Even though it's more typically horror, the film is still restrained, focusing more on tension and atmosphere over gore or jump scares. The scary moments are in bells tinkling softly and quiet moments of confusion with a few contrasting moments. These men are woefully outmatched against a supernatural foe they know next to nothing about.

Jane Doe herself is a fascinating character who moves very little and lays silent for the entire film. She is portrayed by Olwen Kelly, who emotes so well through this static role. A film where an actress lays naked for the whole film could have been very exploitative or crass, but this is quite the opposite. The way she is filmed and treated by the characters is full of respect and professionalism. During the first half of the film, her face gives a melancholy air as we process the horror of this tortured young woman. As the film goes on, the shape of her eyes and mouth as well as the tilt of her head change her demeanor drastically even though she doesn't really move. As her power is shown in the second half of the film, her face appears more shrewd and sinister. Tommy hypothesizes that she was a normal woman that was tortured and turned into a witch as a result. Even though it comes a little out of nowhere, I love this idea that the so called pious people creating a witch out of their own evil actions.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe blew my mind when I watched it the first time. No matter how many times I watch, the eerie and tense atmosphere makes me want to hide behind something. It's simply well crafted all around with a few small flaws here and there. Jane Doe is so overpowered and able to manipulate every one of her victim's senses like the mirror in Oculus. Like that film, the people didn't have very much of a chance to survive. All of the performances are excellent and I believe their relationships right away, allowing the plot to move forward more quickly than usual. I would love to see more from all involved. This film is simply a work of art.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins