If you’re excited for the next The Strangers film, you’re in good company.
Not to be confused with The Strangers and The Strangers: Prey at Night, this year’s The Strangers: Chapter 2 and last year’s Chapter 1 are part of a new standalone trilogy of the horror series, which will conclude with a third installment sometime next year.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 follows the character played by Madelaine Petsch from the previous film, and it looks like it’s going to be a real blast.
But what if you’re eager for more home intruder horror? Well, Watch With Us has three films you have to check out.
‘Hush’ (2016)
Hush is from The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass director Mike Flanagan and stars his wife, Kate Siegel, as a deaf writer who becomes terrorized by an intruder in her isolated home. Shocking and tense, Hush creates an exceptional atmosphere while delivering on-the-edge-of-your-seat thrills. Fun fact: the fictional novel the writer is working on in the film, Midnight Mass, went on to become Flanagan’s acclaimed Netflix series of the same name.
Deaf-mute horror author Maddie Young abandons her life in New York City for a solitary life in the wilderness, trying to figure out her next novel. However, because of her condition, she initially has no idea that a psychotic killer (John Gallagher Jr.) has murdered someone right at her doorstep, and Maddie is looking to become his next victim. Hampered — or helped? — by her disability, will Maddie be able to outsmart the criminal before it’s too late?
Hush is streaming on Tubi.
‘Funny Games’ (2007)
A wealthy family sojourns to their holiday home for a getaway and instead find themselves the target of two sadistic teenage boys, who are intent on torturing the family for their own twisted amusement. As Ann (Naomi Watts), George (Tim Roth), and their young son Georgie (Devon Gearheart) fight to stay alive and defend themselves against the psychopathic Paul (Michael Pitt) and Peter (Brady Corbet), they struggle to play by the ever-changing rules of the boys’ demented game.
From Austrian director Michael Haneke, Funny Games is an English-language remake of the director’s own film of the same name from 1997. The film is notoriously bleak, violent and features the narrative device of breaking the fourth wall. Watts and Roth give great performances, but it’s Pitt and Corbet who steal the show as the seemingly unassuming but actually barbarous Paul and Peter. A commentary on depictions of violence in media and pop culture, Funny Games is as incisive as it is difficult to watch.
Funny Games is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.
‘The Purge’ (2013)
In the first installment of this popular horror series, a dystopian version of the United States is ravaged by crime and allows one day a year where all crime is 100% legal for twelve hours — including murder. During one such “Purge,” a wealthy family is targeted in their homes by a group of killers. With twelve hours until safety, will the family be able to survive the night and ward off the murderous gang?
The Purge stars Ethan Hawke as the family patriarch James Sandin, and Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey plays James’ wife, Mary. Due to the success of the first film, The Purge spurred an entire franchise with three sequels and a prequel. The film was praised upon release for its high-concept premise and gripping execution, offering plenty of action and gruesome scares.