5. Funny Games (1997)
Funny Games is a mean, cruel attack of a movie. There is no escape. There is no hope. Whether or not the family falling under the torture of Peter and Paul deserve it has nothing to do with it. We do. The audience deserves it. Filmmaker Michael Haneke‘s camera refuses to blink from the film’s parade of atrocities, but don’t blame him. Blame yourself. You’re the monster who chose to witness this nightmare, and as long as you keep watching, the violence will continue. Peter and Paul are not swinging the golf club. You are, and don’t you dare fool yourself into thinking this family will survive till the morning. The dog dies first and you shouldn’t expect a different outcome for anyone else, even the kiddie. When you pressed play, you pulled the trigger. Bastards. (Brad Gullickson)
4. Black Christmas (1974)
The Canadian tax shelter boom of the 1970s rolled into Hollywood North around the same time Italian Gallo films were hitting their knife-wielding stride with the likes of A Bay of Blood and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. It would take until the end of the decade for John Carpenter’s Halloween to provide the definitive American answer to Giallo, but in the meantime, North American screens were graced with a Canadian entry frequently (ahem: correctly) cited as the granddaddy of the Hollywood slasher: Black Christmas. Sure, the mouth-breathing maniac in the attic is creepy as hell, but the true villain of Black Christmas is a gender bias that not only makes violence against young women easy to execute, but easy to dismiss. At least Michael Myers could bleed. The horrifying realization that the cops don’t take your claims seriously is coming from inside the house! (Meg Shields)
3. Panic Room (2002)
After exploring complex topics like split personalities, anarchists, capitalism, and macho bros in Fight Club, David Fincher opted for a simple thriller with his follow-up movie, Panic Room. As the title suggests, the film was inspired by the growing number of panic rooms in American households at the time. However, Fincher decided to turn the concerns of the people who installed these rooms into a nerve-inducing story about a mother and daughter (Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart) who must evade burglars who infiltrate their home. The story is full of suspense, no less because the daughter’s health is failing throughout the film. Panic Room is simplicity executed to perfection, and that’s all a home invasion movie needs to be. (Kieran Fisher)
2. Hush (2016)
Director Mike Flanagan‘s 2016 home invasion thriller was co-written with his lead actor, Kate Siegel, and the collaboration between the pair produced one of the most nerve-wracking entries in this sub-genre. Siegel stars as Maddie, a deaf author living alone in a home in the woods. When a masked killer stumbles upon Maddie’s house, he quickly realizes she’s deaf and assumes it won’t take much to gain the upper hand against her. But rather than be strictly a hindrance, Maddie is keenly aware of her other senses, and so begins a nail-bitingly tense game of cat and mouse. Clocking in at a tight 81-minutes, Hush is an exhilarating thrill ride anchored by Siegel’s magnificent performance. It’s a movie not to be missed, even if you have to remind yourself to breathe while watching. (Anna Swanson)
1. Them (2006)
Look, we’re not here to wonder aloud if 2008’s wonderfully frightening The Strangers was influenced at all by 2006’s even better and more terrifying Them, but if you’ve seen and enjoyed the American film you owe it to yourself to check out the French “original.” Home invasions are inherently scary already, but writers/directors David Moreau & Xavier Palud ratchet up the terror and tension with some memorably suspenseful set-pieces and an ending that’s both horrifying and heavy in its indictment of an indifferent and disaffected youth. (Rob Hunter)
Take a break from all that home invading and read more entries in our 31 Days of Horror Lists!
Related Topics: 31 Days of Horror Lists
