A good example of how to do a slasher/home invasion thriller. It's not exactly original, which means some things can be quite predictable, but there are enough unique stylistic flourishes that allow it to have it's own identity. Like the mellow country music soundtrack which is unexpectedly great at creating atmosphere. The bit with the record player skipping was brilliant. The Purge franchise wishes it had masked menaces this creepy. I love the way the killers have a habit of lurking narrowly outside of the protagonist's peripheral vision. Slowly slipping in and stalking from behind or just off to the side. These uncomfortable moments are reinforced by great camera work. A shame the antagonists start making you less uneasy the more you see of them. At least their motives (or lack thereof) are still disturbing. The Strangers is all about senseless human cruelty and is a very sadistic watch despite not relying on graphic depictions of torture. Instead there's a lot of psychological harassment. The faceless intruders use sound, cryptic messages, and other freak out tactics to slowly unnerve their prey rather than just relying on brute violence to do the trick. There's something much more horrifying about a foe who can outthink it's victims. Mind games > simple murder. There are a few black marks on this otherwise taut thriller. A overreliance on fake scares is one of them. Characters will occasionally separate only to turn a corner and get freaked out by... Each other. These act as the film's few attempts at jump scares and are mostly just irritating. Same for the rather weak one in the ending. The old afformentioned "let's split up" trope is also overused and has never come off as a sensible thing for the people to do in any horror movie. Those who take frustration from survivor's constant investigation into every little sound or eerie sight may get fed up here as it's something the protagonists constantly do. Personally, I think it makes a little more sense in the context of these events than it typically does in other films as the killers are constantly egging them on to do it. Inspired by real-life brutality, there's a sense of believability to the things occurring onscreen that makes them all the more unsettling. The titular "strangers" are meaner than any ghost, zombie, or bloodthirsty creature as they embody and act upon the simple potential for savagery that exists inside us all for no reason other than they enjoy doing so. Such disregard for human life from another person is chilling and the film capitalizes on that well. Flaws aside, this is an incredibly tense experience that will have you double checking all the locks after watching it.