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The movie is inspired by an event from director Bryan Bertino’s childhood, among other things. The screenplay is also inspired by the events of the Charles Manson murders. Some of the earlier disturbances, (such as the smoke detector being moved), are based on ‘creepy crawling’, a game played by Manson and his followers where they would enter a victims house at night and rearrange furniture and other objects while the occupants slept. The core of the story is based on the murders that took place in Cabin #28 at Keddie Resort, in the remote township of Keddie, CA, where three people, Sue Sharp, John Sharp and Dana Wingate; were found tied up, stabbed, bludgeoned by a hammer. A fourth victim, Tina Sharp who had been with the group was found some years later, the body dumped 90 miles away at Feather Falls near Oroville.

The story begins with Kristen McKay and James Hoyt, a couple who return to James’ father’s isolated summer home in South Carolina, after coming back from a wedding reception, where we learn that Kristen refused James’ marriage proposal. The home is covered in rose petals and candles, indicating that James had planned a romantic dinner with the expectation that Kristen would accept his proposal. After the awkward arrival at the house, James calls his friend Mike (who helped him set up the whole vacation) and asks him to pick him up in the morning. The couple discuss their relationship, which results in a passionate clinch. Their passion is interrupted by a loud knock at the front door. James thinks it’s too late for someone to be coming to his home. As they get closer to answering the door, the knocking becomes louder and more abrupt.

James opens the door, and find that is a young woman (which we later find out is Dollface) who is asking if Tamara is home. James tries to turn on the porch light, but it was not working, not revealing her face. They tell her that nobody with that name lives there, and she then walks away. Kristen believed that she was probably lost. Kristen then finds that she is out of cigarettes, and James leaves the house to go and buy her another pack, after lighting her a fire.

After James leaves the house, Kristen hears another knock at the door. She finds it to be the same girl who knocked on the door prior to James leaving. The knocking is very aggressive, and Kristen becomes scared. She gets her cell phone out of her purse, but realizes it has no battery life. She charges it, then uses the house phone. She calls James, and tells him that the girl keeps knocking on the door, after Kristen told her she had already come by their house. Kristen wants James to stay on the phone with her, but James hangs up. While Kristen is in the kitchen, the masked man is in the dark corner behind her, just watching her. Kristen then hears the smoke alarm go off, so the disconnects it, and tosses it onto the ground. She decides to call James yet again, and finds that someone had cut the cord to her charger.

Frightened, she goes to the kitchen and gets a knife. She goes back into the room, and now finds that someone had put the broken smoke alarm on a chair. She goes into the next room, and hears something at the window. She slowly opens it and the masked man is at the window, and she is frightened. She screams and bumps into the record player, causing it to skip the same line “Quick Silver Girl” over and over again. Kristen finds that the front door is open, and as she peeks out, Dollface is trying to break in, but Kristen closes the door, then hides in the bedroom. The strangers are banging on the doors and windows, and Kristen pleads for them to leave her alone. Then, the banging stops. She hears footsteps coming from down the hall, and believes in to be the killer, but it’s James. She’s tells James that there’s someone outside, but James claims he saw nothing.

James then notices his phone was left in the car, and he goes to get it. While in the car, he finds that his phone is gone, and someone touches his back. He turns around, and there is nobody behind him. He gets out of the car, and he notices Dollface is standing in the driveway. He tells her to leave, but then hears Kristen call him. By then, Dollface has disappeared. After going inside, James tells Kristen they need to leave. They both get into the car, but a truck drives into their driveway behind them. James looks at the driver’s seat, and it’s Pin-Up Girl. She begins ramming their car, and Kristen spots the masked man in front of them. They both get out of the car, and run back inside.

James gets his father’s shotgun and bullets. Outside, they see Dollface standing on the lawn. They go back to the front door, and James tells Kristen he’s going to open the door, and he wants her to just run. But before James can open the door, the masked man hacks the door with an axe. Kristen is screaming, and they both push a desk to block the door. The masked man keeps on breaking the door, but James shoots at him. He did not know if he missed or if he got him, but the couple hide in the hallway closet, waiting for the killers to come down the hall so he can shoot them.

Outside, James’ friend Mike has arrived. He can’t reach either of the two by phone. Mike enters the house, and a record is playing. He also notices a broken glass on the floor and a few signs of forced entry. He walks down the hallway, and the masked man who is equipped with an axe, follows behind him. James, believing Mike to be the killer, shoots and kills Mike. James turns to Kristen, and tells her that he wasn’t wearing a mask. They go up to the body, and identify it to be Mike. James then decides to go to the farmhouse and use and old radio there to call for help. As he leaves, the couple notice that the killers mock James by writing “KILLER” on the window in blood.

As James is going to the farmhouse, he then finds Pin-Up Girl searching for the couple with a flashlight. As James plans to take his shot on her, she spots him and the masked man runs up behind him, and knocks him unconscious. Meanwhile, Kristen is scared out of the house. In an attempt to simply run away, she trips and injures her leg. She limps into the shed nearby, (which actually turns out to be the hiding spot of the killers) being secretly followed by Pin-Up Girl. Kristen attempts to use a radio there, but her conversation is cut short by Pin-Up Girl, chopping the radio into pieces. Kristen flees back into the house and sees the masked man walk into the bedroom. She then hides in the cupboard and watches the masked man sit down at the table and look around. As she is doing this, Dollface whispers “You’re gonna die.” The masked man then throws James’ injured body into the house, and he tells Kristen to run. She goes into the bedroom, and tries opening the window, but it’s shut. The bedroom door slowly opens, and Kristen slowly walks to the door. She goes out, and the masked man grabs her by her hair, and slams her face into a picture on the wall. He then drags her unconscious body into the living room.

The shades are opened to show that morning has come, and the three strangers begin taking off their masks. Kristen, in a desperate attempt to be saved, tells them that ‘they don’t have to do this.’ She then asks them why they did it, to which Dollface replied “Because you were home,” which remains unexplained. A possible meaning would be that the strangers just kill for the fun of it.

Although their faces are never fully revealed to the audience, removing their masks shows that they will soon carry out their plans to kill the couple.

Ignoring Kristen’s pleading, the strangers each take turns stabbing James in the stomach, who moans in pain while Kristen is forced to watch. Kristen is then stabbed in the chest and shots of their home and the outdoors are shown while her screams can be heard. The three strangers are then seen driving away in a pick-up truck and stop beside two boys who are walking around handing out religious pamphlets. Dollface asks for a pamphlet and is asked if she is a sinner, to which she replies, “Sometimes”. Pin-Up Girl then proclaims, “It’ll be easier, next time”, as the truck drives off.

The last scene shows the two boys entering the home and discovering the couple untied and James dead, with Kristen presumed dead. One of the boys kneels down to Kristen and is about to touch her when she suddenly wakes up and begins screaming hysterically.

The movie was reminiscent of Vacancy, Funny Games, and When a Stranger Calls (and the other “home invasion” genre movies). This is obviously a psychological thriller as well as a horror movie. You know from the beginning things won’t end well and as the movie progresses, you wish the plot would move a bit faster. I think you could get the same effect, or maybe intensify it a bit, if the movie has been cut 20-30 minutes. Even from the trailer ads, you know that the outcome will not be good, so you just wonder if they can make it gory, diabolical, sadistic, and right down scary. Well, this one did elicit many jumps and even a few screams from an unsuspecting (albeit stupid) audience. Probably the scariest thing is that this was based on true events and anyone that keeps up with the news knows that such things as this are happening with increasing frequency. Buy a gun, keep your doors locked, put a peep-hole in your entrance doors, and preferably ignore anyone knocking on your door late at night. Oh, yes, one other thing, keep your cell phone charged.

Rating: 2.5 our of 5 Jalapenos