10 Great Horror Movies With An Incredibly Simple Premise

In a piece of astoundingly bad luck for vacation home occupants Kristen and James, a trio of psychopathic killers just happen to come across their house. The simplicity of this film's often nihilistic narrative lies in the reveal of why the killers have targeted them. There’s no plot twist or personal stake, it’s simply because poor Kristen and James happened to be home that night.

Nearly all of the film is eaten up by the increasingly doomed cat-and-mouse game the couple find themselves in. It’s a tense, taut chiller that leaves little room for filler during its 80-minute runtime.

The simplicity of the villains’ disturbing motives, coupled with the unsettlingly blunt and doomed ending, make this an incredibly effective flick devoid of any real complexity.

At the time of its release, many spoke of its franchise potential. It would take 10 long years for the oft-rumoured sequel to finally arrive. Unfortunately for the series, the sequel deviated from many of the tropes that made the original so effective. A sloppy, inconsistent tone and poorly handled kids' revenge third act turned many viewers and critics off what could've been an effective horror series.