10 Horror Movie Trailers Scarier Than The Actual Film

Horror movies are ripe with tales of paranormal activity, menacing inanimate objects, and other implausible circumstances. No matter how effective those portrayals may be, they’re rarely as potent as forcing cinemagoers to wrestle with the all-too-real possibility of random and meaningless home invasions and murders.

The Strangers is among the most famous depictions of this sort of thing happening. Although it would’ve been foolish to assume that it’d be as upsetting as, say, the original Funny Games or Straw Dogs, its main publicity reel alludes to similar anxiety-inducing tussles with similarly merciless intruders.

Mournful piano notes accompany lovers Kristen and James being affectionate at what seems to be a romantic getaway. Suddenly, they’re interrupted by a loud noise, prompting them to begin investigating, and they're soon stalked by the titular masked trio before being told that all of this is taking place because they “were home.”

At times, watching The Strangers is a distressing experience, but those alarming situations are scattered around too much uneventful padding and stupid character decisions. Kristen and James aren’t particularly sympathetic protagonists, either, so it’s far too easy to be frustrated by their choices and apathetic to – if not supportive of – what the masked psychopaths ultimately do to them.

Regardless of whether The Strangers is sufficiently frightening, though, it surely looks like a masterpiece compared to Renny Harlin’s disastrous remake trilogy.