Image Credit: Universal Pictures
After viewing The Strangers movies, you may wonder if they’re based on a true story. The sort of random terror shown in the films seems like it must be fantastical. Surely, no one would terrorize, torture, and kill random people for the thrill of it, right? Below, we’ll take a look at the inspiration for The Strangers and whether something similar happened in real life.
Did The Strangers happen in real life?
Charlie Manson, orchestrator of the Tate murders. Image Credit: Getty Images/Michael Ochs Archive
The Strangers isn’t based on a true story in the strictest sense. However, similar occurrences have happened in real life. In particular, the writer of the original Strangers film, Bryan Bertino, was heavily influenced by the Tate murders, which were perpetrated by members of the Manson family in 1969.
Bertino said when writing the screenplay, he thought about the Tate murders and how there were detailed descriptions from the killer’s point of view that painted a picture of a group that stalked and murdered people who had no clue who the Manson family were or why they’d been targeted.
With this thought in mind, Bertino wanted to tell the victim’s tale from a raw perspective. In The Strangers, James and Kristen are terrorized by the Man in the Mask, Dollface, and Pin-Up Girl without any knowledge of who their stalkers are. What’s so terrifying about the film is that there’s no investigation spelling out why the killers did what they did. It’s totally anonymous, totally random, and without reason.
Aside from the Tate murders, there have been other random killings reminiscent of The Strangers. Between the 1960s and 1980s especially, there were many serial killers active in the United States who chose their victims either entirely or partially at random. Since the 2000s, the number of (reported) serial killers has dwindled significantly, so statistically, you’re less likely to run into a situation similar to that shown in The Strangers. However, random home invasions, tortures, and killings do still happen, which means the movie isn’t as far-fetched as you’d think.
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