The way it begins is so different from the usual-this time it isn’t someone knocking on the door it’s the sound of music in the distance punctuating the typical suburban quiet. We have a couple, in this case they have just moved into a house in the suburbs, and we have a seemingly uneventful night that goes awry. Like Children of the Corn crossed with The Strangers, this 2006 French-Romanian film plays with a lot of the same concepts as both The Strangers and You’re Next. Such a thought sends shivers down anybody’s spine. He embodies the space in such a way that he exists there, even if nobody notices. The drifter learns to live in the house without being seen, memorizing each footstep and routine so as to never leave a trace. She barely speaks and it’s clear that she has been abused by her husband. Eventually he breaks into a house where a shy, withdrawn housewife lives. It’s a detail that is often forgotten among home invasion stories: It’s not about taking something, it’s about the fact that they want to live and embody someone else’s space. He breaks in and lives in these places for a time. You see, we are introduced to a young drifter as he drifts from one locale to the next, placing flyers on doorknobs to see which vacation condominiums are inhabited or not.

This 2004 South Korean drama isn’t horror and it barely fits the home invasion thriller template however, its because it so masterfully captures the “inhabiting” of a stranger’s space that it makes this list. All in all it’s also a solid home invasion, complete with Halloween-masked invaders! You’re Next did such a great job with giving the power back to the protagonist without it seeming unrealistic or heavy-handed. The invaders hadn’t expected her to be ex-military, able to eliminate a threat quickly and effectively. It looks like a routine home invasion until Erin fights back. The dinner that follows is tense and full of fighting. Crispin’s family is old money and are not on good terms.

The setup is ordinary and relatable: Erin accompanies Crispin, her boyfriend, to a family reunion up in the outskirts of Missouri. It looked like just another home invasion film, right down to the outwardly annoying cast of characters (which ironically makes it all the more satisfying to see them get killed) however, what it did so well involved how they displaced who had control between the victims and invaders.

Home invasion movie 1997