The Strangers

                                                                 

 

What you are about to see is inspired by true events. According to the FBI there are an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes in America each year. On the night of February 11th 2005 Kristen McKay and James Hoyt went to a friend's wedding reception and then returned to the Hoyt family's summer home. The brutal events that took place there are still not entirely known.

 

The sound of an engine running plays over shots of houses in a rural neighborhood. The scene then cuts to the interior of a ravaged house, with crippled furniture and broken glass around, a shotgun lying on a table, and blood smeared across the walls. A frantic 911 call plays as two young boys enter the house through the open front door.

The narrative then shifts to the night before, with Kristen McKay and James Hoyt arriving at the Hoyt family's isolated summer home. There is obvious tension between the two, and flashbacks reveal that James had proposed to Kristen earlier in the evening, and his proposal was rejected. While discussing their relationship, the couple are interrupted by loud knocking at the front door. James opens the door to find a young woman with blond hair who asks if "Tamara" is home. They tell the girl that no one by that name lives there and the girl leaves. James then leaves the house shortly after to get cigarettes from the store.

While Kristen is alone in the house, the young woman returns, once again knocking on the door and asking for Tamara. Without opening the door, Kristen tells her that she has already visited their house and that Tamara is not there. The young woman replies, "Are you sure?". A little nervous, Kristen locks the dead bolt on the front door. The fireplace sets off a smoke alarm and Kristen breaks the alarm trying to turn it off and it falls to the floor. Kristen attempts to call James on her cell phone but the battery has died. She plugs the phone into an outlet next to the fireplace to charge it. She then calls James on the land line to inform him that the blond girl has returned and that she is a little unsettled. A few minutes into the phone call, the line goes dead. Shrugging it off, Kristen picks up a half-smoked cigarette, and gets a glass of water. The camera pans around the room, revealing the Man in the Mask standing in the dark hallway, watching Kristen from the shadows. As she turns around, he disappears.

Moments later, she hears a barrage of loud knocks coming from all over the house. At this point being scared, she arms herself with a kitchen knife. She approaches the front door, where many of the sounds are coming from, and notices the smoke alarm (which she previously had left on the floor after knocking it down) sitting face-up on a dining room chair. Terrified at this point and realizing that someone has entered the house, she rushes back to her mobile phone, which is now missing. Horrified at this point, Kristen begins crying, and an overbearing sound (which seems to be the sound of grating metal) begins emerging from the back patio. She slowly approaches the glass sliding door, armed with her knife, and rips open the curtain, revealing the Man in the Mask standing behind the glass. He slams his hand onto the window, and Kristen runs, screaming, toward the front door, bumping into the record player, which begins to skip over a repeating phrase. The front door opens and Kristen comes to a halt, then slowly approaches it. The girl from earlier, now donning a doll-like mask, steps into the crack in the door. This obviously frightens Kristen and she slams the door shut and locks it again. Kristen then runs and hides in the bedroom, where more clattering ensues all around the house. She breaks a lamp trying to turn it off, and cuts her hand. Then, someone turns off the scratched record that is echoing through the house, and footsteps approach toward the bedroom - it is James.

At first skeptical about Kristen's claims, he begins to believe her when they find the blond girl, now wearing a doll mask, staring menacingly at the house on the front lawn. James goes outside to retrieve his own phone and finds his car hot wired, the tyres flat and the windows all broken. The blond girl, Dollface, touches him in the back of the neck as he examines the car, and then runs off into the woods. James returns to the house, and wraps Kristen's bloodied hand. They attempt to escape in the smashed car, but while backing out, are approached by an old truck which stops at the end of the driveway. The driver turns off their headlights, and they see a second female driving. She slams on the gas pedal, and smashes into the back of James' already totaled car. The couple sprint back into the house, and James arms himself with a shotgun. The couple head to the front door, where the Man in the Mask begins to break through with an axe. They block the door with a piano, and James takes a shot at him, but misses. They then both hide in a bedroom at the end of the hall, armed with their gun. One of the strangers enters the house and starts playing an old country album on the record player.

Meanwhile, James' friend Mike comes around after receiving an earlier call from him. Suddenly, someone throws a rock through his windshield as he parks in front of the house. Mike calls for James and Kristen as he eases toward the house. He enters through the back patio door (nervously, after seeing the damage to the front door and their car). The old country record is still playing, and the house is a mess. He slowly emerges down the hallway, and the Man in the Mask comes into frame behind him, holding an axe. He follows him down the hallway, and the record player turns off after playing its last song. As Mike passes the bedroom, James shoots him in the head, believing him to be an intruder. After attempting to calm down, the two discuss their options, and find the word "KILLER" in capital letters painted on the glass sliding door.

Remembering that there is a radio in the barn outside, James leaves Kristen in an attempt to get help. However, while attempting to shoot Pin-Up Girl from behind a tree, he is ambushed by the Man in the Mask, who returns to the house and his heavy breathing is heard by Kristen, who is anxiously awaiting James' return on the front patio. Hearing his deep breathing from within the house, she flees the house towards the barn and falls into a ditch, injuring her leg in the process. The Pin-Up Girl quietly stalks Kristen unnoticed who crawls into the barn and finds the old radio. Kristen manages to raise someone before the equipment is destroyed with an axe by the Pin-Up Girl.

Kristen then flees back into the house, where the power shuts off. In the dark, she is cornered as the Man in the Mask enters the house again, and she hides in the pantry. The Man in the Mask slowly walks around the house, as Kristen watches him through the slats in the pantry door. Suddenly, Dollface jumps in front of the door, and begins to smash through. She backs away, and Kristen emerges from the pantry. Kristen asks her "Why are you doing this to us?". Dollface does not respond, but rather drags a butcher knife across the counter top, staring at Kristen. At this point, the Man in the Mask returns, with a defeated James, and throws him on the floor. Dollface then says, in an almost laughing tone, "You're gonna die.".

James tells Kristen to run, but as she goes toward the entryway, the girl in the Pin Up mask is staring through the broken down door. She runs back into the bedroom, and begins banging on the window. The lights then suddenly come back on, and, in a daze, Kristen heads back toward the hallway after the bedroom door opens again. The Man in the Mask then grabs her by her head, and slams her into the wall. He drags her down the hallway, past Mike's bloodied body, and as she comes to, she screams and the screen fades to black.

In the early morning, Kristen and James wake up, tied up next to each other in chairs. Kristen asks the attackers why they are doing this to which Dollface simply replies, "Because you were home." The three killers take off their masks, revealing their faces to Kristen and James (however, their faces are not visible to the audience) and take turns repeatedly stabbing James. As the killers finish with James and begin stabbing Kristen, the camera shifts to shots around the outside of the house as numerous screams are heard. A wounded Kristen wakes up on the floor next to James' body to the sound of Mike's cell phone going off. Kristen drags herself to Mike's body and upon grabbing the phone, the Man with the Mask returns, takes the phone and calmly leaves the house, leaving Kristen to slump to the ground.

Finished, the three killers drive away from the bloody scene, stopping when the young boys with bicycles pass them on the road. Dollface stops and asks for one of their pamphlets about "Christian living". When asked if she was a sinner, Dollface responds, "sometimes." She takes the pamphlet and gets back into the car as the Pin-Up Girl says, "It'll be easier next time." The young boys are then seen passing the Hoyt house and upon noticing the damage to the vehicles outside, enter the building to find more destruction and various blood splatter. As they search the house, they find the bodies of James and Kristen. As one of them bends down to inspect Kristen, Kristen opens her eyes, grabs the boy's arm and screams.

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                               Copyright(C) 2007 - 2015. All rights reserved.

 

                              

Directed by Jonathan Levine
Produced by Joe Neurauter
Chad Feehan
Written by Jacob Forman
Starring Amber Heard
Anson Mount
Michael Welch
Aaron Himelstein
Melissa Price
Music by Mark Schulz
Distributed by Optimum Releasing
Release date(s) 9 September 2006
Running time 90 min.
Language English
Budget

 

 

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