Home-invasion horror movies induce a different kind of fear for one simple reason: they can happen. Be it in Hush, where a hearing-impaired and mute woman is forced to protect herself from a masked assailant hell-bent on breaking in, or Funny Games, where two men terrorise a family in their vacation home — home invasion horror movies will have you double-checking your locks at night.
7 terrifying home-invasion horror movies that will have you double-checking your locks
1. Hush — Netflix
Long before Mike Flanagan became a celebrated name in the world of commercial horror, with big-hitters like The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor and Midnight Mass noshing in some major Netflix views, he was producing some bone-chilling horror movies. Out of these, Hush takes the cake for its generous supply of jump-starts and nail-biting action. A hearing-impaired and mute writer, who’s retreated into the woods to focus on writing her novel, is suddenly set upon by a masked assailant who takes pleasure in toying with her before attempting to break into her home to murder her. Maddie is forced to fight for her life — silently, as she uses every item available at her disposal to make it out alive.
2. Panic Room — Apple TV+
We met a teenage Kristen Stewart as the vampire-loving Bella Swan in Twilight, but in Panic Room starring Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker and Jared Leto, she’s truly a child. David Fincher’s Panic Room is one of the most thrilling home invasion horror movies out there; when three men break into their new home in the middle of the night, a recently divorced mother and her diabetic daughter seek refuge in the house’s safe room — created specifically for situations like this one. However, the intruders aren’t willing to let off easy.
3. Wait Until Dark — Amazon Prime Video
Audrey Hepburn may have dazzled in her more iconic roles in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday, but she’ll have you biting off your cuticles in Wait Until Dark. Hepburn plays a visually-impaired woman, whose husband Sam Hendrix (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) brings home a seemingly innocent-looking doll from one of his travels, unaware that it’s filled to the brim with cocaine. Naturally, a group of criminals are out on a hunt for the drugs and one night, when Sam leaves town for business, they find their opening. What follows is a hair-raising cat-and-mouse game between a caught-off-guard Susy and the group of miscreants.
4. Funny Games — Netflix
Whether it’s the 1997 Austrian version or the US remake — both directed by Michael Haneke — Funny Games makes for a hard watch. What was meant to be an idyllic getaway for a family of three in their lakeside holiday home turns out to be the stuff of nightmares when two young, disturbed men break in and begin to torture them with all sorts of violent and sadistic games. What’s worse, they involve the audience in the process; at times looking straight into the camera and interacting with them, forcing them to be an unwilling participant in their vindictive schemes.
5. The Purge — Amazon Prime Video
Starring Ethan Hawke, The Purge presents a terrifying dystopian reality which might have been in existence if the laws of society were removed. In this sort of world, all sorts of crime — even the most heinous of the lot — are allowed for a period of 12 hours on a single day, every year. With this twisted but accepted law in place, all houses start to lock up minus the Sandins, where the youngest member Charlie accidentally lets in a stranger, who, along with his masked buddies, unleashes holy hell on the whole family.
6. You’re Next — Amazon Prime Video
The Davisons are a wealthy lot, but almost all family members are estranged. In a bid to mend bridges, Aubrey (Barbara Crampton) and Paul (Rob Moran) Davison throw a 35th anniversary party at their weekend estate and invite all their children and their partners. Tensions rocket, but when a group of animal-mask wearing, crossbow-wielding assailants suddenly attack the house, the Davisons have to put their differences aside and come together to fight off the attack.
7. Don’t Breathe — Netflix
In a reversal of the home invasion horror movies trope, it’s the invaders who become the victims in the first instalment of Don’t Breathe. Three young, Detroit thieves who break into the homes of the rich and pocket their belongings, get wind of a blind war veteran who’s recently had a windfall of cash as part of some large settlement. Figuring that he’d be an easy target, the three break into his home… only to realise that their victim may not be as helpless as they’d first believed.