Based on an original story by Bryan Bertino, the plot centers around three masked psycho-sociopathic home invaders that prey on the innocent owners.

Though the first film was marketed as "based on a true story", this was a slight misdirect as the filmmaker stated that he wrote the concept from a series of break-in burglaries that took place in his neighborhood when he was growing up, as well as borrowing elements from the Manson Family Tate murders.

[8][9][10][11][12] Conversely, its sequel was met with mixed reception with criticism directed towards its inferiority to the original,[13][14][15] The film earned 6.4 times its production budget worldwide.

As the couple begin to question her intentions, things quickly escalate as the vacation home is taken under siege by three psychopathic masked strangers.

Striving to bond with their troubled teenage children, Luke and Kinsey, the couple plan to visit some relatives in Kalida, Ohio before the latter goes away to boarding school.

[28][29][30] In August 2022, producer Roy Lee announced that three films would consecutively enter production beginning in September of that year.

Directed by Harlin, with Petsch reprising her role, the plot will follow the events of previous film, while the story will expand in "new and unexpected ways".

[32][33] In October 2023 at the New York Comic Con, Harlin stated that there are plans to develop additional films beyond The Strangers Trilogy.

Based on The Strangers film series, the video was directed by Benjamin Howdeshell, with a script he co-wrote with Mike Doyle.

The music video includes a plot twist at the end, revealing that the wife is responsible, having faked a home invasion and murdered her husband.

Shortly after its release, producer Roy Lee approached Howdeshell with the idea of creating a feature-length film based on the video.

It was additionally used during the last episode of his subsequent 2011–2012 sequel web series, with the music first briefly playing on the radio before repeating at the end of the film as a similarly-masked man (portrayed by Chamberlain) slowly approaches four teenagers sitting in a car.

[53][54] The titular characters of The Strangers make cameo appearances in the 2011 metafictional horror comedy film The Cabin in the Woods from Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, portrayed by uncredited stand-ins, as some of the various populates released from the monster cells at the end of the film, subsequently seen burning a trio of security guards on the CCTV monitors.