The Top 10 Best Home Invasion Movies

These Home Invasion Movies will Remind You to Keep Your Doors Locked at Night!

Nothing fills me with dread quite as much as home invasion movies. The idea of someone breaking in to a place you consider to be your sanctuary, where you’re supposed to be safe from the world, is a terrifying notion. That’s why this week, I’ve decided to put together a list of the best home invasion movies I’ve seen over the years. The only rule to qualify for this list is that the home invasion has to be the primary focus of the film and it has to be an actual home or apartment in order for it to qualify. That means movies like John Wick, Cape Fear, and The Fugitive won’t qualify (though they’re all great). Even with that key rule in place, there are still a ton of great movies out there that qualify and I managed to narrow it down to the 10 best. So, check your doors and windows, because this list has plenty of flicks that will send shivers down your spine.  

10. Funny Games (2007)

This is one of those rare movies where the remake is as good as the original since they’re both from the same director, Michael Haneke. For the sake of this list of home invasion movies though, I’m going to go with the 2007 version. Don’t get me wrong, the original was good, but few actors can pull off creepy quite as well as Michael Pitt. A family is beset upon by a pair of psychotic young yuppies who want to play a series of twisted games with them. Though I don’t think the word “games” does their antics justice. What makes Funny Games so chilling is that there’s no rhyme or reason for the brutality that occurs. The two are simply terrorizing the family because it’s fun for them.   

9. Panic Room

Not all home invasion movies feature masked psychos just looking to get off on a little ultra-violence. Panic Room tells the tale a mother and daughter trapped inside the seemingly frivolous panic room in their new home after a group of men breaks into rob the place. Of course, they weren’t counting on new owners so soon and this leads to a standoff between the mother and the would-be burglars. To make matters worse, what the robbers are after is actually in the panic room the two are hiding in. Panic Room is a well-crafted game of cat and mouse that shows you don’t want to push a mother when her kid is in danger. The film features a few gut-wrenching moments but is a taut thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

8. The Purge

While The Purge franchise has been struggling lately after a mediocre tv-series and The First Purge, the first film definitely deserves a spot among the home invasion movies on this list. It introduced the very concept of The Purge, a 12 hour period every year where all crime is legal and people can purge themselves of all their built-up stress and anger in the worst possible ways. While many take to the streets, one family chooses to lock themselves away in their home using a state of the art security system. That doesn’t dissuade the privileged psychos sporting creepy masks that end up on their doorstep hunting for victims. It’s a film filled with social commentary on how the 1% oppress anyone they see as “lesser” in their eyes. Here’s hoping the franchise manages to recover from its recent spiral.

7. You’re Next

So many home invasion movies feature intruders who think they will have an easy time preying on the homeowners. You’re Next though boldly stands up and shouts “you came to the wrong house, mother$#@*er!” The film features a trio of masked killers who set upon an ill-fated family reunion planning to pick their victims off one by one. Unfortunately, they weren’t planning on one of the family members bringing their badass, ex-survivalist Australian girlfriend with them (being Australian gives her +10 fortitude). You’re Next is one of those rare horror movies where the hero does all the right things as she takes on much larger and (possibly) more dangerous opponents. Thanks to her quick thinking, training, and straight-up brutality, the tables quickly turn as the hunted becomes the hunter.  

6. Hush

Hush follows a hearing-impaired woman named Maddie, who has moved out to the middle of nowhere in order to work on her newest novel. Creepy stuff happens in the middle of nowhere though and soon she is being terrorized by a masked man wielding a crossbow. Maddie might seem like an easy target, especially when her tormentor realizes that she’s deaf and mute, but she proves to be resourceful and cunning. Hush manages to blend a lot of elements from some of the other home invasion movies we’ve seen so far on this list, but the hearing impaired aspect causes the tension to skyrocket as the killer takes advantage of her disability. It’s definitely a film that will get your pulse rate up.