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Is ‘The Strangers: Prey at Night’ Really Based On a True Story?

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Like The Strangers, new film The Strangers: Prey at Night begins with the message that the film you’re about to see is based on true events. But how much of what made its way on screen actually happened in real life? Well, if you’re having nightmares about murders at neon-lit pools and flaming trucks, you’ll be happy to know all that stuff is fiction.

Actually, the events that inspired The Strangers: Prey at Night are the same as the events that inspired writer/director Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers. Meaning that the only thing “based on true events” about Prey at Night is that the general idea of “strangers” committing random crimes was loosely based upon a true event from Bertino’s own childhood – as well as an infamous string of real-life murders that shocked America.

Bertino explained around the time of The Strangers‘ release, “As a kid, I lived in a house on a street in the middle of nowhere. One night, while our parents were out, somebody knocked on the front door and my little sister answered it. At the door were some people asking for somebody who didn’t live there. We later found out that these people were knocking on doors on the area and, if no one was home, breaking into the houses.”

Another source of inspiration for Bertino was the real-life Manson Family murders of 1969, wherein Sharon Tate and friends were brutally slaughtered in Tate’s home.

I was thinking about the Tate murders and realizing that these detailed descriptions had painted a story of what it was like in the house with the victims. But none of the victims knew about the Manson family or why it was happening to them,” Bertino once noted. “So, I got really fascinated with telling the victims’ tale. And not filling it in with an FBI profile and not filling it in with finding out that somebody’s grandmother beat them and now they want to kill everybody. You read obituaries every day where someone is killed for a random reason. Yes, we may eventually find out why, but sometimes they don’t.”

The randomness of the Manson murders, combined with Bertino’s childhood experience, formed the basis of what became The Strangers. Ten years later, those same two inspirations helped form The Strangers: Prey at Night, a reboot of Bertino’s premise.

Prey at Night director Johannes Roberts just told Metro, “Bryan Bertino, who wrote the screenplay, actually had the same exact things happen to him in terms of the girl coming up to the house and knocking at the door. Then there were all these burglaries around his house. Then he mixed that in with the Charles Manson stuff. That’s really where all of the inspiration came from for him. Brian wrote the first one, too, and they are both the same sort of event.”

The specific events of Prey at Night, well, they’re entirely fiction. So sleep tight.

Oh and if someone knocks at your door, maybe don’t answer it…

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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SCREAMBOX Investigates UFOs and Extraterrestrials: Several Documentaries Streaming Right Now!

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As someone who is obsessed with UFOS (or more recently known as UAPs) and the concept of extraterrestrials, I love a good documentary. Sightings have been on the rise since the 1940s, with the atomic bomb seemingly acting as a catalyst for new visitors. But what are these UFOs/UAPs? Is there an explanation or are they simply beyond our explanation? Why are they here? Who are they? How much do our governments know? The questions are endless and so are the documentaries that attempt to uncover the secrets behind decades of sightings and alleged confrontations.

Whether you’re a seasoned viewer or new to the rabbit hole, there’s always a handful of interesting documentaries to get your neurons firing and leave you with sleepless nights. SCREAMBOX is investigating with the addition of several docs, all streaming now on the Bloody Disgusting-powered service. Here’s the breakdown:

Aliens (2021): Beam into this unidentified streaming documentary for a glimpse into Extraterrestrial life. Aliens are hypothetical life forms that may occur outside Earth or that did not originate on Earth.

Aliens Uncovered: Origins (2021): Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.

Aliens Uncovered: ET or Man-Made (2022): The crash of Roswell wasn’t meant for New Mexico. In 1947, a neighboring state had 3 major sightings that were swept under the rug.

Aliens Uncovered: The Golden Record (2023): In the late 70s, the US government launched a message to our distant neighbors.

Roswell (2021): This high-flying documentary examines the July 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Theories claim the crash was actually that of a flying saucer, but what is the truth?

Also check out:

The British UFO Files (2004): Since the 1940’s the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High-ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eyewitness accounts and inside information.

Alien Abductions and Paranormal Sightings (2016): Amazing Footage and stories from real people as they reveal their personal encounters of being abducted by Aliens.

And do not miss Hellier (2019): A crew of paranormal researchers find themselves in a dying coal town, where a series of strange coincidences lead them to a decades-old mystery.

These documentaries join SCREAMBOX’s growing library of unique horror content, including Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Here for Blood, Terrifier 2, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, The Outwaters, Living with Chucky, Project Wolf Hunting, and Pennywise: The Story of IT.

Start screaming now with SCREAMBOX on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku, YouTube TV, Samsung, Comcast, Cox, and Screambox.com.

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