'THE STRANGERS' Real or not so real?

Anyone heard much on the new horror flick 'The Strangers'? I saw an advanced screening of it and almost had to leave. No kidding. It was bloody frightening, not to mention based on true events--which gave it another level of creepiness.

I highly recommend it if you're a fan of horror or just want to see a movie that doesn't suck! Anyway, I've heard all these conspiracy theories that it's based on real, true events. I've heard Manson murders and also the Keddie murders. I am trying to confirm this, but so far, only conspiracy theories. Was it a "real movie" like people are saying, or just Hollywood smoke and mirrors? Anyway, here is the trailer:

Here's the trailer: http://movietrailerlive.com/ct_0004_TheStrangers_A

[wildfire]

This looks good to me as well. I plan to see it next week on my trip to california.

[Despare]

I think it says "inspired by true events" correct? So it could use multiple cases and pull the most exciting bits from them to create something resembling a real murder. Have you seen Them (Ils)? Are the two similar?

[CopperShark]

I figured it was a marketing gimick similar to the original TCM. The movie looks good. Horror movies like that one appears to be are IMO the most frightning so I look forward to seeing it.

Yes, could be somewhat of a marketing ploy but at the same time, what difference does it make if it adds another element of horror to the movie? People these days seem to want more 'realistic' horrors (myself included). I mean, we're not talking about 'Blair Witch Project' here where the producers basically lied to the audience and said it was totally real.

[Zero]

i'm curious - how much do you get paid to promote these movies in on-line forums. i'm not complaining - i'm just fascinated that this is your job. and i don't mean to be personal - a ballpark figure would greatly alleviate my curiosity

[siorai]

I can't believe that people still get sucked in by the whole "based on true events" garbage. They can put that at the beginning of every single movie ever made. How's that? OK. Take Pitch Black for example. Think they can't put "based on true events" at the beginning? Wrong. They can because I'm pretty sure that at some point in history at least one guy has used a really sharp knife to shave his head. Oh sure the whole intergalactic murderer crash landing on a planet inhabited by carnivorous aliens probably never happened, but that's just there to spice up the head shaving.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a great example. There was no cannibalistic family in the desert with a guy in a human skin mask chopping people up with a chainsaw. There did happen to be a guy that made masks and whatnot out of human skin though. So technically they were right, TCM was based on true events. People just couldn't realize that 99.9% of the events in the film weren't.

[crabapple]

I also am curious about how much money you're making promoting this film.

Can I also get such a job? Is this the kind of money you can actually live off of? Do you have to promote several films at a time, and does this pretty much eat up your week?

Originally Posted by Darryl Mathe

People these days seem to want more 'realistic' horrors (myself included). I mean, we're not talking about 'Blair Witch Project' here where the producers basically lied to the audience and said it was totally real.

Actually, the producers of "The Blair Witch Project" never lied to the audience and stated that the events in the film were "totally real." They just never said they weren't real. The audience took the bait, and bought the implication, because they wanted to.

[urgeok2]

there is no such thing as a True Story.
ESPECIALLY in the movies.
once you realize that - the 'based on ...blah blah blah' thing doesnt bother you anymore.

Yeah, you might be right siorai... they are getting a little carried away with the whole "based on true events" thing. The reason for this (I think) is that the market has become oversaturated with horror movies. Also people just aren't as scared of horrors as they used to be.

Look no further than the insane jump in shock value in our pop culture the last 10 years or so. Jackass, Fear Factor, crazy reality TV shows, even Blair Witch fits into this. People have become somewhat desensitized.