The Strangers (2008)

Ever wake up in the middle of the night panicked that a maniac serial killer is lurking in your closet? Thought seriously about registering for a firearm to keep under your pillow? It happens often enough to rookie director Bryan Bertino that he keeps a baseball bat by his bed. ''I tend to think the worst of people,'' he says of the instinct that inspired this horror flick about a young couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) who return home from a friend's wedding only to be terrorized by three masked strangers. ''I wanted to take that first second of 'Oh my God, somebody is there' and make it two hours long.'' The moral of the story? Get a pit bull. (July)