It's dark. The middle of the night. Wait, did you hear that? The sliding door to the back of your house? That creak in the floorboard? Did the dog just bark, or was that a dream? You're all alone in your home... but are you?
This month, Pete Wright, Tommy Metz III, and Ray DeLancey come together for a tour of 15 home invasion horror films spanning nearly 50 years. Although Pete has always disliked this subgenre, he challenged himself to watch these films to gain a new appreciation for them. He was surprised by the range of styles that qualify as “home invasion” horror, from thrillers to stalking films to “Home Alone fever dream” scenarios. For this episode, the trio focused on films that explore the fear of being violated in your own home, the tension between safety and vulnerability, and the danger that can lurk within the home itself.
The fear that comes from these films is rooted in their near-universal relatability. The familiar setting of the home heightens terror, and these films often explore how easily one’s home can be breached. They also frequently examine vulnerability, survival instincts, and relationships between family members in extreme circumstances.
Want to watch along?
Check out the Letterboxd watchlist that accompanies this episode for the movies included.
- (00:00) - Welcome to Sitting in the Dark
- (01:05) - Home Invasion Horror? Challenge Accepted
- (03:11) - The Films & The Rules
- (13:11) - Testing the Reliability of the Home
- (31:02) - Sympathy for the Devil
- (33:47) - The Motivated Villain
- (40:13) - The Last Houses on the Lefts
- (46:54) - Home Invasion Gone Wrong
- (49:24) - The Lonely Villa: The First Home Invasion Movie
- (56:33) - Coming Attractions: The Fly
Support The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:
The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:
Connect With Us:
Shop & Stream:
What is Sitting in the Dark?
Sitting in the Dark is a podcast about horror, but not the kind that hides in a single shadow. Each month, hosts Tommy Metz III, Kynan Dias, and Pete Wright pick a theme — an idea, a trope, a nightmare that keeps winding back — and explore it through three films that share its DNA. Sometimes the connections are obvious, sometimes they’re unexpected, and sometimes they lead you deeper into the maze than you expected to go.
One month might bring The Drac Pack, three wildly different takes on cinema’s most famous vampire. Another, a journey through The Bride, the Boy, and the Firetruck, unpacking coded queer horror across decades. We’ve explored maternal terror in Mommy Acts This Way Because She Loves You, broken into the home-invasion subgenre, tiptoed through haunted houses, and stared down both classic monsters and blockbuster franchises.
What ties it all together is a love of horror as a labyrinth — a twisting path where every turn reveals something new about our fears, desires, and cultural obsessions. With smart conversation, dark humor, and a willingness to look behind the curtain (or under the bed), Sitting in the Dark invites you to settle in, turn down the lights, and find out what connects the nightmares.