My Favourite Horror Film: Beartooth

For the next in our Halloween-y series, Beartooth frontman and mastermind Caleb Shomo tells us why 'The Strangers' gives him brown trousers.

“I like The Strangers, the one with the people wearing bags on their heads. That movie was terrifying! It’s about these two people who come back from a wedding or something and are staying in a house in the woods, and these people with bags on their heads turn up just to screw with ‘em. It’s really scary. I think it was more scary ‘cause I used to live out in the woods in a similar setting to the movie, so that scared the crap out of me.”

The Strangers is a 2008 movie written and directed by Bryan Bertino and starring Liv ‘daughter-of-Steven’ Tyler. The movie was almost directed by acclaimed video director Mark Romanek (Nine Inch Nails’ Closer and The Perfect Drug, Audioslave’s Cochise, Jay Z’s 99 Problems and Johnny Cash’s Hurt) – until he demanded a $40 million budget.

Instead the movie was made for $9 million and grossed $82 million worldwide, despite the fact that its claim that it’s ‘based on true events’ is a load of old pony, as pointed out here.

“It’s not monsters or anything supernatural,” says Caleb. “It’s just people that are crazy. At the end of the movie the family ask why they’re tormenting them and they reply ‘Because you were home.’ That was not okay with me.”

Luke Morton joined Metal Hammer as Online Editor in 2014, having previously worked as News Editor at popular (but now sadly defunct) alternative lifestyle magazine, Front. As well as helming the Metal Hammer website for the four years that followed, Luke also helped relaunch the Metal Hammer podcast in early 2018, producing, scripting and presenting the relaunched show during its early days. He also wrote regular features for the magazine, including a 2018 cover feature for his very favourite band in the world, Slipknot, discussing their turbulent 2008 album, All Hope Is Gone.