The True California Unsolved Murders ‘The Strangers’ Is Based On

It's been two weeks since the third film in The Strangers franchise was released to theaters nationwide. The horrific, true crimes that inspired the movies took place in a small California town in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1981, and the case remains unsolved to this day.

The Strangers: Chapter One hit movie theaters nationwide on May 17. The original movie came out in 2008 and stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman. It did surprisingly well at the box office having pulled in more than $82 million worldwide, according to boxofficemojo.com.

The cabin the killings took place in has since been torn down. The community has never recovered from the incident which continues to attract horror film fans to the small town to this day.

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I'm a massive horror movie fan, and the 2008 film that launched the franchise is one of my favorite fright flicks ever made. It has the perfect combination of jump scares, believability, and music accompaniment.

It's been reported that the 2008 film's director mentioned the Keddie cabin murders as being a major inspiration behind the idea. The true crimes that happened more than 40 years ago approximately 170 miles northeast of Sacramento also spawned a Sony Pictures film called Cabin 28.

On the evening of April 11, 1981, a quadruple murder took place in a small cabin in the mountains of Plumas County. A mother, two of her children, and a family friend were tied up, stabbed, and beaten with a hammer. The police surmised that multiple males were responsible for the murders. These men were never brought to justice.

The cabin the killings took place in has since been torn down. The community of Keddie has never recovered from the incident which continues to attract horror film fans to the small town to this day.