The real killers in the movie "The Strangers" are three masked individuals known as the Man in the Mask, Dollface, and Pin-Up Girl. Their identities and motives are deliberately left anonymous in the film. They terrorize and murder their victims with no clear reason other than bloodlust. The killers target the characters because they were simply home at the wrong time, as explained by Dollface when asked why they were attacked: "Because you were home".
The screenplay was inspired by real-life events, including the Manson Family Tate murders and other break-in incidents, but the killers themselves in the film are fictional characters created to embody the senseless violence seen in those true crimes. The movie's characters James Hoyt and Kristen McKay are fictional proxies rather than actual victims.
The three killers enjoy tormenting their victims, with Dollface sometimes showing a semblance of conscience, while the Man in the Mask is the most ruthless, and Pin-Up Girl has moments of emotional struggle. The film does not reveal their backgrounds, leaving them as ominous, faceless figures of horror.
In summary, the killers in "The Strangers" are fictional masked assailants, symbolizing faceless threats inspired by true but unresolved violent crimes, committing random acts of terror without discernible motive aside from cruelty and bloodlust.
