Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

Year: 1981

Runtime: 85 mins

Language: English

Director: Nettie Peña

HorrorHorror

An escaped mental patient hijacks a station wagon and crashes the Bradley family’s Thanksgiving dinner, intent on turning their festive celebration into chaos. As the unsuspecting hosts sit down to eat, his violent plan threatens to ruin their holiday.

Warning: spoilers below!

Haven’t seen Home Sweet Home yet? This summary contains major spoilers. Bookmark the page, watch the movie, and come back for the full breakdown. If you're ready, scroll on and relive the story!

Home Sweet Home (1981) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of Home Sweet Home (1981), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

A parked motorist is strangled by escaped mental patient Jay Jones, a PCP addict who was institutionalized after bludgeoning his parents. Jay carjacks his victim, and runs down an old woman while driving through Los Angeles.

On the outskirts of the city, nine people have gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving at Harold Bradley Don Edmonds’s ranch: Harold’s girlfriend Linda Sallee Young; his tenant Scott David Mielke and his girlfriend Jennifer Colette Trygg; Linda’s friend Gail Leia Naron; Harold’s business associate Wayne Charles Hoyes and his girlfriend Maria Lisa Rodriguez; Harold’s son Mistake Peter De Paula; and Harold’s young daughter Angel Vinessa Shaw.

With no wine in the house, Linda and Gail borrow Scott’s car to go and get some, while Jay cuts off the house’s power. Harold turns on the emergency generator, leaves to get more gasoline for it, and happens upon Jay’s abandoned station wagon. As Harold tries to take the battery out of the car, Jay body slams on the hood, crushing his skull.

Jay severs the telephone line, and when Wayne goes out to look for Harold, he is garroted by Jay, who was hiding in the backseat of his car. Linda and Gail, who had become lost, run out of gas, and as they try to find their way back to the ranch, they run into Jay. Jay slams Gail’s head into a rock, and stabs Linda to death with a broken bottle. Afterward, Jay returns to the house, where the remaining guests and members of the Bradley family have sat down to a turkey dinner.

When Maria goes to the washroom, Jay stabs her, and proceeds to chase Mistake around the property, eventually catching and fatally shocking him with his own electric guitar and portable amplifier. Scott discovers Maria’s body while collecting firewood, runs back to the ranch, and secures the building with Jennifer and Angel. Jay manages to break inside, and as he tries strangling Scott, Jennifer wounds him with a knife.

Jay recovers, slits Scott’s throat, and pursues Jennifer, who faints while hiding in Scott’s room. In the morning, Jennifer awakens, and is assaulted by Jay when she ventures outside. A pair of police officers, alerted to the situation by Angel, pull up, and blast Jay with a shotgun. As one officer places Jennifer in his car with Angel, the other checks on Jay, who suddenly opens his eyes.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:51

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Holiday horror movies like Home Sweet Home

Festive celebrations are violently shattered by an unstoppable threat.If you liked the brutal Thanksgiving invasion in Home Sweet Home, you'll enjoy these movies where festive holidays are violently disrupted. This list features similar slasher and home invasion stories set during Christmas, Halloween, and other celebrations, turning moments of joy into fights for survival.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative typically follows a simple, effective structure: an ordinary family or group prepares for a holiday, only to have their celebration violently interrupted by a killer or malevolent force. The familiar, often isolated setting becomes a prison, and the story becomes a tense game of survival against a relentless antagonist.

Why These Movies?

These movies are grouped by their core premise of subverting a holiday's warmth and safety with extreme violence. They share a high-intensity, fast-paced tone, focusing on the visceral fear of having one's sanctuary invaded during a time meant for peace and family.

Claustrophobic home invasion thrillers like Home Sweet Home

The safety of home is violated in a relentless siege of violence.For viewers who enjoyed the tense, confined terror of Home Sweet Home, this list gathers movies with similar home invasion plots. These films feature families or individuals fighting for their lives against intruders, creating a sense of relentless pressure and shattered safety in a familiar space.

claustrophobictensebrutalunsettlingsuspensefulisolationsurvivalchaotic

Narrative Summary

The narrative unfolds as a siege, where characters are cornered in their most personal space. There is minimal setup before the threat arrives, leading to a straightforward, high-stakes conflict. The focus is on the immediate physical and psychological terror of the invasion rather than complex mystery.

Why These Movies?

This thread groups films based on the shared, visceral experience of a home being violently invaded. They are united by a dark tone, high intensity, fast pacing, and a heavy emotional weight stemming from the violation of safety and the graphic violence that often ensues.

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Don't stop at just watching — explore Home Sweet Home in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Home Sweet Home is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Home Sweet Home Timeline

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Home Sweet Home

Discover the characters, locations, and core themes that shape Home Sweet Home. Get insights into symbolic elements, setting significance, and deeper narrative meaning — ideal for thematic analysis and movie breakdowns.

Characters, Settings & Themes in Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home Spoiler-Free Summary

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More About Home Sweet Home

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