How the movie The Strangers is related to a similar experience I had

Early last November, just like in The Strangers, I heard the doorbell ring at 4 a.m. It rang every 10-15 seconds for several minutes and I called the police. And like in The Strangers, the property is somewhat wooded and set back from the road. The porch light was off and after those few long minutes the bell ringing ceased. I looked outside to see a Caucasian man walking down the street in a t-shirt and shorts.

He might have been drunk and looking for an address, although he never walked onto other properties, just continued down the road. The next morning I saw that the doorframe paneling was separated as if he attempted to pry the lock. Although, maybe, the paneling had already been that way and the man did need directions. That's the opinions I received from people; that the 'visit' wasn't of ill intent. One can't be too certain. I recently saw a Dateline episode on the ID channel (Investigation Discovery) where two teenage boys were convicted of murdering a married couple who were University professors. They gained entry into the house by posing as workers for an organization.

After they were captured, a man reading the paper noticed the familiar face of one of the assailants. It was the same person who had stopped by his house one evening 6 months earlier to ask to use the phone after his car had broken down. The man wouldn't open the door (and his child was also inside), but raised a gun near the door's window to show the teen and offered to call a tow-truck. When he went to the phone he found the line dead and after the stranger left the homeowner found the outdoor phone cables cut. Upon capture, the two teens had also confessed their failed attempt to kill and rob the occupants of that house (with his friend hiding around the corner), but the gun deterred them. So, you never know...