Released in 2008, The Strangers became a cult hit without stacking up a high body count. In fact, this franchise has never been about the amount of kills, but one specific, seemingly random act of violence. And that lent itself a frighteningly visceral quality because random acts of murder are like that scary thing lurking in the shadows. They’re also the most disturbing episodes of any true crime podcast. The long-delayed sequel, Prey at Night, stayed true to the formula and worked as an effective companion to the original. And now as a new studio has taken over, we have The Strangers: Chapter 1, a standalone reboot that acts as a prequel but is really the launch of a new trilogy.
That’s a lot of zig-zagging around to essentially do what has been done twice before, and more effectively. Directed by action movie veteran Renny Harlin of Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger fame, The Strangers: Chapter 1 is the first of three movies shot back-to-back to be released within a year. So there’s maybe some room to forgive this first movie for feeling incomplete, as it’s only part of a larger story. That said, it follows the same basic rules and setup of the earlier movies, without attempting anything to set itself apart in the least.
The original movie had the benefit of Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, the second Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, and Bailee Madison, all fantastic actors capable of pulling you into the claustrophobic fear each was facing. Chapter 1 doesn’t have the same luxury. Not that Riverdale‘s Madelaine Petsch, who plays Maya, and Teen Wolf actor Froy Gutierrez as her long-term beau Ryan, are bad. But they aren’t given much to help flesh out their doomed characters. Maya and Ryan are road-tripping cross country, only to pass through an armpit Oregon town full of brown-toothed locals. There’s that familiar shot of the greasy townsfolk eyeballing the liberal city slickers, who dare show up in their fuel-efficient vehicle and ask for vegetarian options at the diner. Of course, their car has a problem that can’t be fixed until morning. So they’re offered at stay at the “internet house”, or AirBnB, which turns out to be more of a hunting ground.
There’s just something about Chapter 1 that it has such a by-the-numbers feel to it. The conversations between Maya and Ryan don’t amount to much; they’ve been dating five years and he’s yet to pop the question, she doesn’t eat meat, he’s got asthma…a point that we know will factor into the chaos later. A knock at the door, “Is Tamara home?” says a voice in the darkness. And soon, the couple are being stalked by a trio of disguised killers with no apparent aim other than to menace the outsiders.
Missing is the edge brought by Bryan Bertino, who directed the first film and wrote the second. While he’s involved with the story here, too, it’s clear from the lack of dread that his input was minimal. The would-be victims aren’t put through the paces; the tension doesn’t really escalate. But Petsch does make the best use of the final chase sequence, proving herself to be a more than capable “final girl” when the chips are down. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is a small part of a larger story, which begs the question whether the next two films will follow the same path because that could get very repetitive. When you get one ‘Strangers‘ movie every 5+ years that’s one thing, but three in one year sounds like a bore, especially when the first is such an efficient, unspectacular effort doing the bare minimum to get by.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 is in theaters now.
