Renny Harlin's botched 2024 film, The Strangers: Chapter 1, was essentially a remake of Bryan Bertino's 2008 domestic violence horror thriller, The Strangers, in which a couple is tormented by a trio of—you guessed it—strangers. But there was a problem: Harlin actually shot three consecutive films from a 260-page script, and promoted Chapter 1 with the promise/threat that Chapters 2 and 3 would expand his mostly single-location horror film across the United States, unmasking the reasons behind this seemingly random violence.
Well, this second installment is peppered with flashbacks, as the filmmakers apparently haven't seen Rob Zombie's Halloween or the Texas Chainsaw prequel, Leatherface: The Beginning, or they'd know that a trivial backstory about childhood trauma only strips masked killers of any threat.
Director: Renny Harlin
Writers: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland
Stars: Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath
The horror films they've seen, clearly, are all from the '80s: Halloween II (lots of stalking in a strangely unoccupied hospital); A Nightmare on Elm Street (a terrifying boiler room); and The Shining (the ripped-off bathroom door). Is Harlin paying homage to his favorites or simply lacking fresh ideas? It's hard to tell, but there's even a bizarre interlude in which Maya (Madelaine Petsch) is attacked by a rampaging, computer-generated wild boar that's a Razorback.
Originality, therefore, is lacking, and the narrative barely makes sense as Maya flees the home invasion subgenre and enters the world of slasher and survival horror. She ventures into the misty forest to escape her pursuers, but they turn out to be skilled trackers who appear from behind every tree. They are undoubtedly better at tracking than at killing, as it is as much their ineptitude as Maya's ingenuity that allows them to escape time and time again.
What saves The Strangers: Chapter 2 from stardom is Harlin's ability to frame a striking shot and create a decent scare. Petsch also gives a committed, almost wordless performance, navigating Final Girl territory throughout the film.
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