The Strangers: Chapter 1 Review – Flat & Directionless!

The Strangers (2008), directed and written by Bryan Bertino, capitalized on some of the most effective horror conventions in the genre to date; home invasions, killers with masks, and unknown motives. It was a nihilist film between couple Kristen and James on the brink of separation, only to be terrorized one night by three masked killers in Jame’s childhood summer home. Sixteen years later, many horror fans regard it as a slasher favorite, even more so because there is still little known about the three killers behind the masks.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 stars Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez as happy couple Maya and Ryan who stop at a diner on their way to Portland, Oregon only to experience car troubles after their meal. As a result, as the mechanics next to the diner service their car they rent a nearby AirB&B for the night. What results in an encounter with the three killers as Maya and Ryan try to survive the night.

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One of the most frustrating aspects of The Strangers: Chapter 1 is that it has no sense of direction as to what it wants to be. After trying to do research on whether the film was attempting to be a remake, a reboot, or a prequel, the answer came up differently from website to website. The marketing team and Lionsgate seemed to lack a sense of communication as the trailer uses the tagline “witness how The Strangers became The Strangers,” insinuating that this film would serve as the origin story for the 2008 film and its sequel The Strangers: Prey At Night.

However, the film seems to follow the formula of the original film, so much so that it seems as if there is an impossibility of it being a prequel but instead, a remake. However, producers of the new franchise explained how it was a “relaunch” of the franchise. When there is such misdirection and confusion surrounding the nature of a film, it is likely headed in a negative direction, as The Strangers: Chapter 1 wholeheartedly was.

To compare a film to its original isn’t necessarily fair to the content of the film itself. However, The Strangers takes so many strides to remind us of the 2008 film that is impossible to watch without counting the ways as to why the original worked and The Strangers: Chapter 1 fails to. The film utilizes the same eerie song that plays on vinyl as in the original The Strangers.

Where Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman’s characters had a looming sense of dread attached to their stay in the cabin together, this song added to the moody atmosphere of the original. When it plays in Petsch and Gutierrez’s version of the film it serves no purpose other than as an easter egg.

To add onto that, one of the most heart pounding shots in Bertino’s film was the complete silence of Liv Tyler in the dining room as we watch the “Scarecrow” killer slowly emerge from the other side of the room, only to skulk away without ever being seen.

What felt pulsing in 2008 was utilized multiple times in Harlin’s film, bringing no unexpectedness to the shot and a sense of monotony scene after scene. Paying homage to an original works in some senses but for this film it was a constant reminder as to how much stronger the original was then this imposter.

Chapter 1’s direction is strongly misguided by Harlin in that it is constantly breaking its own tension. After seeing a killer appear, a chase, or a jump scare, the film proceeds to move from scene to scene feeling so sliced that any tension at all created is quickly diminished a minute later with the beginning of a new scene.

For a couple dealing with a home invasion of killers, it would make sense that they would be in constant terror and fear. However, because of how the tension is broken after every incident they encounter, the actors and characters have to collect themselves as if the scene beforehand didn’t occur. It makes the film feel very mismatched in its direction and editing, where no constant atmosphere is created throughout.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 as shown is the first in a trilogy, continuing later this year and in 2025. It is a shame that Chapter 1 fell so flat, making it difficult to care to see where the rest of the franchise is headed.

‘Challengers’ Rating – 1/5

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