The Strangers: Chapter 1

The Strangers: Chapter 1' embarks on a journey to rekindle the chilling essence of its predecessor, yet it stumbles into the abyss of the overexploited home-invasion genre. Directed by Renny Harlin, the film attempts to lay the groundwork for a new prequel trilogy but does so with a palpable lack of originality and an overreliance on worn-out tropes. The narrative follows Maya and Ryan, portrayed by Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez, whose road trip takes a detour into terror. Stranded in a remote Airbnb, they become the prey of the franchise's notorious masked antagonists. While the setting is ripe for tension and fear, the execution falls short, with the film succumbing to predictable jump scares and a script that lacks the subtlety required for a truly harrowing experience. The performances, while earnest, are hindered by characters that are crafted more as archetypes than as fleshed-out individuals, leading to decisions that serve plot convenience over logical storytelling. The antagonists, once symbols of random and unfathomable violence, are now reduced to mere shadows of their former selves, lacking the enigmatic terror that once haunted viewers. In its endeavor to pay homage to the original, 'The Strangers: Chapter 1' instead echoes its scenes and dialogues without capturing the same suspenseful atmosphere. It's a cinematic paradox; a film that is both a retread and a step backward, leaving audiences with a sense of déjà vu rather than dread. In conclusion, 'The Strangers: Chapter 1 is a reminder that many efforts of success is to revive a franchise that perhaps should have been left undisturbed. It serves as a reminder that not all chapters are worth revisiting, but especially when the story has nothing new to say. Chapter 2 here it comes...

"The Strangers: Chapter 1" follows a young couple who get stranded in an off-the-beaten-path town in Oregon and end up spending the night at an Airbnb lodge in the woods. Unfortunately for them, three masked strangers are about to make their night a living hell.

To be clear, some may consider this review biased as I count myself as a major fan of Bryan Bertino's original 2008 film "The Strangers". To date, it is possibly the most nerve-shredding experience I've had seeing a film on the big screen. Sixteen years have passed since I first saw it, but I've never forgotten it. And while its 2018 sequel, "The Strangers: Prey at Night" took a notably different tone, it at least managed to function as a stylish and energetic slasher film in the same vein.

This reboot (or prequel, according to some sources--having seen the film now, I am unsure of how this could possibly function as such) does no such thing. Rather, it follows the framework of the 2008 original nearly beat by beat, save a protracted first quarter in which we are served the "city kids in redneck town full of leery locals who are sinister for no apparent reason" trope (by the way, I am a native Oregonian, and I can vouch that people there do not speak with southern accents, even in the backwoods).

The things that "The Strangers: Chapter 1" gets wrong are numerous, but the subtlety, stillness, and down-home feel of its source material is one of the glaring things that is most sorely missed. This film is loaded with dramatic musical cues, predictable scares, fog machine-shrouded forests, and trite dialogue. There is little to no gravity to be found here in the characters or the setting, and without that, a film with a barebones story like this swiftly goes off the rails into the land of cliche after cliche after cliche. The lead actors here do what they can with the material, but the stilted dialogue often renders them at the mercy of a lifeless and clunky script.

In the end, "The Strangers: Chapter 1" simply feels like a soulless paint-by-numbers imitation of the 2008 film, using the template as a vessel only to fill it with bland, uninspired recreations of that film's most tense and frightening moments. There are no scares to be had here, and even worse, there are few thrills either. "The Strangers: Chapter 1" is frankly boring, which does not bode well for a further two installments. "To be continued"? No, thank you. 2/10.

There is 2 more of these, Yikes.

I'm not getting too much into this but it's a bit of a waste and a massive let down.

The movie sees a couple Maya and I think it was Ryan who break down and have to stay in a rental house. Masked creeps lurk the property and begin a vicious hunt and toy with the couple.

The movie I thought was a prequel is not, it seems to be a reboot and there is no need, using scenes exactly from the original just not executed as well.

I just don't get why they made the movie with 2 main characters that have no background to draw us in, the chemistry was fine but compared to the original 2 it seems less organic with the no origin route.

"Because we can" is a lame excuse, it gives no drive for me, and the original let this work because it was a movie that filled me with fear, while this was just loaded with jump-scares and I'm sick to death of horrors solely relying on that.

Silly movie, waste of time, watch the original instead because this is a generous 4/10

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I don't want to waste too much energy on this review but I was quite disappointed. I was looking forward to this one and it just ended up being a lame reboot of the original.

It started out with a silly tone, cheesy script and even some tacky product placement. We get into it with two relatively unlikeable main characters that barley have enough background/plot to keep the story rolling. There are countless direct parallels (I'm talking exactly the same) to the original movie and even some from the second one. To the point where it didn't feel like an homage and I caught myself thinking... why am I sitting here watching the same movie I did in 2008, but like, worse...?

It was marketed as though it was a prequel, but there was not even an ounce of origin story and there were things such as smart phones and push to start cars that placed it in the future from the original. So if this wasn't a prequel, what are we doing here?? There were multiple plot points that were seemingly important that went nowhere... including an inhaler, dietary restrictions, a friends vacation and some strung up poultry.

I'm just confused and disappointed as to why they simply remade this movie with even less of a storyline, not as good actors and a lame ending... all without infusing anything new, interesting or original into it. All in all it was relatively entertaining as a stand alone I suppose... If you haven't seen the original and are super into jump scares, then go for it. Otherwise just rewatch Liv Tyler lol 3.5 rounding up to a 4, probably wouldn't recommend.

This movie is basically what happens when you read the handbook of "How to remake a movie with little to no effort". It's like the writers were trying to copy someone's homework but had dyslexia and still got the answers wrong. The movie was so unbearable that my wife and I had to watch it over two days bc we needed a break in between. Every horror trope you can think of happens in it. This film is what movies like Scary Movies make fun of. The original Strangers was incredible, the second was a great follow up. This one is hot garbage. I pray the writers read this review and quit their jobs. Please hire an entirely new crew for the other two films if they even get released at this point.