The Strangers: Chapter 2

A lot of negative reviews from folks with their opinions. I've got mine as do others and I like reading what folks have to say. I'll still check out things for myself.

This really isn't as bad as folks say it is. I mean, it's no masterpiece but it doesn't pretend to be. This is a popcorn flick in time for the spooky movie season and it found it to be decent.

The set up is clear from the trailers. From there we are introduced to our protagonist and a mixed group of weirdo characters. Then the killer trio shows up to well, kill people, but they're also a vulnerable group.

The suspense is fair and tension pretty decent for a horror movie. I'll just say this, it's a pretty decent little follow up horror movie. Just see for yourself and don't let others make up your mind for you.

The first chapter wasn't really original, but this one shows much more. The hour and a half at the cinema went by so quickly, I hardly even noticed.

I liked that the main character's inner world was portrayed so well in this part, and also that she didn't only have to fight against the masked ones.

In spite of the negative reviews, I went to see it on 09/29/25 because I got bored in the office. I used my Regal Unlimited subscription, so I figured I could just walk out if the movie turned out to be as bad as critics say. In the end - I daresay that I actually had a decent 90-minutes watching this movie. It's not nearly as bad as the critics say

I'll note, firstly, I had watched the original 2008 movie with Liv Tyler many years ago, but I don't think I watched any of the other movies in this franchise (at least, if I ever saw them, then I forgot). I therefore went into this movie with a somewhat blank slate. Regardless, I had no issue with following along with the core of this movie.

Anyways - the movie's heroine Maya (Mdelaine Petsch) is one of the highlights of the movie. Though she doesn't get a lot to do besides run, scream, or display anguish and fear, I still found her to be a likable protagonist; and her acting is good. Throughout the whole movie, her character's actions are reasonable and even clever at some points. She doesn't do anything especially dumb or laughable in the movie

A huge portion of the movie consists of survalist chase sequences, devoid of dialogue. And fortunately, they're well-done. The camera-work is splendid and smooth.

The film is Chapter 2, and there is a Chapter 3 coming (the film ends outright with a "To Be Continued"). Therefore, a lot of the plot details ends in a cliffhanger manner, which might turn some people off. But I found the ending of this movie, while not conclusive, is still good enough to satisfy

There are some flashback scenes that offer some insight into the background of the villains. Some critics have targeted these flashback scenes for scraping away the anonymity that made the villains so scary. But I feel the backstory was alright, and there is only so far the franchise could go with anonymous masked villains (also - the little girl who plays the younger female villain is so adorable).

The movie, of course, has many flaws ... There are a ton of plotholes. There are a few cliches. Some of the chase sequences get a bit repetitive. There is an embarassingly bad scene involving a boar, which involves some awful CGI work. This boar scene is so bad that it wouldn't have felt out of place in a comedy flick.

5.5/10.

Honestly, I found this more enjoyable than the first one. The tension and suspense worked really well, and that long take in the hospital was just fantastic. What I loved most is that they finally gave the killer some backstory! You can feel the film pushing to become a franchise and I'm here for it.

Truly an abysmal film, full of logic holes, the worst CGI animals since either CGI or animals themselves were invented. The script plods along, somehow managing to be all-chase and all-dull at the same time, a feat never before achieved in cinematic history. The backstory elements are nonsensical and simply diminish (again) the original 2008 movie. Renny Harlin was a talented director but this goes to show there's only so much a once-talented creator can do when hamstrung by a stupid script and a flimsy excuse to flog a dead horse yet again for money. This is a cynical and joyless slog of a film that I would advise people to avoid.