THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Renny Harlin
Stars: Madelaine Petsch, Froy Guttieriez.
Renny Harlin was one of the great action directors of the late 80s and early 90s, with films like Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and The Long Kiss Goodnight to his credit. But lately he seems reduced to directing second rate and formulaic horror films like 2004’s Exorcist: The Beginning, middling action films like 2021’s The Misfits, and episodes of tv series such as Burn Notice, etc. And now he is helming this remake/reboot of the 2008 home invasion thriller The Strangers.
The original film starred Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a young couple whose stay in an idyllic holiday home was interrupted by three masked intruders who terrorised them. Written and directed by Bryan Bertino, that film was apparently inspired by the activities of the notorious Manson Family. Bertino is also responsible for writing and producing this latest film which is intended to launch a new horror film trilogy. In fact, chapters 2 and 3 have already been shot and are in various stages of postproduction.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 stars Madelaine Petsch (from the tv series Riverdale, etc) and Froy Guttieriez (from tv series Teen Wolf, etc) as Maya and Ryan, a young couple on a road trip to celebrate their fifth anniversary. They pull off the main highway in search of food and drive into the small village of Venus, Oregon, with a population of 400. But the strange looks they receive from the locals they encounter give off bad vibes. You can almost hear those banjos tuning up in the distance.
Despite the uncomfortable atmosphere in the diner, they finish their meals and head off only to find that their car won’t start. A local mechanic offers to fix it, but says that he cannot get the proper replacement part for the motor until the next day. The couple are offered the chance to stay at a nearby cabin in the woods for the night. Anyone who has seen a horror movie in the last couple of decades will know that their stay will not be a safe one.
Before too long the tension begins to rise. Formulaic creaks and thumps and shadowy figures outside portend darker events on the horizon. Even Jose David Michael’s atmospheric and moody cinematography makes the surrounding forest seem menacing. Slovakia doubles for the wilds of Oregon here.
The two unknown leads do what they can with the formulaic material, but their characters remain bland and uninteresting, and it is hard for audiences to empathise with them. Also as is par for the course with this type of film they make bad or dumb decisions.
Harlin recaptures some of that unsettling vibe from the original with its disturbing theme. Its masked tormentors add a frisson of terror to the proceedings, and the fact that their identities and motivations are never revealed further adds to the unsettling atmosphere. But, ultimately, we have seen this before, and the film reworks many of the tired tropes of this subgenre. Harlin fails to bring anything new or fresh to the material.
★★☆
