The Strangers: Chapter 1 is an attempt to revive the Strangers franchise and introduce it to a new generation of viewers. It follows Madelaine Petsch as Maya and Froy Gutierrez as Ryan as they try to survive a night with their murderous invaders. The first part of a planned trilogy, Chapter 1 struggles to do anything more than copy the original.
Chapter 1 is frustrating because it takes absolutely no risks and no creative turns. It is, at its core, the original Strangers with two new attractive leads. The story is beat-for-beat the same, down to the same shotgun misfire at the turning point of the movie. Because of this, the story becomes incredibly predictable. It is set up, scare, flee for the last 80 minutes of this movie. It became super boring.
These movies have never been gorey, but that is the case here. Outside of two stabs, there’s nothing that pushes any boundaries. Hell, I think the goriest thing that Maya accidentally does to herself. The strangers themselves look cool but I think there was so offputting to their design in the original. The suit the baghead wears is more menacing than the jackets he wears here because he just looks like a Jason Vorhees knockoff.
The two leads do not have chemistry with each other. Gutierrez always has a look that he’s annoyed to be there. I thought that would play into their dynamics as a couple but it doesn’t. He is annoyingly abrasive to the locals of the town they’re stopping in. Petsch to her credit does a great job of playing terrified. Her silent screams did make me feel scared for her and she does well with all her screentime.
That doesn’t help that these two make some of the dumbest decisions possible. I mean it is infuriating to watch them try to get out of each predicament they’re in. I don’t want to spoil anything but how dumb is it to hold one of the strangers at gunpoint AFTER you’ve shown you will shoot at them the second you see them? This comes as you brag to them that they wouldn’t be your first kill and as they call out for their accomplices.
Yet, I am going to give this new iteration a chance. They set the framework to give this town more character than we’ve seen before. Not all these movies take place in the same town, but only Prey at Night explores the area outside of the house being attacked. They introduced Richard Brake as a cop and did nothing with him so I’m hoping that he does something important in any of the sequels.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Strangers: Chapter 1 is a frustrating movie to watch if you’ve seen any of the others in the franchise. It is the original movie to a T and it lacks a ton of suspense because of it. The movie doesn’t get creative at all and feels like a drag most of the time. I am willing to give it some credit as trying to establish the framework for a new trilogy so here’s hoping the filmmakers didn’t treat the sequel as safely.
