‘Strangers: Chapter 1’ Review: A New Chapter in a Saga That Didn’t Need It

In 2008, debut director and screenwriter Bryan Bertino surprised Hollywood by making a horror film that was as simple as it was scary. Strangerswhich tells the story of a marriage that ultimately falls victim to three masked killers, couldn’t have been simpler. But it was precisely this apparent simplicity that made the film so terrifying and eventful. There was no reason or any real explanation for the persecution that Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) suffered through in a silent and sadistic threesome.

Exactly because of this reason Strangers: Chapter 1brings nothing new to the early 2000s saga. Essentially, the film, directed this time by Renny Harlin, resorts to the same tricks and twists of the original, only without the shine and good work. Worse, it violates the pact of anonymity that made Bertino’s film so terrifying. In this case, it is not the cruelest chance, nor the seeming madness of three sadistic killers who choose their victims at random. In fact, the film’s weakest point is the beginning of the whole story, which suggests that there will be an explanation. That is: deaths matter within what appears to be a larger plan.

What is it that pulls out? Strangers: Chapter 1 its identity among many other films of this style. These are no longer three characters with no past and no context, armed with knives, who have become violent because they represent a tragic accident. Now the criminals are surrounded by people who seem to encourage them in what is happening. Which is completely unnecessary: ​​to provide a backdrop for a terrifying hunt that becomes even worse when it becomes clear that this could happen to anyone. This time, the victims are chosen. And so their identity has special weight in the plot.

Information that no one needs

Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) are a young, relatively successful couple who go on a road trip. After making a series of seemingly bad and convenient decisions, they end up in a town in Orejon where everyone is a suspect. Or at least that’s how they act. It’s clear that the screenplay by Alan R. Cohen, Alan Friedland, and Amber Lautfi is trying to take the original film’s formula into a new dimension. So now the field of hunting for the killers is much wider, and they have accomplices.

Except that the story it’s based on and the plot it shamelessly imitates need no additions. In fact, Strangers: Chapter 1 It goes in two different directions, which complicates its premise. On the one hand, it shows Maya and Ryan being stalked before they even notice. The director has a knack for turning a seemingly calm town into a tense and disturbing environment. But the problem is that much of the film’s tension depends on the fact that the attackers are arbitrary, unpredictable, and cruel simply because they have no logical motive. On the other end, investigate the suspicious inhabitants of the town they find themselves in.

Strangers: Chapter 1 It loses its effectiveness in trying to explain why what happens is happening. Much more, giving the whole film the feeling of a prologue that is leading somewhere. Meanwhile, it also delves into the elaborate plans for the masked characters to kill, more brutal and ruthless in this case. However, instead of supporting its entire story in what it may be hiding, the film does the exact opposite. In this way, he provides explanations and emphasizes what no one asked for in the first place.

The promise of a more brutal second part

Despite this, the film is skilled enough to create an interesting story. What’s missing is that when the killer trio strikes again, the film becomes as banal as a regret for the loss of what made it original in the first place. The couple’s pursuit into the cabin no longer feels like a random event – something that could have happened to them. to no one except the organized plan of what appears to be a sadistic event on the horizon.

With hints of new crimes, connections to the past, and even the revelation of the identity of one of the saga’s biggest mysteries, the film ends with a disappointing second half. But even more important is the conclusion it only wants to make clear: this is a prologue to something else. Strangers: Chapter 1 it misses out on the sense of stalking and overt violence that made the film it became famous for famous. What makes this film just another one of many modern violent films?c. Well done, yes, but without affecting his individuality. The worst thing you can say about her.