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Film: The Strangers: Chapter 1
Year: 2024
Director: Renny Harlin
Writers: Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland
Starring: Madelaine Petsch, Ryan Bown and Matus Lajcak
Review:
This was a film that when I heard was being made, didn’t excite me too much. Despite my reputation for what went down on the Summer Challenge Series, I’m a fan of the original film from Bryan Bertino. It is a terrifying concept of strangers showing up to a remote house and stalking a couple. Adding to the fact that it has basis on a real crime or just how this could happen adds to that. Seeing that this was a confirmed trilogy before the first was released made me leery. Our Director, Renny Harlin, is hit or miss with me. I did catch this at my local theater as well.
Synopsis: after their car breaks down in an eerie small town, a young couple is forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive.
We start this off with a cold open of sorts. A guy is running through the woods and he’s attacked. We learn later that this Jeff Morell (Ryan Bown). It then takes us over to the couple we’re following. They’re heading to Oregon and decided to make the drive. Maya (Madelaine Petsch) has a job interview for an architecture job. Driving her is her boyfriend, Ryan (Froy Gutierrez).
He needs to eat so they get off at an exit. They almost get into a car accident. The couple went to kiss, he took his eyes off the road and drifted into the next lane. This caused a truck to slam on his breaks and scold them. It is through this; we see that Ryan has asthma. He needs his inhaler. They then make it to a local diner.
Something I’m going to share here; I get the feeling that this movie is hiding the identity of who the masked killers from the beginning are. The cast list I’m working from has the killers listed their masks and as double. I bring that up here because when this couple enters the diner, everyone looks at them. It makes us suspicious of people in town. The diner belongs to Carol (Janis Ahern). A server there is Shelly (Ema Horvath). Eating there is the local police, Sheriff Rotter (Richard Brake) and Deputy Walters (Pedro Leandro). There’s also a couple at the counter, Eden (Rafaella Biscayn) and Neil (Pablo Sandstrom). They hear that it is Maya and Ryan’s anniversary. Everyone assumes marriage, but they’re just dating. It then gets awkward.
We then get an odd scene when this couple goes to leave. Their car won’t start. It just so happens that when they arrived, Rudy (Ben Cartwright), who runs a local garage saw them. He taps on the window, seeing if they need help. He is aided by Dougie (Stevee Davies). Ryan is suspicious. He believes that they tampered with the car as a scam. Maya steps in, asks them to order the part and fix the issue. The problem is that they now must stay here for the night. The motel isn’t open, but there is a nearby Air BnB they can stay in.
The couple tries to make the best of the night, but things get creepier when someone knocks asking for Tamara. The porch light isn’t working. This person keeps coming back and asking for this person. Things escalate as they get into the house and what was supposed to be a fun road trip turns into a nightmare they’ll never forget.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this feeling is like an unnecessary remake, outside of the fact that they want to go in a different direction with the next two movies. When I first saw the original, I thought it was great. I have cooled on it slightly, but still think it is a creepy home invasion film. My plan for this review isn’t to compare the two too much, but I will point out similarities or things they’re using. I will also say that I like Strangers: Prey at Night, but it is a completely different type of movie.
Let me then bring up here the conventions and elements borrowed. First, we have a couple. What is interesting here though, is that this couple is happy. They’re using the idea of not being married, but instead of a failed proposal, Ryan didn’t know that Maya wanted to get married. That takes away that depressing nature between them. This couple is happy. That can be something to use when things go dark. This uses the same name that they’re looking for in Tamara. Unscrewing the light bulb on the porch. The masks are the same as Pin-Up, Scarecrow and Dollface. There are also other points throughout the story. A good touch for me though was using the same song from the original when Scarecrow is in the house and Maya doesn’t know, Sprout and the Bean. I’m a fan because of what they did in The Strangers. This is all fine, the minor changes work and the homage here as well.
The last thing I’ll say then in conjunction with the original is that this feels like a shot for shot remake. I just thought the atmosphere was built better in the earlier version so this struggled to hold my attention. It is weird, having this couple be happy should help invest me, but it doesn’t. I don’t know if the acting performances are as strong as Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler. Petsch and Gutierrez aren’t bad. They just don’t work as well for me. This would be better served to do things a bit more differently to set itself apart. It can be said that they do by having them leave the house, which we don’t necessarily get much of in the original.
Since I’ve brought up the acting, let’s discuss the performances. I’ve already said that Petsch and Gutierrez were fine. They feel like a couple so that works. I did like that their dynamic is different here than the original couple. Cartwright, Davies, Leandro, Horvath, Ahern and the others in town were fine in being normal, but also there being something that we don’t fully trust them. I did like that. What shocked me was that I thought I saw Brake in this. It was a blink and you’ll miss him moment though. I’m wondering if he’ll have a bigger role in latter installments. I’d also say that the masked people were solid, they’re creepy and fit was needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. In general, this is well-made. I thought that cinematography was good to set the stage of where this takes place. Being as close to the woods as they are works. That helps to build the sense of isolation. We also have outsiders so that helps as well. I’d say that the framing was good. The effects are limited, but what we got there worked. The sound design helps to build the atmosphere and the soundtrack fit what was needed. The only issue is just that this struggled to keep my interest, despite its normal runtime.
In conclusion, this is fine. The biggest issue that I had is that this is a shot for shot remake to start this new trilogy. Doing more to set this apart would have benefited. There are good nods and homages to the original version. The acting from our leads was solid. The rest of the cast makes you not fully trust them since they’re from the town and something happens to the outsiders. This is well-made from the cinematography to the effects and sound design. The issue I have there is that because I know this story, it didn’t hold my interest as well as it should. Not a bad movie, just doesn’t feel currently that it is necessary. I’d recommend it still as I’ve seen worse.
My Rating: 6 out of 10