My review of The Strangers: Chapter One
If you’ve seen the OG Strangers, there is absolutely no reason to see this. Despite being marketed as a prequel, this is not that. First of all, it’s set in modern day (so that prequel promise goes right out the window). The filmmakers, for whatever stupid, misguided reason, seem dead-set on remaking the first film. The film makes sure to check off just about every single beat from the OG. The very little that is new does not amount to much.
There are so many opportunities to take the story down a different path or even subvert audience expectations, but our filmmakers stubbornly refuse every single damned time. The direction by Renny Harlin is fine. Attempts at tension/suspense are made (I suppose some might find them effective… I didn’t). The cinematography by José David Montero is decent (There are some pretty atmospheric shots in the third act). The score by Justin Caine Burnett is good/servicable. Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez are easy on the eyes. The film is mercifully short. That’s literally it for the good.
The screenplay by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland is very, very, very bad. Previously the two wrote fifteen episodes of King of the Hill and co-penned the screenplay for Due Date. Their work here flat out sucks. Our couple continually make dumb decisions (they might as well be carrying signs that read KILL ME), much of the dialogue is laughably bad and feels forced and unnatural. There’s also a good deal of expository dialogue as well. This is one of the tamest R rated horror films I’ve seen in a long time. There is little violence, blood, or gore. When it starts with a cut-away kill, you know you’re in trouble.
Froy Gutierrez’s Ryan is written very poorly (as are all of our characters). He falls prey to his masculinity a good deal of the time, acts like an unreasonable Jerky McJerkface a decent amount, and is all-around very stupid. Madelaine Petsch’s Maya fares ever so slightly better, but she is still far from a compelling heroine. Richard Brake is completely wasted as the Sheriff. He has no dialogue and only appears for less than a minute in the first act (You have to assume he will play a bigger role in the upcoming sequels). The titular Strangers aren’t particularly intimidating or scary, either.
In the end The Strangers: Chapter One is bad but harmless. Average horror fans might have some fun (same goes for fans of bad movies). It definitely doesn’t give much hope for the future sequels since they are also penned by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. In other words, I wouldn’t expect any originality, creativity, or good characters from the upcoming films.
The Strangers: Chapter One is a paint-by-numbers job done by a child with little skill and no craftsmanship. It might work for those that haven’t seen the OG. Everyone else need not apply.
1.5 STARS