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.
Boyfriend leaves temporarily so Strangers can terrorize girlfriend? CHECK! Old-timey songs are played on a record? CHECK! Fake scare where it appears a Stranger is about to find the girlfriend, but it’s actually the bf? CHECK! Cell phone is destroyed? CHECK! Gf tries reaching police but has difficulty with audibility? CHECK! BF accidentally shoots an innocent? CHECK! Bf and gf end up tied up together, where they profess their love? CHECK! Bf and gf are about to have sex when a Stranger knocks on the door and asks for Tamara? CHECK! Stranger unscrews porch light to make it darker when she knocks? CHECK!
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. The bf has asthma, there’s a scene where our heroes escape through a crawl space, the police are dispatched to help (but don’t arrive until after the Strangers are finished), the bf gets the one-up on one of the Strangers (via a shotgun) but waits too long to take his shot, our couple’s attempt at escape is thwarted when one of the Strangers pins their vehicle against a tree, the town and it’s inhabitants are more of a character (and will presumably be more important in future films), and the gf ends up surviving.
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 around signs that read KILL ME) and 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. The Strangers attempt to kill our characters at the end involve stabbing each of them once and only once (Seriously, how was the gf the only one who survived? Because she was stabbed a few minutes later after the bf? Because the bf had asthma? BULLSHIT!)
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 dumb asshole 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 (Chapter Two looks set to be a rote revenge thriller).
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
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