The Strangers: Chapter 1, directed by Renny Harlin, stars Madelaine Petsch and Ryan Brown. The film is a soft reboot (or prequel?) of The Strangers (2008) and follows an almost identical plot of a couple being terrorized by masked strangers over the course of a single night. The only real difference here is that the characters stay at an Air B&B as opposed to their own home.  

A film like this hinges on the performances of its leads, and unfortunately, Petsch and Brown are hot garbage. There is very little chemistry between the two and they often come across as cold and strangely calm. They’re so calm, in fact, that it often sacrifices a lot of the film’s scares. Especially in this kind of situation, why should the viewers be scared if the characters aren’t? Ryan Brown in particular gives a soulless performance that causes me to speculate why he was cast in the first place. The only redeeming thing about the character is that he is an asthmatic who is constantly losing his inhaler. I’ve been saying it for years, but if I die in a horrible situation, it’s guaranteed to be partly due to the fact that I lost my inhaler. On the other hand, Petsch gives a better performance, but not by much. The actress was somewhat toted as a big selling point for the film and I struggle to figure out why. She gives a typical damsel in distress performance that just makes me yawn. Even the titular strangers are boring compared to the previous films. Even though these characters rarely speak, there has always been a certain amount of personality in their actions/movements. Here, they just slowly walk and appear randomly in the shadows, failing to differentiate themselves from the countless slasher villains that have appeared over the course of the last 6 decades. 

None of these weak performances would hurt the film as much if it weren’t for the equally weak script.  Not only is the dialogue chuckle-worthy, but the plot follows the original to a tee. Although this isn’t a shot-for-shot remake, it may as well have been. The only real difference is that this film leaves the door open for a sequel (this has already been shot as a trilogy). This is such a strange choice in the sense that making this a true sequel to the previous two films wouldn’t change this film in the slightest. There’s absolutely no reason to start from scratch. The original film is over 15 years old, but it’s not so old that a shot-for-shot remake feels warranted. Not to mention, the film also implements constant callbacks to the original that fail miserably. The film makes the common mistake of simply retreading these moments to lesser effect as opposed to expanding upon them or subverting them. It gives the viewer an overwhelming feeling of “been there, done that.” 

   The first film’s biggest flaw was focusing on main characters that were consistently frustrating in terms of their decision-making. This trend does not change in The Strangers: Chapter 1. It’s so bad at points, that I almost wanted to see these characters get their comeuppance. Speaking of which, I hope whoever’s idea this reboot was gets their comeuppance as well. 

Overall, this is a frustrating reboot/prequel that only acts to tarnish the legacy of The Strangers franchise as opposed to expanding upon it. This feels like a cynical cash grab in every sense of the word. That being said, it’s not so bad that I won’t be there to see how all of this is expanded upon in the sequels. This film is just safe to the point of ruin. It so desperately tries to satisfy fans that it forgets to take even the smallest of chances. In turn, this will only disappoint and anger fans of the franchise. Even if the sequels improve significantly, this is still a film that feels skippable in every sense of the word. C-