Another expansion of a horror property that nobody seemed to be crying out for, The Strangers: Chapter 1 is the first of a new trilogy in this series. All three were apparently filmed at the same time, and the series is now in the hands of Renny Harlin, who remains a shadow of his former self, in terms of his directing talent.
Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) are travelling across the country when their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There's a small town, which means they're able to leave their car to get repaired and rent an isolated cabin for the night. That's when the strangers start paying attention to them. Everything starts with a knock on the door, and it soon escalates to a full campaign of terror and death.
While this is written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, a duo who don't exactly have any major highlights in their careers, it's probably justified to give most of the credit to Bryan Bertino, creator of the original film in the series. The best bits here are the bits that replicate moments from the original movie. The rest is a whole lot of nothing, so insubstantial and weak that I am already struggling to fill out this review. Bad decisions abound, of course, and there's no attempt to make things logical or realistic (e.g. the moment a getaway in a car is foiled, subsequently showing our leads completely ignoring another vehicle that could be used). Some jump scares work, and there's an enjoyable creepiness inherent in the scenes that have our leads being unaware of characters wandering around behind them, but that's very basic stuff that almost anyone could get right.
Harlin has misplaced faith in the material, not ever thinking of ways to further liven things up or bring in enough supporting characters to multiply the opportunities for mayhem and murder, and there's absolutely nothing here that has me looking forward to the next two instalments.
Petsch and Gutierrez are both good enough in the lead roles, and both work hard to keep this watchable while working with a screenplay that doesn't treat them very well. It's a thankless task, but one they handle as well as possible. The mask-wearing strangers are portrayed well, but those performances consist mainly of head-tilts and acting unhurried when the situation is fraught with danger.
I can only think of one or two people who seemed pleased when this trilogy of films was first announced. They'll probably be happy enough with this. Personally, I don't see why you would choose to watch this when the first two films do much better work with the premise.
4/10
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