THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 (2024) **

You know, for a movie called “The Strangers”, it seems awfully familiar. 

Directed by the great Renny (Cliffhanger) Harlin, Chapter 1 is supposed to kick off a new “trilogy” of Strangers movies.  I don’t know how they are going to string this thin premise across three movies.  There’s barely enough plot here for one flick, let alone three. 

The plot is similar to the first movie.  The key differences is that instead of focusing on a husband and wife contemplating breaking up, we have a happy couple as the leads, and instead of the Strangers invading their home, it’s a crappy Airbnb out in the woods.  Other than that, it’s the same flick. 

I didn’t even really like The Strangers the first time around, but it was OK for what it was.  While the sequel, Prey at Night, wasn’t much better, it at least it had a faux ‘80s vibe going on that I appreciated.  This one has to be the most generic slasher since the ‘80s, which is a bold statement, but one I think I can stand by. 

What makes it so disappointing is the fact that Harlin is usually a fun and kinetic director.  This time out, he left his style and sense of fun at home.  I will say he keeps things moving.  It’s never dull, but it never really cooks either. 

It doesn’t help that the two main characters are two of the dumbest people to ever have the misfortune of being in a horror movie.  This should’ve been over at the twenty-minute mark had it starred anyone with half a brain cell.  All the girl had to do was turn around to find one of the Strangers standing behind her.  Even better, she should’ve introduced herself to the Strangers and then they wouldn’t be strangers anymore, and then we could’ve all gone home. 

This movie offered up some of the biggest unintentional laughs I’ve had in a theater in some time.  That’s why I can’t find it in my heart to give it any lower than **.  The nearly full crowd I saw it with were roaring with laughter too, mostly at the sheer idiocy of the couple and their priceless reaction shots that evoke more chuckles than chills. 

As bad as it is, I’m hopeful that Chapter 2 (which is already shot and ready to be released) could work.  Hopefully, Harlin has gotten rebooting the first movie out of his system and he can finally do something new with the material.  After all, this is the man who gave us A Nightmare on Elm Street 4:  The Dream Master, Die Hard 2 and Exorcist:  The Beginning, so he definitely knows his way around a sequel.