An effective horror movie doesn’t need a big budget or an elaborate set-up to terrorize an audience. A plot that plays on everyday fears will do the trick. If a story can tap into the garden-variety nightmares of moviegoers, a simple premise can become petrifying. Being stalked, facing an unknown intruder, or the violation of a safe space are terrifying situations that in real life can send a person straight to a therapist’s couch.
In 2008, Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers worked its way into the horror zeitgeist through an effective narrative that revitalized the genre’s home invasion trope and created a modern classic that efficiently terrified contemporary audiences. The brutality of a trio of strangers attacking an innocent couple for fun and giggles played on viewers’ fears, making the film a neo-classic in the genre. Now it’s finding a fresh start, with director Renny Harlin hoping to recapture the shock and awe of the original movie. But will The Strangers: Chapter 1 leave the same impression?
Harlin’s reboot sets the stage for an upcoming trilogy. Penned by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, the film stars Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez as Maya and Ryan, an impossibly adorable couple who find themselves stranded in an isolated Oregon town after a car breakdown, and who must Airbnb a house while repairs are made. Once they are settled in, a trio of home intruders begins to terrorize them in a series of well-worn scenarios. After starting off with a new setting and new characters, the story mirrors the original formula almost beat by beat. A home invasion film with good old-fashioned body horror thrown in for added merriment, Chapter 1 is a rehash of the 2008 outing, though with small alterations and promises to continue the saga, as Maya attempts to outrun, outsmart, and outlive the intruding trio.
A good portion of Chapter 1 is torture porn for beginners — training wheels for extreme cinema, for folks who are not quite ready for…
Read the full article here
