If a young woman ever knocks on your door late at night and asks “Is Tamara home?”, then consider moving.
All three home invasions in the world of “The Strangers” have begun this way, and none have ended well for whoever answered. It took a decade for the door to first knock again in the form of the 2018 sequel “The Strangers: Prey at Night,” by which time the original sleeper hit from 2008 had evolved into something of a cult classic. Now, six years since that follow-up showed audiences the further exploits of the eponymous masked trio of home invaders, horror’s slowest-moving franchise has quite the pep in its step: “The Strangers: Chapter 1” is the first of three installments set to release within the next year, with the entire prequel trilogy directed by journeyman filmmaker Renny Harlin.
It’s also off to a promising enough start, especially as the end of “Chapter 1” makes it clear that the next two entries will be continuations of the story introduced here rather than standalone narratives. Given that, at its core, this new installment has almost the exact same plot as its predecessors, one could make a convincing argument that such a tale doesn’t need to be stretched across three movies à la “The Hobbit.” Time will tell, but for now there’s enough reason for devotees of the series to be cautiously optimistic — and even a little curious — about the next two chapters.
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The story so far, in case you couldn’t guess: A couple spending the night in a secluded cabin find themselves terrorized by three intruders with creepy masks, murderous intent and unknowable motivations. The only twist to the now-familiar formula is that said lovebirds are strangers themselves this time — Maya and Ryan (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) are waylaid in Venus, Ore. due to car troubles. The pair are met with the kind of hostility that always awaits cityfolk in horror movies. The axe that then comes smashing through their front door begs a question: Is this another random act of violence or a town-wide conspiracy?
For now, that question isn’t rhetorical — much remains unresolved and unanswered at the end of “Chapter 1,” including whether it merely takes place in the same universe as the prior two films or if the story tells the origins of the Man in the Mask, Dollface and Pin-Up Girl. (It seems to be some combination of the two, as, at least according to the credits, Man in the Mask has been replaced by a figure named Scarecrow.)
Harlin is no stranger to horror filmmaking, having helmed the likes of “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” and “Exorcist: The Beginning,” in addition to a smattering of non-franchise fare. He’s a capable hand, if not exactly an inspired one, which is to say that he’s well-suited to this material. Those inclined toward the series may not mind the fact that “Chapter 1” hits almost every single narrative beat established by writer-director Bryan Bertino in the 2008 original, but they’ll certainly notice. For all the potential intrigue that comes with a prequel, “Chapter 1” is so similar to its forebears that it might as well be a remake.
And yet it’s still somewhat refreshing, in this age of lore-heavy expanded universes, that even here the filmmakers (including Bertino, who has a story credit) refuse to tell us anything about the Strangers. The nihilistic randomness of the violence is what makes the film connect on a visceral level; to give them a backstory, or even real names, would be to go against the premise’s central appeal. “Chapter 1” can’t help feeling like an ersatz imitation at times, but it seems the franchise’s well hasn’t run dry just yet. But while it might change in the next two installments, to date nothing in the series has been more chilling than the original intruders’ response when asked why they were doing this: “Because you were home.”
