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*Spoiler warning* the following may spoil the plot of both The Strangers (2008) and The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)
Yes, you read that headline right. It is rare for horror remakes, or rather reimaginings, to be better than the original movie, but it has been done, just look at The Hills Have Eyes or The Crazies. Next up on that highly coveted list, I believe, is the first installment in director Renny Harlin’s new horror trilogy, The Strangers Chapter 1, which reinvents the 2008 original horror.
Directed by Bryan Bertino, the original The Strangers follows a couple who stay over at a family-owned cabin in the woods only to be stalked and hunted by three masked strangers. Similarly, Harlin’s take follows a young couple part-way through a cross-country road trip when their car breaks down forcing them to stay at a rural Airbnb where they are, you guessed it, soon terrorized by a killer trio.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand that Bertino’s movie was a classic for its time and it shaped modern home invasion horror as we know it. But since its release in 2008, we have seen so many more nuanced takes in the subgenre that do the whole ‘a stranger is trying to break into my house and kill me for no good reason’ trope, just see Hush or The Collector.
This is why I believe it was due time for The Strangers story to be shaken up a little, and with more character development, bloodier kill scenes, and a backstory, The Strangers: Chapter 1 does just that, and all in the end makes it a better movie than the original.
There’s a new couple in town
My biggest issue with the ‘00s version is the characters. From the first scene, we are met with a couple on the rocks, close to breaking up when Liv Tyler’s character Kristen rejects her boyfriend James’s (Scott Speedman) proposal. Soon after, James leaves to clear his head and upon return the killer trio has already arrived at the cabin. This gives us little to no time at all to get to know the victims, the very people we are supposed to be rooting for. Instead, we are forced to side with two arguing people who are not very likable at all. To me, this makes their demise a little less brutal as we do not know them, and in a way, they feel as alien to us as The Strangers themselves.
The 2024 adaptation on the other hand gives us way more time to bond with victims Maya and Ryan played by Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez. As opposed to heading right to the cabin, we see the couple on a road trip, exploring the rural town, and spending the evening together before panic ensues. Plus, the fact they are so much in love and on the verge of spending the rest of their lives together makes the ending so much more heartbreaking and shocking. This was actually Harlin’s intention, as he told GamesRadar+: “I wanted them to be in love and happy and I wanted to really violate that perfect happiness with the utmost violence and horror.”
Bloodier, better, and more brutal
Another bone I have to pick with the 2008 flick is the lack of gore. Yes, I understand that what is not shown often creates more panic and fear in the audience than what is, but when you have one major kill scene in the whole movie, I expect to see some of it. Aside from Glenn Howerton’s character being shot in the head, the only other slice of gore the original has to offer is the penultimate kill scene at the end. However, as soon as the knife enters the victims, the camera pans away.
Harlin’s new take still keeps the level of bloodshed very realistic, but shows the final kill in all of its glory, including sound too, which made me psychically wince at the movie theater – something that doesn’t happen very often. In addition, the villains (Dollface, Pin Up Girl, and Masked Man) are much creepier. Unlike in Bertino’s flick, the trio randomly show bursts of emotion towards each other while still being cold and callous to the victims, which adds another level of complexity and almost psychopathic nature to the three.
More rhyme and reason
The original movie rides on the idea of not knowing who The Strangers are and why they are doing this, including that one moment everyone remembers where Kristen asks, “Why are you doing this to us?” to which Dollface replies, “Because you were home.” But in this day and age, horror fans need more. Although Chapter 1 doesn’t directly tell you why the villains are preying on the faultless victims, its opening scenes include a few little clues as to why they might be.
When entering the diner in the off-the-grid town of Venus, the couple are immediately singled out for being rich city slickers, and later their unmarried status becomes a clear problem for the townsfolk. These little tidbits start to swirl around our heads throughout the movie when trying to come up with a reason why all of this is happening, making us just as paranoid as the couple end up.
However, you won’t have to rely on theories for much longer because Chapter 1 is just the beginning of an upcoming trilogy. Harlin himself promises to GamesRadar+ in an exclusive interview that the new movies will address some burning questions in Chapters 2 and 3 including an answer as to who the illusive Tamara is.
All in all, I am not trying to bash the 2008 version, in fact, I think it’s a perfectly fine horror movie and was largely influential for its time. But as times change and horror fan’s appetites grow, you have to agree it’s high time for a new look at The Strangers. Harlin’s The Strangers: Chapter 1 breathes fresh air into the home invasion nightmare, and with the next two installments ready to hit theaters later this year, I cannot wait to find out more about the murdering trio we all know and fear.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 is out in theaters right now. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies, or keep up to date with upcoming horror movies heading your way this year.
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