Every horror movie has The Moment: where you see the main characters do something that both kicks off the plot and is often also an extremely boneheaded move. Usually, it involves a door and someone making the choice to open it or go in there, which they should never, ever do. So it goes with Lionsgate’s upcoming semi-remake for The Strangers, in which the two leads make the very bad decision to answer the door in the middle of the night.
Directed by Renny Harlin, the newest entry in the slasher series sees lovestruck duo Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) spend the night at an Oregon Airbnb. The town of Venus doesn’t really take a shine to them, for whatever reason, and then things get weird when someone shows up and asks the question longtime fans will remember: “Is Tamara home?”
From there, things get aggressively worse for the couple. Odd events around the house then evolve into Maya and Ryan being straight up terrorized by a trio of masked psychopaths doing all of this just for kicks. Harlin previously stated this new Strangers—which is the first of a trilogy—will follow similar beats as the original cult classic from 2008. (It’s also reportedly set in the same continuity as that film and its 2018 sequel, Prey at Night.)
Things will diverge with the second and third movies, which will follow Maya after she’s survived that harrowing night. If luck is on Lionsgate’s side, the hope is for the three films to reinvigorate the franchise and give it another franchise to release on a steady cadence similar to Saw. And if not…well, three new horror movies to have in the Halloween rotation ain’t a bad thing.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 will release in theaters on May 17. Chapter 2 and 3 are expected to release sometime later this year.
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