The Strangers: Chapter 3, 2026.
Directed by Renny Harlin.
Starring Madelaine Petsch, Richard Brake, Rachel Shenton, Kyle Breitkopf, George Young, Ema Horvath, Froy Gutierrez, Gabriel Basso, Stevee Davies, Hannah Galway, Noah P., Sara Freedland, Dani Klupsch, Ella Bruccoleri, Krystal Ellsworth, Pablo Sandstrom, Janis Ahern, Stephanie Aubertin, Canaan Davison, and Nicholas Chaif.
SYNOPSIS:
In the series’ most brutal chapter, Maya collides with the masked killers, and finds the only way out of the nightmare…is in.
The capper to a trilogy no one asked for, director Renny Harlin offers more of the same with The Strangers: Chapter 3. That means it is guaranteed there will be aimless wandering around in the dark, flashbacks integrated with no grace, and that Madelaine Petsch’s lone survivor Maya will once again crash a car into a tree, because how else are screenwriters Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland going to keep the cat-and-mouse game alive. Now, she has relatives arriving to investigate her disappearance.
In the film’s defense, a backhanded compliment can be given that this is the best of the three simply since the characters and plot finally coming into motion with a considerably high body count compared to the last two (even if the kills themselves are lifelessly generic), but it is still a dire mess with the gall to pretend to understand what made the original film chilling. This time, it is a mess that finally gets to its reveals about who most of these townspeople are and how they connect to the masked killers terrorizing and murdering strangers. For the most part, there is also an ending that provides closure this time, albeit one that leaves the door open just enough to take another sequel in an absurdly nonsensical direction, should someone so choose.
Of course, in doing so, these films continue to actively betray what gave the first two installments (the ones before this reboot trilogy) their power, but there is something to be thankful for: one isn’t bored out of their minds for 90 minutes. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean Renny Harlin is actually doing anything interesting here. This entry feels the need to begin with the definition of a serial killer, occasionally and clunkily dropping in flashbacks ranging from 3 to 12 years ago, showing these masked murderers coming into their identities, choosing their targets, and growing their numbers. One flashback in particular lasts only 30 seconds and returns to a courtroom trial for no apparent reason. It proves once again that this whole trilogy has been hacked and poorly edited, and that, theoretically, it might have been possible to salvage it as a single coherent film that isn’t spending most of its time repeating its chase and scare sequences.
When that’s not happening, Maya is either on the run or hiding out while piecing together information about noteworthy people in this town, such as how the sheriff (Richard Brake) figures into all of this. Speaking of him, it’s also pleasant that he finally has something to do here instead of showing up for 20 seconds, letting us know that he will have a larger role down the road, and most likely a malicious one, considering that it is Richard Brake.
As a narrative, this trilogy was never good because it simply didn’t understand why any of it was scary in the first place. Here, coupled with numerous needle drops of songs that simply feel overused in movies, the filmmakers attempt something wildly silly with Maya when she is eventually forced into the company of the remaining killers. On one hand, one hopes the film won’t go there because it would be too stupid. Then again, this is already stupid, so why not go full tilt stupidity?
Whether The Strangers: Chapter 3 does this or not also doesn’t matter, because even with more kills and slightly more elaborate production design here, Renny Harlin would still be going through the motions for either scenario. Thankfully, the journey is over for now, and we can become strangers to this failed series, erasing it from our minds.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
