The Strangers: Chapter 3 review
Mercifully, it’s over.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
The Strangers: Chapter 3
Directed by Renny Harlin
Written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland
Starring Madeline Petsch
The Strangers: Chapter 3 Review
Whatever the point was of turning The Strangers into a trilogy of new films will have to remain a secret to those of us who watched it. I didn’t have high expectations for the third chapter after the underwhelming first two parts…but I did hope that I’d finally find a reason it existed. I didn’t. The Strangers: Chapter 3 is another boring, meandering entry in this inexplicable trilogy of films. Reportedly, the movie underwent three weeks of reshoots after the release of Chapter 2 so that they could take some of the feedback to the first films into account. It appears that the creative choice was to make it even slower and less exciting to, one assumes, really stick it to whoever gave that feedback.
I didn’t think it was possible for Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 to be as uninteresting as Chapter 1 was. The first film was basically a remake of the original film…changing a few things to set up this series new lead, Maya (Madelaine Petsch). The last two chapters of the series aren’t really any better than the remake…but they are, at least, comprised of new material. Unfortunately, that’s where the movies have gone off the rails.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 directly follows the ending of Chapter 2. Maya has killed one of The Strangers…and her best friend/love of her life isn’t taking it well. We know about their relationship because Chapter 2 decided the best way to move the story forward was to head back in time and discover the origins of two of the three masked killers. This no longer makes them strangers, of course…but Chapter 3 has a different idea about the meaning of the title. The idea pays off why everyone in the small town is so guarded and shifty about the disappearances in their area. Basically, the trio of killers don’t target locals. Only…strangers.
That’s all fine and good. Which is what makes this trilogy so frustrating. It isn’t lacking in fine and good ideas. It simply finds the most boring ways to use them. We learn even more about The Strangers in Chapter 3. We learn the origin of that third masked person, if you want it. It’s both an interesting reveal and, ultimately, utterly worthless. Which is another way to describe the frustration felt watching this trilogy.
Maya is still struggling to deal with the remaining two killers…or escape…or do much of anything. For most of The Strangers: Chapter 3, Maya doesn’t do very much at all. She’s rarely in control of anything happening around her…despite the end of the last movie setting up an obvious revenge plot. Chapter 3 eventually gets there…the most boring way possible. When the series should finally shift into a high gear…it slows down even more. Maya’s eventual showdown with the evil in the town unfolds as slowly and listlessly as possible. It’s truly a sight to behold.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 brings a few new characters into the fold. Namely, Maya’s sister, brother-in-law, and a very capable friend. They’re looking for clues about what happened to Maya…and give the movie a slightly new angle to play with. I can’t say it exactly raises the stakes though…The Strangers: Chapter 3 never seems to want its pulse to raise below a resting rate. There are more murders than in the previous two entries…but it all feels dragged out and largely inconsequential. Even deaths that should be important don’t feel like it. The Strangers: Chapter 3 lulls you to sleep…just as the previous two installments did.
So, why does this trilogy exist? Well…that depends on who you ask, I suppose. For Lionsgate, the first chapter brought home enough money to justify making two more. Though the diminishing returns in box office were immediately noticeable with the release of Chapter 2. For director Renny Harlin…hey…it’s three paying jobs. The movies look good and he still knows how to shoot a picture. The answer we need is from Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, the co-writers of all three chapters. What were they hoping to accomplish with this trilogy? What were they trying to explore? Do they think they succeeded? The answers to those questions are sure to be more interesting than this trilogy of The Strangers turned out to be.
Scare Value
As my mind wandered during one of the many down times in The Strangers: Chapter 3…I wondered if there was a one film cut of this trilogy that could make for a good movie. After watching Chapter 3 limp to its conclusion…I’m now certain that there isn’t. But, at least, there would be less of it.
2/5
The Strangers: Chapter 3 Link
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