Review: THE STRANGERS – CHAPTER 2 Spins Its Wheels Until CHAPTER 3
The second installment of the new trilogy is more TV episode than movie.
It was hard to feel excited going into The Strangers – Chapter 2 considering how lackluster Chapter 1 was and unfortunately, this is not a situation where low expectations have led to a pleasant surprise. Chapter 1, while not a one-to-one remake of Bryan Bertino’s highly effective and intense The Strangers from 2008, used its basic framework for a new iteration that felt notably hollow and vapid compared to the original. Still, with that set-up story out of the way, and an entire trilogy to tell, there was room for something more interesting in the follow-up. But screenwriters Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland and Amber Loutfi and director Renny Harlin instead deliver an installment that is decidedly uninspired, essentially spinning their wheels in this go-round until the already-shot Chapter 3 is released.
Pulling a bit of a Halloween II initially, The Strangers – Chapter 2 picks up in the immediate aftermath of Chapter 1, with Maya (Madelaine Petsch) still in the hospital from what she went through when we last saw her. But soon, the Strangers come calling again, sending Maya out of her hospital bed and into a chase that essentially lasts for the entire movie, as she continually tries to escape her very determined attackers.
And look, a movie described as one big chase sequence isn’t inherently a bad thing at all and, in the right hands, can obviously be a very exciting, unrelenting experience. But as with Chapter 1, most everything here feels rather dull and missing the energy needed to sustain interest. The initial chase through the hospital feels like it goes on forever, lacking almost any genuine atmosphere or tension. Even in moments and even specific shots that should feel unsettling, such as when we see the hulking Scarecrow-masked killer through a window, trying to find Maya as she hides in an adjoining room, it just kind of flatly plays out.
