The Strangers: Chapter 3 brings bloodshed and backstory to the masked menaces

The third and final installment in Lionsgate's reimagining of The Strangers hit theaters this weekend. So, was the journey of two films worth the trip to this finale? Read on to find out.

Director Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Deep Blue Sea, Die Hard 2) returns to complete the third chapter of his take on The Strangers alongside writers Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. Also returning to star is Madelaine Petsch as Maya (Riverdale, Sightless) and Richard Brake (31, Barbarian). The film also stars Rachel Shenton as Debbie, Mayas' sister, who comes looking for her with her husband Howard, played by George Young. Also with them is Marcus, played by Miles Yekinni.

The film opens on a flashback that brings an interesting subversion to the masked menaces usual plan of attack. After a subpar opening scene, we are brought back to where Chapter 2 ended, with Pin-Up Girl being killed by Maya and the other two strangers "Scarecrow" (Gabriel Basso) and "Dollface" (Ella Bruccoleri) hot on her trail. Early on, the film plays out an eerie face to face chat between Maya and Scarecrow. While I feel like this prolonged mask-less interaction with one of the strangers undoes a lot of the mystery The Strangers inherently come with as villains, it's worth noting that the scene plays out surprisingly tense especially with Basso's performance.

Speaking of performances, Chapter 3 delivers some great ones. A big highlight in this film compared to the previous two installments comes from actor Richard Brake, who previously had almost nothing to do in the story and is promoted to a secondary antagonist here. While I still think an actor of his talents isn't given enough to do in the film, it was nice to see him bring a menacing edge to the few scenes he's in. The same can be echoed for Petsch, whose performance has been one of the few positive constants in the trilogy, and again, Basso is given a lot to do. While the writing for his character is questionable, he does his best with what he's given.

However I wish I can say the same for the band coming to Maya's rescue, Debbie (Rachel Stenton), Howard (George Young) and Marcus (Miles Yekinni). The group arrive about halfway through the film searching for Maya with the film's small town of Venus being the last place they heard from them. The group are immediately faced with hostility from the townspeople (I guess all of them are aware of the Strangers and just don't care?) before they are tipped off about the local sheriff and his antics involving the Strangers. There isn’t enough given to these characters to justify much of a performance, as the characters hardly do anything outside of push the plot along begrudgingly.

One of my biggest gripes with the film (and this trilogy as a whole) is its insistence to go all in a backstory for the titular Strangers. The ambiguity and randomness of their actions is a core part of their identity, and why they're so scary. Disclosing who they are, why they're doing it, and what makes them tick not only feels like a fools errand, but takes away from one of the best parts of their identities as horror villains. The way this is carried out in the film is especially annoying, as Pin-Up Girl and Scarecrow are revealed to have been in a cheesy half-baked Bonnie and Clyde style relationship since their youth, yet unlike Bonnie and Clyde they never traveled across the country spreading their terror. Instead, they just stuck to killing random people that would pass through their town. The backstory of two of the three Strangers can be summed up as two edgy teenagers killing people in the same town for years on end, taking the off-putting realism of the original and turning it into an edgy love story. As for the third one, she's given one scene of backstory before the series of flashbacks ends.

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

I was also put off at how inconsistent the direction was for the Strangers' tactics. In Chapter 1, they mimicked the original by going for a quiet stealth home invasion approach, finding whatever unlocked doors and windows they could to invade and play a deadly cat and mouse game with their victims. In this latest chapter, all of that goes out the window, with the Strangers banging on doors to eagerly deliver their class "Is Tamara home?" line before loudly breaking down the door and instantly killing whoever is inside in a furious frenzy. This M.O. is the direct opposite of anything the Strangers have been known to do, so much so I began to question if the writers of this film had bothered to watch the 2008 original or even the 2018 sequel before penning the screenplay.

The film's most interesting idea (in a trilogy with a lot of interesting ideas that are never fully realized) involves Maya becoming a hostage and eventual proto-Stranger being coerced into committing violent acts with Scarecrow and Dollface, essentially taking up Pin-Up Girl's mantle. This portion of the film offered the most in terms of suspense and originality, and to its credit it does stay with this idea through a bulk of the runtime. However, this still ultimately leads to a subpar and lackluster finale.

While the film does have a promising atmosphere, an eerie and off-putting gray town where the locals give anyone passing through weird looks, and the film does present a few varying set pieces with solid potential, what it delivers hardly makes them worthwhile, as most scenes hardly utilize their atmosphere and set design to their advantage. The film's attempt at gritty realism falls flat with bafflingly confusing direction and strange writing choices. The film's scares fall flat beyond a few surprising jump scares, and some decent gore. The film itself feels like it's going through the motions, switching from set piece to set piece without reason. The entire runtime feels like a slow crawl to a finish line with an ending scene that feels like an unearned victory.

Overall, The Strangers: Chapter 3 brings the trilogy to a somber and unclimactic close. While this film is the meatiest in terms of blood and backstory, the very existence of such a backstory goes against everything that made the characters unique to begin with. This trilogy set out to answer questions nobody asked, and in turn has muddied the waters on what made the characters of the Strangers so great all the way back in 2008 with Bryan Bertino's original home invasion horror. I know this was originally intended to be one long movie, and with news that there could be a three-hour supercut of all three movies edited into one, I'm holding out hope that turning it into one movie could remedy most of this trilogy's issues. However, I am admittedly doubtful this can be repaired.

The Strangers: Chapter 3 is now playing in theaters.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecQGz0yIdIY