The Strangers: Chapter 3 will deliver the trilogy's final kill

The third entry promises a nightmarish conclusion.

The Strangers: Chapter 3 - Courtesy of Lionsgate

It’s been less than five months since The Strangers: Chapter 2 was released, and we won't have to wait any longer for the release of the third and final installment in Renny Harlin’s standalone trilogy in the iconic franchise. 

The film’s official synopsis reads:

Madelaine Petsch, returning as Maya, is the Final Girl trapped in the Strangers’ unceasing cycle of violence, pushed toward an inevitable face-off with the masked killers—a terrifying nightmare where the only way out is in.

The Strangers: Chapter 3 was simultaneously filmed with the previous two films over a 52-day period. The entries in which they shot scenes for were often sporadic—Harlin stated they would often shoot for one film in the morning and another film in the evening. With The Strangers: Chapter One having been released in May of 2024, the trilogy is less than two-years-old and takes place over a period of around five days. The series follows Maya after she encounters Pin-Up Girl, Scarecrow, and Dollface in the small town of Venus, Oregon while on her way to a job interview in Portland. 

Madelaine Petsch as Maya in The Strangers: Chapter 3 - Courtesy of Lionsgate

Despite taking place in the same universe as the original two films—and maintaining the distinctive nicknames and looks of the three killers—Harlin’s trilogy is a separate story with original characters, including the killers. The masks are even detailed reconstructions of ones worn in the original film.

Revamping a well-known horror franchise by telling a different story within the same universe, rather than outright remaking it, has become popular in the industry with films such as Spiral: From the Book of Saw and Evil Dead Rise. In addition to July's release of Evil Dead Burn, the sequel to Rise, the cast of another untitled standalone in the Evil Dead universe was just announced. 

The entire franchise began in 2008, with the release of Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers. The film was acclaimed for its atmosphere and unsettling psychological aspects, especially with a basis in reality and lack of supernatural aspects. The film was primarily inspired by both the Manson Family murders and a series of break-ins that occurred in Bertino’s neighborhood that his he narrowly avoided when he was a kid. Intruders had stopped by his house to ask for someone who did not live there (the basis for the series’ iconic “Is Tamara home?” line), and did the same to other occupied houses, burglarizing the vacant ones of those who did not answer. 

The Strangers: Chapter 3 will conclude Harlin’s vicious addition to the franchise, but anyone needing a refresher of the last two movies can stream them on Starz. 

The Strangers: Chapter 3 is set to be released on February 6, 2026.