\n
![](\"https:\/\/cdn.craft.cloud\/26ed9c78-feb7-4ee6-8ddf-262fd7bafb2d\/assets\/tco\/images\/Madelaine-Petsch-in-The-Strangers-Chapter-2-courtesy-of-Lionsgate.jpg\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Something you might not know about\u00a0<\/span>The Strangers: Chapter 2<\/span><\/i> \u2013 other than that it even exists to begin with \u2013 is that it is a\u00a0sequel to the film that attempted to reboot\u00a0<\/span>The Strangers\u00a0<\/i>rather than a\u00a0follow-up to the 2008<\/span> original. Its direct predecessor lived and died quietly in 2018<\/span>, but with two sequels already in the can, Renny Harlin and his crew scrambled to complete some reshoots based on audience feedback. The OG<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Strangers,\u00a0<\/i>fronted by Liv Tyler, was one of the many noughties horrors (see also:\u00a0<\/span>Hostel, Eden Lake,<\/i>\u00a0Steven Sheil\u2019s<\/span> Mum &<\/span>\u00a0Dad<\/i>) inspired by a\u00a0decade of news headlines of terror attacks and torture that tapped into a\u00a0growing paranoia around strangers. No longer was the call coming from inside the house, but rather violent acts were inflicted on unsuspecting suburbanites and tourists with no discernible motive other than to fill cinemas with rubbernecking horror fans. Rebooting\u00a0<\/span>The Strangers<\/i> could have been a\u00a0chance to explore this fear of the other two decades on, but instead Harlin\u2019s rehash is as much of a\u00a0hack job as the murders\u2019 weapon of choice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In\u00a0<\/span>The Strangers: Chapter 1<\/span>,<\/i> young couple Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez)\u2019s remote AirBnB turns from an intimate engagement location to a\u00a0living nightmare when they find themselves surrounded by masked killers. It is a\u00a0shoddy remake of the original, and its sequel,\u00a0<\/span>The Strangers: Chapter 2<\/span>,\u00a0<\/i>picks up where the previous film left off, with Maya recovering in hospital, the sole survivor of this murder spree \u2013 although her anonymous attackers are determined to finish her off. Maya must now escape the strangely deserted hospital (seriously, where are all the staff?) and run barefoot into the woods in search of\u00a0help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Harlin\u2019s might have made a\u00a0crucial mistake in resuscitating this long dead horror film and turning it into a\u00a0bloated trilogy, but at least he made the right choice in turning the second installment into something closer to a\u00a0survival horror than a\u00a0slasher. Justifiably traumatised by recent events, Maya is no longer able to discern friend or foe, which leads to one particularly tense car ride where she struggles to deduce whether she has ended up hitching with her assailants.\u00a0<\/span>The Strangers: Chapter 2<\/span><\/i> works \u2013 and does so more often than its predecessor \u2013 in these moments when Maya\u2019s instinct kicks in and she runs further from safety or danger, the audience wrapped up in her growing uncertainty and erratic actions. When the film fails, it is usually due to the obtuse script insisting that this is no random attack but a\u00a0town wide orchestrated murder spree, like the village of\u00a0<\/span>Hot Fuzz<\/i> with all the humour sucked out.<\/span><\/p>\n In order to fill the measly 96<\/span>-minute run time, there are many flashbacks, both from Maya\u2019s perspective and from the killers as children, arguably making them \u200b\u2018<\/span>strangers\u2019 no longer. These flashbacks repeatedly hamper the film, knocking the thrill out of its pace and entertainment. Even a\u00a0surprisingly chaotic scene \u2013 where Maya\u2019s assailant is, erm, a\u00a0wild boar \u2013 is positioned as a\u00a0planned assault by these psychopaths, who now inexplicably have the ability to sic pigs on their victims. No thanks to this reboot, the Strangers are getting the same studio treatment that fellow fictional antagonists Jigsaw and Cruella de Vil once received: a\u00a0laboured backstory that no one asked\u00a0for.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\nGet more Little White\u00a0Lies<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n