THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 (2025)

New in theaters now from Lionsgate!
Directed by Renny Harlin.
Written by Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland.
Check out the trailer here!!

Continuing immediately after the events of CHAPTER 1, THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 starts with Maya (Madelaine Petsch) waking up in a hospital on the mend after being stalked by three masked strangers while taking a vacation trip with her fiancée Ryan (Froy Gutierrez). She finds out Ryan was killed and Sheriff Rotter (Richard Brake) and his deputy Walters (Pedro Leandro) promise Maya they will catch the killer. Well, the film actually begins with a quick montage, letting us know the identity of one of the Strangers, but I’ll get into that in a bit. Maya wakes up after a nightmare to see a message that her sister is on her way into town and then hears a disturbance out in the hall. Unhooking from her vitals, Maya leaves her room to find that the Strangers are in the hospital. This begins an endless cat-and-mouse chase that basically takes up the entire film, as Maya escapes the hospital and is pursued through the surrounding Oregon woods by the Strangers.

I was going into THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 with trepidation. I couldn’t avoid seeing the amount of videos out there from the usual suspects who put their faces in the thumbnails with looking exasperated, angry, and confused. I do try to avoid watching reviews before writing mine, but the images alone told me enough of what I thought I was going to see. Or so I thought.

It turns out, I kind of liked THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER TWO. Like many of you, I felt the first in this new series of THE STRANGERS movies was pointless, following the same roadmap the original THE STRANGERS film did, only with actors I didn’t know, less of that thick, claustrophobic atmosphere, and less of Brian Bertino’s deft handling of soul-shearing suspense and taught tension. I guess that setup was necessary for us to get this second act, where things finally go off that well-worn path blazed by the original, and new ground can be covered. Now starting off immediately after the first one and having the protagonist wake up in a hospital is far from original. It’s basically the same plot of the original HALLOWEEN II. But while there are a few set pieces taking place in the hospital that were familiar, Harlin smartly takes the action out of the hospital and into the cold, rainy forest surrounding it.

Here’s the thing, the main criticism of the original was that it was unoriginal and didn’t add anything to the overall mythos of THE STRANGERS. So what happens in the second one? It goes down a new path and a bit more about the Strangers themselves is revealed. Now one might say that lifting the masks of the Strangers is going against what makes them so damn scary in the first place. And to that I agree. There’s nothing like an origin story of the masked killer or the enigmatic hero that knee-caps what is interesting about the character. Not everyone needs an origin. It is the same as explaining a joke. It’s just not as effective if you have to dive into the mechanics of it all.

That said, this peek behind the mask refers to the Pinup Girl Stranger, as we get flashbacks to a key moment in her development as a child. I won’t reveal much more, other than these flashbacks are somewhat cliched at times, but because Nola Wallace, the little actress playing young Pinup Girl, is so good at being bad, these scenes worked for me. It allowed for the movie, which is basically one big chase scene, to flip to a side plot now and then when there needs to be a scene change or a period of time passed. Harlin really seemed to want to put just a skosh of backstory to the character, while still keeping things enigmatic and at times, downright otherworldly. Now, I don’t know if we need this origin-style tale from the other two masked Strangers, as this flashback seems to deal with the Scarecrow Stranger as well, but for me, this was enough without straight up telling me the origin step-by-step.

But Harlin holds onto some of his cards. There is still Sheriff Rotter lingering around in the background, dragging his heels on this investigation. And like introducing a gun in the first act and never firing it, things just wouldn’t be right if Harlin doesn’t use the devious Richard Brake as some part of this masked Stranger conspiracy. Or maybe Brake is just a red herring. Only time will tell.

I will say that I was never bored with THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2. One of the lost arts in slasher films is the cat-and-mouse chase scene where the protagonist understands the threat and basically, tries to use the environment and any tools around her to survive. This is a trope that has faded through the years and I, for one, missed it. Having an entire film set on one girl running away from three masked Strangers might seem redundant and light on plot, but Harlin has a strong handle on action, making each new challenge for Maya exciting and dangerous. There are a few scenes, such as the hospital curtain scene and the horse stables scene that felt redundant, but for the most part, Harlin keeps the challenges varied.

There is an especially unique and strange sequence that I won’t reveal, but it adds an odd little detail to the rural nature of the setting and the origin of the Strangers. It involves a CGI animal that actually looked pretty good and reminded me of the bear attack sequence in THE REVENANT. Now, it wasn’t as brutal as that, but still, it was something I hadn’t seen before and that was surely appreciated. It also shows how determined and resourceful our little heroine Maya truly is.

There is a bit of plot armor in Maya’s character, simply because she most likely would factor into the third installment where her fate is less than safe. Still, even though I knew she wasn’t going to get kakked, Madelaine Petsch does a great job of making these threats feel threatening, while also taking a whole lot of wear and tear herself along the way. She’s a good little actress, even though there are long scenes without dialog as she has to just keep quiet, tear up, and hide from the Strangers over and again. Still, Harlin manages to work in a gratuitous scene of her in her undies which was definitely appreciated.

It’s going to boil down to what you want in a slasher film whether or not this new chapter in Renny Harlin’s THE STRANGERS saga is going to be for you. Personally, I like the thrill of the hunt and while I do like a good tense scare and a lot of mystery, I found THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 to be thrilling from beginning to end. It’s the middle chapter of this series with the next one wrapping the whole thing up soon. I’m hoping that the third one is released sooner rather than later, kind of like how the next 28 YEARS LATER film is due out only six months after it’s first trilogy installment. Final verdict: I liked THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2. I didn’t think I was going to, but Harlin and Co. really delivered the goods with this one and almost redeemed itself after that unoriginal first chapter.