The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)    Lionsgate/Horror    RT: 98 minutes    Rated R (bloody violence and language)    Director: Renny Harlin    Screenplay: Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland    Music: Justin Caine Burnett    Cinematography: Jose David Montero    Release date: September 26, 2025 (US)    Cast: Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, Brooke Johnson, Florian Clare, Milo Callaghan, Richard Brake, Pablo Sandstrom, JR Esposito, Janis Ahern, Ben Cartwright, Sara Freedland, Stevee Davies, Ella Bruccoleri, Rachel Shenton, Nola Wallace, Pippa Blaylock, Jake Cogman, Froy Gutierrez.

Rating: ** ½

 It appears as though there’s still some confusion about where the recent Strangers movies fit into the timeline. Allow me to shed some light by quoting the first few sentences of my review of last year’s inaugural chapter:

“Let it be known that The Strangers: Chapter 1 is actually a “relaunch” as opposed to a remake or prequel. Apparently, the makers are scrapping the previous two films- The Strangers (2008) and the sequel The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)- and starting fresh. It’s the first installment of a brand new trilogy from director Renny Harlin.”

I hope that clears things up.

 To prepare for the second film The Strangers: Chapter 2, I revisited the first. I didn’t remember much about it. I could have just read the Wikipedia summary; it would have served the same purpose. It’s a half-decent home invasion horror about a citified couple being terrorized by three masked psychos in a cabin in the woods in the middle of the night. It has plenty of atmosphere and a genuinely unsettling premise, but it feels dragged out even at a scant 91 minutes. However, I’m willing to cut it some slack seeing that it’s merely a set-up for what happens next.

 Set just a few hours after the horrific events of the first movie, Maya (Petsch, Riverdale) wakes up in the hospital to find out her fiancee wasn’t so lucky. She might think her ordeal is over, but nothing could be further from the truth. Her tormentors- i.e. Scarecrow, Dollface and Pin-Up Girl- show up determined to finish what they started. Maya, a final girl with a strong survival instinct, manages to escape after a game of cat-and-mouse in the eerily empty hospital. So begins another fierce fight to stay alive as Maya tries to evade the deadly trio.

 I kind of expected Harlin to reveal a little more about the people behind the masks in The Strangers: Chapter 2 and he doesn’t disappoint. SPOLIER ALERT! He reveals the identity of one and shows us scenes from her childhood. This is one disturbed chick. In addition, he points to where the trilogy appears to be headed with a mini-tease for Chapter 3 at the end. If I’m right, we could be looking at a revenge flick along the lines of I Spit on Your Grave. That would be cool, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. It doesn’t hit theaters until sometime next year.

 Oddly enough, I like The Strangers: Chapter 2 a little better than its predecessor. There’s a bit more action this time around and not all of it takes place in the dark. You can actually see more of what’s happening. However, this movie is colossally dumb. So is its heroine. Maya might be a fighter, but she’s no smarter than she was the first time around. She still puts herself in situations that smarter folks would avoid. Then there’s all that business with the CGI wild boar. Where the hell did that come from? I kept thinking of Leonardo DiCaprio’s encounter with the bear in The Revenant.

 Harlin imbues The Strangers: Chapter 2 with a palpable sense of paranoia. Maya has no idea who the killers are; they could be anybody she meets like the hospital nurse (Johnson, Cruel Intentions) and her housemates who pick her up on the road and later give her temporary refuge in their home. It’s the not knowing that’s scary. This is what gives 2 a slight edge over 1.

 Is there really anything to say about the acting in The Strangers: Chapter 2? The actors give performances that suit the material. Petsch makes for a decent but unremarkable final girl. To her credit, she’s better than any of the young actresses in this summer’s I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot. The only other performance of note is Richard Brake (31) as the town’s shady sheriff. This dude is definitely hiding something. I’m sure he’ll play a major role in Chapter 3.

 I do like that Harlin gives shout-outs to horror classics like Halloween II (1981) and The Evil Dead (1981). For me, it’s fun to spot things like that. It makes The Strangers: Chapter 2 more enjoyable than it should be. I know the reviews have generally been bad, but I didn’t mind it. It’s stupid on every level, but sort of fun at the same time. It definitely whets my appetite for the “final chapter” (?) next year.