THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 - - Best of the Worst Trilogy

Review by Steve Barton II

The newest The Strangers film has arrived on fumes at the box office with The Strangers: Chapter 3 and it’s time to retire this train for a fresh new set of wheels. With the humble beginnings of a 9 million dollar budget for the first film in 2008, The Strangers had a solid success at the box office, but became more of a cult classic on DVD. Audiences connected to the slow building suspense and how realistic the simple plot and remote setting feel. After a 10 year hiatus, the masked killers returned to the big screen in The Strangers: Prey at Night and it made less than half of what its predecessor was able to bring in. 

After another 4+ years, Renny Harlin was tasked with shooting the entire Chapter 1-3 trilogy consecutively on a very low budget and the quality beams through each one. While The Strangers: Chapter 1 was a carbon copy of the original film, Chapter 2 barely moved the plot forward with its cheap jump scares and made many fans completely give up on this series altogether. 

Immediately when The Strangers: Chapter 3 begins, we get several answers to questions that were posed 2 years ago but the answers are the easiest and most obvious routes possible. The flashback scenes showing the killers and how they honed their craft weren’t horrible, but it’s all extremely played out especially by the fifth installment. The writing has the quality of a student rushing to hit the midnight deadline, repeating themselves and purely reaching for the word count.

The Strangers: Chapter 3 is the best of the trilogy, but it’s still quite a subpar watch overall. The kill scenes and suspense that horror fans are looking for are present and well done, but nothing that will have you pulling up a kill count video to reminisce. They saved some of the most brutal moments for Chapter 3, but sprinkling them into the previous two films may have convinced more of the audience to stick it through. Unfortunately, Chapter 3 doesn’t have the return of the CGI hog that was somehow weaponized by our strangers nor any explanation for why. Justice will be served! 

The casting of Richard Brake as the sheriff was useless, other than a cash grab from horror fans hoping he’s playing an unhinged character. He’s the most subdued in his career here and it’s due to the script and directing underperforming. Gabriel Basso’s character reveal was drawn out and far too obvious, even Madelaine Petsch’s character could tell and she couldn’t find her way out of a paper bag. Madelaine herself is the strongest component of this entire series, even if her character makes the worst decision at almost every crossroad. 

Overall, The Strangers: Chapter 3 does meet the definition of a movie, but it fails to justify the existence of itself or the rest of the series. The story over the three films could’ve been a single two hour movie, but the filler and drawn out jump scares attempting to build tension weakens the narrative completely. It’s time to lay The Strangers franchise to rest and let the new icons like Art the Clown and Winnie the Pooh guide us into the future of horror. 

The Strangers: Chapter 3 is out in theaters starting February 6th.

Rating: 1.5/5