It’s a night to dismember as a trio of masked killers — Dollface, Pin-Up Girl, and the axe-wielding Scarecrow — hunt down an innocent vacationer in the fourth installment of “The Strangers” horror franchise. “The Strangers — Chapter 2” follows the survivor of the previous film, Maya Lucas (Madelaine Petsch), as she tries to once again evade the homicidal home invaders in a small Oregon town. If you need a recap of all the Strangers’ kills so far — or at least want to know why the fourth film in the series is titled “Chapter 2” — Looper has a refresher video you can watch above.
2008’s “The Strangers” — supposedly based on a terrifying true story — begins with a couple spending a quiet evening at a remote cabin, only to be violently attacked by three intruders for seemingly no other reason than “because you were home.” Made on a budget of $9 million, “The Strangers” was a sleeper hit that grossed $82 million. This was despite mixed reviews from critics — the film currently has a 49% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ten years later, the sequel “The Strangers: Prey at Night” pitted the masked marauders against a family visiting a trailer park, with diminished results. The film only grossed $32 million and received even worse reviews from critics and fans. Director Renny Harlin resuscitated the series in 2024 with “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” the first of three concurrently shot films, and “Chapter 2” promises to take the series in a startling new direction.
The Strangers — Chapter 2 continues Maya’s story of survival
“The Strangers — Chapter 2” picks up where the previous film left off, with Maya Lucas waking up in the hospital after her terrifying first encounter with the Strangers. Don’t worry, that isn’t a spoiler: before “The Strangers — Chapter 1” was even in theaters, director Renny Harlin revealed to the Hollywood Reporter that the new trilogy would be a “continuous story” spanning “five days in the life” of the beleaguered Final Girl.
Hopefully, this means “The Strangers — Chapter 2” will leap out of the shadows cast by the previous films. “Chapter 1” was largely a reimagining of the 2008 film, and despite a few minor updates (the unfortunate couple now stays at an Airbnb), it follows the same traditional slasher formula. Mashable’s Kristy Puchko called the reboot “merciless but also exhaustingly familiar,” and most critics appeared to agree — at 21%, it has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the franchise so far.
By continuing Maya’s story, the sequel pushes the franchise into unknown territory. “The Strangers — Chapter 2” may cross a line that the previous films never did, and actually reveal who the Strangers are. Now surrounded by folksy, seemingly friendly locals, Maya has to consider if her masked assailants are secretly among them, and what their motivations really are. There’s no way to know what the Strangers will do next until “Chapter 2” hits theaters on September 26. Until then, watch Looper’s recap video — and remember to lock your doors.