The Strangers are back. Six years after The Strangers: Prey At Night (which itself arrived 10 years after the original The Strangers), the menacing group of home invaders has returned, and this time, they are getting a whole new trilogy full of fear and mayhem. The new era of the horror franchise kicks off this summer with The Strangers: Chapter 1, which is coming out in May, and on the heels of the trailer that debuted at the start of last month, Lionsgate unleashed a brand new look at the movie this morning during the studio's presentation at CinemaCon.
During the Lionsgate showcase at the annual theater owner-centric convention, the studio provided a new look at Eli Roth's Borderlands and had Henry Cavill tease the exciting upcoming reboot of Highlander, but The Strangers: Chapter 1 was a title that had folks gathered at The Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace jumping in their chairs. The footage featured many moments that aren't included in the aforementioned public preview, and fans should prepare for a nice dose of creepiness and brutality.
In the film, Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez star as Maya and Ryan – a couple on a long road trip who arrive in the small town of Venus, Oregon and stay overnight in a rented house. The place seems nice, featuring a fireplace, a nice cozy couch they can snuggle on, and a piano... but there is a mood shift when they go to a local diner and both get odd looks from locals and notice a sign offering a $10,000 reward for information on a missing fugitive.
Back at the rental, Maya toys around on the piano – but she is oblivious that someone in a mask is watching her, and when she turns around after hearing a creaking sound, nobody is there. Mark loads the fridge with beer and Maya lights up a joint, thought plans for a night of relaxation are interrupted by some loud banging on the front door. The female protagonist goes to the peep hole to see if she can identify the person outside, but the attempt is interrupted when an ax blade pierces through the door right next to her head. As The Strangers bash the door, Maya and Mark find their way into a crawlspace as a means of defense.
Crawling around under the house, the home invasion victims try and stay silent while three people in masks walk around on the floor above them. Unfortunately for Maya, her hand lands directly on a piece of scrap wood with a nail in it, and the sharp metal pierces right through her hand. She screams and cries in total silence, and she has to continue keeping quiet as Mark quickly pulls the thing out of her palm.
From there, the Strangers: Chapter 1 CinemaCon footage unleashed a torrent of creepy and horrific images – including the villains strolling around with knives, blazing fires, car crashes, explosions and Mark wielding a shotgun.
As someone who has seen the previous two Strangers films, I can't say that the footage specifically delivered anything that makes The Strangers: Chapter 1 look like a unique chapter within the franchise or the home invasion subgenre, but I certainly got the impression that this is an upcoming horror movie that will not be pulling any punches and will deliver some serious scares and brutality. My curiosity is also very much piqued by the fact that this is just the first installment of a three-movie arc – as that presumably means that the third act will come packed with at least one twist that sets up the events of the next part of the story. Both The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3 have completed production, as all three films were shot concurrently (not dissimilar to the Fear Street trilogy that arrived on Netflix in 2021).
Directed by Renny Harlin (the filmmaker best known for making Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Deep Blue Sea), The Strangers: Chapter 1 will be arriving in theaters on May 17, and while neither The Strangers: Chapter 2 nor The Strangers: Chapter 3 have been given release dates yet, there is expectation that both sequels will be eventually placed on the 2024 movie release calendar.
Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more about the home invasion film as we get closer to its release date, and be on the lookout for more of our coverage out of CinemaCon 2024.
