The Halloween-ification of The Strangers franchise, is something so disappointingly predictable, and it is even more deflating to observe that chapter 2 did absolutely nothing to subvert those expectations. Whether it’s the imitative set repetition from Carpenter’s Halloween II for the first act or the blatant mimic of Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode in Madelaine Petsch’s character, it’s frustrating the lack of originality plaguing this revival of the franchise.
There is an extremely lazy and out of place 20-odd-minute period where you’d be sure you were no longer watching a stalker horror, instead a subpar grizzly creature feature B-movie. The entire second act, appeared to be late additions, or even thought up on a whim, just to flesh out the runtime. The back story added to the titular ‘strangers’ to justify the unnecessary scenes, left such a sour taste (and also a rather odd one). It was probably best the strangers remained exactly that, strangers.
The greatest testament to this entry, is that so much happens consistently through the runtime, there is very little opportunity to be bored, and Petsch is acting leagues outside of the material she is given. Maybe that is the greatest disservice offered up so far, the surprisingly strong acting chops of Petsch in a final girl role that is woefully trashed by the sluggishness of the ones behind the camera and putting their pen on the paper.
Fundamentally, Renny Harlin’s take on the Man in the Mask, Dollface and Pin-Up Girl, has strayed so far from what made the 2008 original so scary. There has been some serious misunderstanding on what made the concept of a group of homicidal maniacs attacking you ‘because you were home’, so unnerving, and this whole playing with their food, 90-minute chase sequence reapers the remaining tension to the bleak psychotic-ness that remained.
A film so muddling and inept on justifying its own existence, yet the scariest part of this whole ordeal is that there is still a third chapter to bury the franchise further underground.