In theaters now from Lionsgate!
Directed by Renny Harlin.
Written by Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, from characters created by Bryan Bertino.
Check out the trailer here!!
THE STRANGERS CHAPTER THREE begins like the second installment did, with a flashback. Last time we got the origin of the Stranger in the Pinup Girl mask and how she met the sole male Stranger, referred to in this trilogy as Scarecrow. This time around, we get to see how the Dollface Stranger came into the mix. The backstory proves to be the glue that holds this story together, as Pinup Girl’s origin was for the last one, and acts as something to flip back to when a scene needs transitioning or some amount of time needs to pass in the main story.
That main story is following an endless night for Maya (Madelaine Petsch) as she continues to run for her life against her masked assailants while trying to piece together what the hell is going on in this little town called Venus, Oregon. Chapter Three then picks up seconds after the last chapter ended with Maya having killed one of the Strangers and the other two charging after her. Will Maya survive the night with her wits or succumb to the Strangers blades? And what the hell does the Sheriff, played by Richard Brake, have to do with it all?
First and foremost, Renny Harlan’s trilogy was planned to be a prequel to the original film released in 2008, providing the definitive origin of the masked Strangers. It’s arguable that what worked with the original was the fact that the motive of the killers was a mystery was one of the reasons why the film was so terrifying. Much like Michael Myers, the deeper to dig behind the mask, the less interesting and frightening it gets. But nobody told this to Renny Harlin as everyone is unmasked by the end of this installment.
But for me, it wasn’t the random thrill-kill aspect of the original that made the movie a modern classic. It was the intense scenes of suspense that led to some soul-churning terror that made the original a film I go back to over and over again. So going into this trilogy, I kept an open mind. Renny Harlin has his share of duds, but he also did CLIFFHANGER, DIE HARD 2, DEEP BLUE SEA, and THE DEVIL’S PASS (a particularly underrated little gem). While he hasn’t gone as dark as Brian Bertino did with the original, Harlin can conduct a nice scene of suspense. The second film in this trilogy proved that to me as it was one long chase scene punctuated with moments of horror and suspense in varying set pieces (and a bod to decent looking CGI pig fight). Harlin does the same here in Chapter Three (sans pigs), taking the action to a run-down motel, a church, a mobile home, and finally the underground lair of the Strangers. Each of these set pieces have their moments where I jumped or was pleasantly entertained by the way Harlin makes the most of the woodsy environment this film takes place in, especially the dark areas. So, for sheer thrills and simple chills, this third chapter delivers capably.
The problem lays in the little things with THE STRANGERS CHAPTER THREE. Things like having the lead catatonic for over half of the movie. I understand she’s been through a lot, but the descent into madness just didn’t work for me. There’s just too much life and spunk in little Madelaine Petsch’s eyes as Maya. She survived a whole bunch of crap in the first two chapters and while Chapter Three ups the ante exponentially, I never believed that the cheese was slipping off her cracker as much as they were trying to convince us in this film. So, when it all comes down to the big standoff at the end, there really was no question as to who was going to walk away.
There was also a bait and switch with the identity of the Scarecrow Stranger. The unmasking lands with a plop as there is only one character left alive by the time the climax comes around, making it pretty obvious who the killer is. And yep, I guarantee you were right as to who you thought it was under the mask. Leaving that reveal until the end, when it was obvious from the get-go just wastes too much time and on top of that, insults the viewer.
Richard Brake. Man, what the hell? Why put Richard Brake in the film and this trilogy and not give him anything meaty and bloody to chew on. He delivers a reserved performance here and only really has one scene where he gets to be creepy and maybe one more where he is menacing. The rest he is simply sitting stoically or trying to ignore those around him looking for help. It’s not that I wanted him to be revealed to be king of the Strangers, though it is kind of what his role is in a way, but other than being cute and flipping expectations, there is no real reason why an actor of this caliber of creep was cast in this role. I get it. He’s a red herring of sorts and by the end, that character does have a bit of complexity to him in regards to what’s going on in his town, but I felt he was underutilized in this entire Trilogy.
And speaking of flipping expectations, Harlin and Co. decide that instead of some kind of story actually making sense if played out before the original THE STRANGERS movie and actually being a prequel as promised, the film simply ends with a wet thud. I’m going to get into some spoilers here, so if you don’t want the ending spoiled, then just quit here and know that I was quite disappointed in the way this film all turned out.
Ok, only the brave ones left? Good. The big question running through Chapter Three centers on “Is Maya going to get swayed over to the dark side and carry on the mantle of the Strangers?” It’s kind of a stupid question to hang the film on, but if you’re looking to make this a legacy sort of movie, then finding a logical and believable way for Maya to don the mask is an ok direction. The final two films of this trilogy focused on what it takes to be one of the Strangers, so maybe, this entire trilogy is yet another extended story of what someone has to experience in order to don a mask and kill people. There’s a point in the final act where it’s Maya versus the Scarecrow. She gets the better of him, which isn’t completely believable given her stature, but it’s been a long night for her and she has nothing left to lose, on top of the fact that the Scarecrow himself is wounded, so I was willing to go with it. It’s do or die and Maya has to make a choice, don a mask and start killing or deal the final blow. This could have gone either way and if Harlin and Co. would have delivered on their promise of this being a prequel trilogy, there were only a few ways this should have gone down. Scarecrow gets gravely wounded by Maya and becomes the wheezing, limping masked Stranger we know from the original and the sequel. Yet he still is left to live. That leaves Maya with the choice of walking away from him or joining him. I was fine with Maya not taking a leap to the dark side. I’ve already said that this character fought too hard across three movies and for her to just give up and begin killing herself just didn’t seem to click for me. And in a way, you can read the final moments as if Maya was able to retain some semblance of humanity and leave all of this Strangers mess behind her.
But that’s not what happened. Maya drives an axe into the Scarecrow’s chest, murdering him, and then walks away. She then drops the mask, walks to her car, and drives away. It’s in this final act that the promise of some kind of connective tissue between this trilogy and the original movies shat upon. Even if Scarecrow is killed in the final act, some kind of scene where someone else comes into the bunker, picks up the masks and puts it on, showing that the killers may have died, but the Strangers still live would have been satisfactory. Instead, this movie made no attempt to deliver on the promise that this trilogy was a prelude to Bertino’s classic original.
Now, some retroactive storytelling has been going on as of late. It seems Harlin and Co. are saying this was never supposed to be a prequel trilogy and instead just a reimagining and restart of the series. It’s been said that is was the online community who made up the fact that this trilogy was a prequel and that tying the series together was never the intent of the filmmakers. But when those rumors when rampant, someone like Harlin should have said, “No, this is it’s own beast.” And not tied to continuity. But if that were the case, I doubt if anyone would have given this new trilogy a chance given that the first film of the trilogy pales in comparison to the original. So they perpetuated the lie in order for people to see the movie and see how it all fits together when that wasn’t their intentions at all.
And to that I say, “FUCK YOU, ALL FILM PEOPLE BEHIND THE STRANGERS!” Not only did you deliver an unnecessary remake, but you pumped it up to be so much more than it really was. I will admit. I liked the sequel after being disappointed with the first in the trilogy, but man, does THE STRANGERS CHAPTER THREE fail to deliver the proper ending to this trilogy and fulfilled a promise that they let fester and grow in order to retain my interest. Apparently, the box office agrees as THE STRANGERS CHAPTER THREE was the lowest opening weekend of the entire franchise. I don’t ever want a movie to fail, but because of the way they botched the landing, I’m not sad about it.
In the end, THE STRANGERS Trilogy was a failed experiment. Had Harlin just tried to make an original trilogy or had he made an attempt to deliver on the promise to tie it all together, I might have been kinder. But this series peaked with Chapter Two and that peak wasn’t very high in the first place. While Chapter Three can be seen as more of the same use of suspenseful set pieces and the occasional punctuation of terror, in the grand scheme of things, THE STRANGERS CHAPTER THREE turned out to be a complete and utter dud.
