Renny Harlin’s THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 Set to Pave the Way for Two More Films Releasing Within 12 Months

Films in The Strangers Trilogy Set to All Release Within 9-to-12 Months

The Strangers: Chapter 1 looks spooky beyond belief and is going to kick start a trilogy with two more Strangers films to follow.

Director Renny Harlin is a man with a plan. His upcoming film, The Strangers: Chapter 1, will be released on May 17th and two more parts of the series will follow within a 9-12 month time frame. Harlin is no stranger to making epic horror films, having created 1988’s  A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

However, Harlin’s forte had originated mostly in action films like the blockbuster, Die Hard 2, despite the fact that he first made that 1988 horror sequel. Not all of the action pictures were successes, though. 1995’s Cutthroat Island bombed critically and financially. Luckily, Harlin quickly followed it up with one of the best action pictures ever made, The Long Kiss Goodnight.

Harlin is doing something different with his upcoming The Strangers trilogy. Rather than make a sequel or remake of the 2008 classic, The Strangers, the director decided to do a prequel in 3 parts. The three parts will equal a four-and-a-half hour running time and the director would like to see an eventual “director’s cut” marathon of all three films, complete with a food and bathroom break somewhere in-between the movies.

While the 2008 movie starred Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler and was bone-chilling in its own right, the trailer for the latest edition (the prequel) is absolutely terrifying beyond a reasonable doubt. As the lead couple in the film comes to a town with unfriendly residents, they are soon stalked by masked intruders who look likely to give those “strangers” from the first movie a run for their money in terms of genuine creepiness.

Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez are the stars of the new picture. They may not be household names quite yet but look for big roles to follow, judging from their appealing presence in the trailers. Face it- if you don’t come to care about them, you’d be rooting for the “strangers” so Harlin has done what he can do to make them likable on the surface before the strangers of the film’s title show up to wreck havoc.

While four-and-a-half hours of unparalleled terror may seem like a bit much, the proposed “director’s cut” may be strictly for hardcore horror movie fanatics. For us regular horror fans, the movies can be injected one movie at a time over the 9-to-12 month period as the director plans to unleash them gradually to the public. So, be prepared to scream and get scared as the strangers try to make Petsch and Gutierrez’s characters’ lives a living hell. My one concern is one of the female strangers in costume in the new picture wears a mask that looks like the face of a character in the family friendly, If, releasing the same day. Let’s hope If audiences don’t end up watching The Strangers: Chapter 1 instead. An usher will be needed to direct moviegoers accordingly.

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