As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, it’s a bit amusing to have a third installment in a film franchise that’s titled “Chapter 1”. Yet here we are with “The Strangers: Chapter 1”, a prequel to the 2008 original film that was written and directed by Bryan Bertino. I really enjoyed the first Strangers movie for a number of reasons. It was a simple and straightforward psychological horror film yet soaked in atmosphere and tension. It was genuinely frightening and earned its status as a cult favorite. There was a sequel, 2018’s “Strangers: Prey at Night”, but that one is better left forgotten.

“The Strangers: Chapter 1” is set to be the first in a trilogy of films, all of which were shot together over a three-month stretch in late 2022. All three are directed by Renny Harlin who’s perhaps best known for helming the early 1990s action hits “Die Hard 2” and “Cliffhanger”. And all three are written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland working from a story by Bryan Bertino. It’s meant to be a relaunch of sorts, but it’s hard to say how much excitement it’ll generate. Especially considering how this one turned out.

“Chapter 1″ pulls much of its inspiration from the 2008 original. In fact too much. You could say it’s a carbon copy but minus the thick tension and steady sense of dread. But the film’s biggest problem is that it’s barely half of a movie stretched out to feature length. There’s about 30 minutes of material which means we spend a lot of time spinning our wheels and going nowhere. It’s made worse by a flat “To be continued” ending that does nothing to entice us with what’s to come.

To its credit, the movie does a decent job setting up a story that takes place “somewhere in Oregon”. Lovebirds Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) are on a three-day cross-country roadtrip from New York to Portland where Maya is set for a big job interview. While passing through the tiny town of Venus, the couple stops at a diner to get some food. They’re greeted by your garden-variety backwoods locals – weird and a little creepy (as they’re often depicted in the movies).

As bad luck would have it, Ryan and Maya find themselves stranded after their car won’t start and the mechanic can’t get the part he needs until the next day. They’re able to find a rustic Airbnb deep in the woods just outside of town where they settle in for a quiet romantic night. That is until three masked psychos begin terrorizing them – first with annoying yet seemingly harmless harassment. But once they break out the axes and butcher knives things get much more serious.

Much like the 2008 film, the setup is pretty simple. But where “Chapter 1” flounders is in its lack of scares and in its inability to create and sustain suspense. Outside of a few lazy jump-scares, Harlin relies on a steady diet of frightened closeups and the psychos roaming around the house knocking on doors, peering through windows, and standing in the shadows. There are a couple of scenes of action but not nearly enough of it.

Meanwhile Ryan and Maya prove they’re not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Some of their choices will have you shaking your head and shouting at the screen. This is especially true later in the movie where you won’t find a hint of good judgement. Yes I know this isn’t unusual for the horror genre. But here it felt especially maddening.

But that seems like a small gripe when compared to the more glaring issues. Namely that “Chapter 1” is just a stripped down version of 2008’s “The Strangers” that feels like a 30-minute pilot episode drawn out to feature length. We spend most of our time waiting for something to happen…anything. And when it finally does, the payoff isn’t worth the wait. Even worse, it struggles mightily to muster up any anticipation for the movies to come. “The Strangers: Chapter 1” is out now exclusively in theaters.

VERDICT – 1.5 STARS