Back in 2008, The Strangers didn’t exactly become a box office smash. Still, with a small $8 million budget, the psychological horror film’s worldwide gross of $82 million meant it turned a nice profit.

Normally that would mean the studio would churn out a sequel in rapid order, but instead, fans had to wait 10 years before 2018’s The Strangers: Prey at Night continued the subject matter. With a global take of $31 million, it made a whole lot less than the first movie, but its $5 million budget meant it easily went into the black.

Six years later, we get another tale in the series via 2024’s The Strangers – Chapter 1. Although the title implies the film offers a prequel, instead we find more of a reboot.

Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and her boyfriend Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) drive across the USA to eventually get to Portland, Oregon. Unfortunately, their car breaks down on the way and strands them in a remote town just a few hours from their final destination.

As they wait for their vehicle to get repaired, they rent an Air Bnb for the night. Out of nowhere, three masked people show up at the residence and subject Maya and Ryan to an evening of unnerving terror.

Like I mentioned at the start, I thought the title of Chapter 1 meant we would get events that happened prior to those depicted in the 2008 movie – and I guess that might be true. Strangers, Prey At Night and Chapter 1 all exist essentially as standalone films with connected elements, so as far as I can tell, I find nothing that rules out the possibility Chapter 1’s events predate those of the other two flicks.

However, I doubt the filmmakers intend us to see Chapter 1 as an actual prequel, especially because it comes with none of that genre’s hallmarks. Because all three movies offer different protagonists, a prequel would give us some backstory/explanation of the villains.

That never happens here. The masked weirdos remain as mysterious as ever.

Intended as a “relaunch”, Chapter 1 comes across as a pretty clear remake of the 2008 movie. While it doesn’t duplicate all aspects of the first flick, it follows a similar enough path to feel like a new adaptation of the same tale.

Granted, Prey at Night didn’t reinvent any wheels either. That one broadened out a little more than Chapter 1 does, but all three feel like proverbial peas in a pod.

Unfortunately, this means Chapter 1 fares no better than the first two movies did. I thought those flicks seemed dull and without real scares, and the same seems true here.

With the 2008 flick, I could theoretically blame the inexperience of rookie director Bryan Bertino. With Prey, we got the somewhat more seasoned Johannes Roberts behind the camera, but given his record of iffy flicks like 2017’s 47 Meters Down, the feeble nature of that movie came as little surprise.

Chapter 1 finds a true veteran as director. Renny Harlin debuted nearly 40 years ago and created actual hits like 1990’s Die Hard 2: Die Harder and 1993’s Cliffhanger.

However, those came out a long time ago. The closest Harlin’s come to a success since then was with 1999’s Deep Blue Sea, and even that one barely made a profit.

25 years later, Chapter 1 finds nothing to show Harlin has what it takes to create actual popular entertainment. Its low $8.5 million budget means Chapter 1 made money via its $43 million worldwide gross, but that sum doesn’t exactly scream blockbuster.

Although Harlin was never a great director and his crowd-pleasing days seem far behind him, I still hoped his experience would ensure that Chapter 1 surpassed the monotony of the first two flicks. Unfortunately, this one feels an awful lot like its predecessors.

And not just because all three share such similar plots. Chapter 1 comes with the same flaws as well.

That means sluggish narratives along with a near complete lack of tension. While Chapter 1 begs us to find the material scary, so much of it follows a trite path that nothing engaging occurs.

Rather than find creative ways to engross the audience, Chapter 1 submerges us with plot contrivances. These mean the flick creates more eye-rolls than scares.

All that and no actual ending! Granted, since we know Chapter 1 comes as part of a trilogy, this doesn’t turn into a shock.

Still, the flick concludes without any real sense of satisfaction. A movie can exist within the three-part framework and still offer a sense of semi-completion.

Instead, Chapter 1 wraps in a manner that seems more likely to provoke groans than eager anticipation. Again, I didn’t expect a clear resolution to the story, but I thought it could tie up its segment in a way that felt satisfying.

Nope, but given that everything else about Chapter 1 fizzles, I shouldn’t feel surprised that it disappoints at the end as well. Maybe the next two sections will work better, but the first segment winds up as a dull and cliché piece of horror.

Note that a short tag scene appears midway through the end credits. It creates a minor tease for Chapter 2.

The Strangers – Chapter 1 appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect a good image, albeit one that looked oddly murky at times.

To be fair, I suspect this stemmed from conscious photographic choices and not a problematic transfer. I got the impression the filmmakers wanted a 1970s vibe and gave the flick a looser look for that reason.

Still, the movie’s fuzziness became a bit of a distraction. Nonetheless, most of the time, matters showed appropriate delineation.

I witnessed no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects, and the movie came without edge haloes. Source flaws also failed to create distractions.

To the surprise of no one, the film’s palette opted for a heavy teal and orange lean. Though predictable, the colors seemed well-rendered within their stylistic confines.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows offered solid visibility. Outside of the minor – and probably intentional – softness, this wound up as a solid presentation.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos audio offered an involving soundscape. Like most movies of this sort, it mainly opted for a creepy vibe with occasional violent punctuation.

As such, the soundfield didn’t offer a rollicking affair. Nonetheless, it fleshed out the events well and used all the channels as an active partner.

This meant we found an appealing sense of environment. The track boasted real punch when necessary and offered a fulfilling ability to place us in the action.

Audio quality worked well, with speech that seemed natural and distinctive. Music offered nice range and punch as well.

Effects seemed accurate and full, with rich bass when necessary. All in all, the soundtrack satisfied.

A few extras appear here, and we open with an audio commentary from producer Courtney Solomon and actor Madelaine Petsch. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the adaptation of the 2008 film and story/characters, connections to the next two movies in the series, sets and locations, cast and performances, music and audio, effects, stunts, cinematography and editing, and connected domains.

After a tenuous start, this develops into a fairly good chat. Though we find more of the usual happy talk than I’d prefer, we still discover a pretty solid view of the movie’s production.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we find two featurettes. Reimagining a Classic runs 17 minutes, one second and delivers notes from Solomon, Petsch, director Renny Harlin, co-producer Rafaella Biscayn, producer Mark Canton, writers Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, and actor Froy Gutierrez.

The show looks at the series’ relaunch and the decision to make a trilogy, story/characters, connections to the 2018 film, cast and performances, sets and locations, and stunts. A bit of fluff comes along for the ride, but “Classic” gives us a fairly positive overview of the production.

A Hostile Environment goes for 10 minutes, 54 seconds. It brings remarks from Harlin, Biscayn, Solomon, Gutierrez, and director of photography Jose David Montero.

Here we find details about cinematography, sets and locations, and editing. The featurette delivers a nice look at some technical domains.

Essentially a remake of a 2008 film, The Strangers – Chapter 1 will extend that tale to three flicks. Perhaps the next segments will succeed, but the first part offers a dull stab at a thriller. The Blu-ray comes with largely positive picture and audio as well as a mix of bonus materials. Nothing much here works.