43
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperIn a pair of elegantly chilling sequences (the editing in this film is superb), Maya and Ryan fight for their lives against the needle-drop background of first “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues and later “The Best of Times” by Styx. You’ll never think of those classic rock tunes in the same way again.
- 60VarietyMichael NordineVarietyMichael Nordine"Chapter 1” can’t help feeling like an ersatz imitation at times, but it seems the franchise’s well hasn’t run dry just yet.
- 58IndieWireAlison ForemanIndieWireAlison ForemanYes, the masks are great. And yes, home invasions will aways be scary. But when it comes to messing with genre classics, your answer to “Why remake a near-perfect film?” can’t be “It was here.”
- 50Screen RantRachel LaBonteScreen RantRachel LaBonteThe Strangers: Chapter 1 ends with a cliffhanger that paves the way for Chapter 2 , and that, I feel, is where this new trilogy will really get the chance to take off.
- 45SlashfilmBJ ColangeloSlashfilmBJ ColangeloThe Strangers didn't need these horror tropes to become a sensation, so it's very odd to see them shoehorned into this new trilogy.
- 40The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeThe director, Renny Harlin, is a competent and experienced hand, so there’s a sturdy workmanlike quality here but, more typically associated with bombastic action movies, he just doesn’t have the patience required to build real, clammy suspense or the awareness of the smaller specificities that are needed to immerse us in an intimate story such as this.
- 40ColliderEmma KielyColliderEmma KielyFor now, stick with the original.
- 40The Daily BeastNick SchagerThe Daily BeastNick SchagerWhereas Bertino’s original was sleek, sinister and deft, this do-over is noisy, dull and dumb as a bag of rocks.
- 38Slant MagazineMark HansonSlant MagazineMark HansonThis film’s approach to slasher film mayhem is liable to induce some serious déjà vu.
- 30IGNLena WilsonIGNLena WilsonThe Strangers: Chapter 1 might freak you out if you aren’t old enough to remember The Strangers, but where its predecessor was subtle and interesting, Renny Harlin’s reboot chooses to be ridiculous and boring.