Every The Strangers Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

The Strangers franchise has three movies, and one ranks higher than the rest. The three simple words, “because you were home,” sparked fear into the hearts of moviegoers with the release of the first film in 2008, as three masked killers wreaked havoc on a secluded couple with seemingly no motive. The Strangers was loosely based on experiences that director Bryan Bertino had when he was young, and it shot the home invasion subgenre of horror into the spotlight. Not only is that genre still popular 16 years later, but The Strangers franchise is also still going strong.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is the newest film in the series, releasing May 17, 2024. It isn’t a continuation of the original movie or its 2018 sequel. Instead, it’s the first in a new trilogy and more of a retelling of the first film, using similar themes and characters but in a way that’s different enough to be unique. The newest entry into the franchise is directed by Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Cliffhanger) and stars Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez.

Harlin has also directed the other two films in the new trilogy, which were filmed at the same time as The Strangers: Chapter 1 in 2022. Harlin has said he considers all three movies to be one complete story, viewing Chapter 1 as the first act of a longer film. While it remains to be seen how the rest of the new The Strangers trilogy ends up, every released film can already be ranked.

3 The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)

The Strangers: Chapter 1 Has Some Solid Scares But Lacks The Dread Of The Original

The Strangers: Chapter 1 has plenty of intense and scary moments, but its biggest issue comes from its lack of originality. Because the film is more of a retelling of the 2008 original than anything else, many of the scenes feel a little too similar, and the direction of the story offers few surprises, especially to those familiar with the franchise. A few subtle differences, like the story’s location setup and the couple’s circumstances, offer enough differences for it to feel somewhat unique, but for the majority of the film, it feels like a replicated story.

That’s the risk of essentially retelling the same narrative. In these cases, typically the “reboot” offers a few surprises and shocks or at least changes the tone of the film. The Strangers: Chapter 1 doesn’t quite take this approach, and it certainly isn’t gore-filled or chock-full of jump scares. Everything this film does, its predecessor did in a better and scarier way.Chapter 1 isn’t a boring film, and maybe it can offer something for a younger generation of horror audiences who haven’t seen the original, but, on its own, it doesn’t stand very tall.

The Strangers: Chapter 1‘s issues are more concerning when considering that it’s only the first part of an already-filmed trilogy. While it’s possible the movie will be viewed in a more positive light once the entire story is told, it also could be remembered as the one that kicks off a whole series of disappointing films. However, Chapter 1 does have a couple of things working for it.

The limited strength of The Strangers: Chapter 1 comes from its technical aspects. The camera work, crafted expertly by cinematographer José David Montero (What Happened to Monday?) sets a gloomy tone throughout the film, adding a layer of dread that compliments the lurking killers’ antics well. Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez’s characters of Maya and Ryan aren’t as likable or relatable as Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman from the first movie, but the two do a great job of being believable in a messed-up situation. Unfortunately, the entire film never really surpasses being “just fine.”

The ending gives a little insight that the next two films could give more backstory to the killers, and the trilogy as a whole could make things less ambiguous than this carbon copy of the original film. However, without release dates or even hints about what they’ll be about, interest could decline fast. Critically, The Strangers: Chapter 1 hasn’t done well, either. The film holds just an 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest RT score of the horror franchise, and a 5.4/10 on IMDb. Brian Tallerico from RogerEbert.com gave the film just two out of four stars and said: “This one largely goes through the motions of a horror remake, often feeling like a faded copy of the first film.”

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2 The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

The Strangers: Prey at Night Is The Most Fun Film In The Franchise

Right in the middle of the rankings, The Strangers: Prey at Night offers a refreshing feel after the bleakness of the original film. Coming a decade later, the sequel feels much more like a campy ’80s slasher than a horrifying home invasion movie. Director Johannes Roberts opts for a more ’80s tone, too, as much of the lighting is neon-themed, and an original synth score from Adrian Johnston elevates the feel. The Prey at Night characters feel a little more like slasher fodder than both in the original and the new film, but that matches the style of the movie well.

The film introduces an entirely new cast, led by Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Martin Henderson (The Ring). The story is again written by Bertino but also by Ben Ketai (The Forest). Rather than having personal origins, the story is based more on the Keddie Cabin murders of 1981, where a family of four was killed with seemingly no motive. However, the setting is changed from a secluded family cabin to a rundown motel. The changed setting helps with the visuals and soundscape of the film and separates it from feeling too similar to its predecessor.

One of the bigger issues with The Strangers: Prey at Night comes from its lack of depth with both the killers and their victims. When watching a sequel, one would expect more backstory, explanation, or at least an expansion of the mystery provided by the first. This film may as well have been a completely different franchise. The only similarities it has are the killer characters, and even their personalities feel much different from what audiences see in the original film. Overall, the movie offers a fun ride, but not a great or memorable one.

The Strangers: Prey at Night is mostly seen as a middle-of-the-road quality film by most critics, though the consensus is more muddied than both the original and latest films. IGN‘s Witney Seibold gave the film high praise, scoring it an 8.2 out of 10 on the popular media site, one of the highest scores it received. The film did decently among casual viewers, too, as it turned its small, $5 million budget into a $31 million success at the box office.

The Strangers: Prey at Night

The Strangers: Prey at Night is a sequel to Bryan Bertino’s 2008 slasher The Strangers. The film has a similar plot to the original, centering on a group of masked strangers that attack a family taking a vacation at a trailer park. In August 2022, it was announced that three more films would be released in the coming years.

Director

Johannes Roberts

Release Date

March 9, 2018

Studio(s)

Aviron Pictures

Distributor(s)

Aviron Pictures

Writers

Ben Ketai

Cast

Damian Maffei , Martin Henderson , Christina Hendricks , Lea Enslin , Bailee Madison , Emma Bellomy , Lewis Pullman

Runtime

85minutes

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1 The Strangers (2008)

The Strangers Is One Of The Best Home Invasion Horror Movies Of All Time

2008’s The Strangers is the best in the franchise because of its ability to infuse real, unapologetic dread into its audience. The killers are kept vague and mysterious, and the movie gives them no motivation or reasoning for their crimes. Excellently acted by Liv Tyler (in one of her best performances) and Scott Speedman, their characters are realistic and believable, living their complicated everyday lives, and making the scenario feel like it could happen to anyone watching. The typical gore found in movies like these is kept to a minimum and replaced with the intensity of not knowing what’s next.

The Strangers keeps its cast small and intimate, allowing it to focus on the chemistry of its leads. The location is set in a house that could substitute for any middle-class home in America, which adds to the fear factor and relatability to its audience. The film also veers away from being too explanatory of the antagonists and leans into a heartbreaking, terrifying, and unpredictable ending. Even almost two decades after its release, the film has the ability to leave its viewers bothered and thinking about the story long after it’s over.

One of the scariest things about The Strangers comes from the true inspiration behind it. The movie is based on a combination of events, the first being a moment in the director’s childhood where his sister answered the door and a woman asked for someone who didn’t live there, who was later found out to be part of a group in a string of neighborhood robbers. More inspiration comes from the Tate murders committed by the Manson family and, like Prey at Night, the 1981 Keddie Cabin murders.

Not only did the original film score the highest among the franchise with critics, both on Rotten Tomatoes and on IMDb (6.1), but it was a massive hit with audiences as well. The film took its meager $9 million budget and transformed it into a whopping $82.4 million success. The film has cemented itself in the zeitgeist of great horror, and it was recognized as such, as the “because you were home” scene was ranked #95 on Shudder’s revered docuseries list of The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time.

The Strangers is also the only film in the franchise to be nominated for a few awards. It was nominated for Best Score and Best Wide-Release Film at the 2009 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. It also earned noms for Best Horror/Thriller Movie and Best Horror/Thriller Actor and Actress at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. The Strangers also took the Saturn Award for Best Horror at the Academy for Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror Films, and all told, the movie just sits apart from the rest of the franchise.

Source: RogerEbert.com, IGN

The Strangers

The first film in the horror series, The Strangers, follows an unsuspecting couple on vacation who find themselves at the mercy of a group of murderers who seek to physically and psychologically torture them. After a series of unfortunate events that lead the couple to commit an accidental crime, they find themselves fighting for survival against three masked intruders that chose to attack them “because they were home.” 

Director

Bryan Bertino

Release Date

May 30, 2008

Studio(s)

Universal Pictures

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

Cast

Scott Speedman , Laura Margolis , Gemma Ward , Kip Weeks , Liv Tyler , Glenn Howerton

Runtime

86 minutes

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