Few genres run out of fresh ideas faster than horror, and never has that been truer than the recent announcement that The Strangers was being rebooted and relaunched as a three-film series.
The original only arrived in 2008, where it went on to earn $82 million at the box office on a budget of just $9 million in spite of less than stellar reviews, but the high profit margins inevitably gave rise to a second chapter. Sequel Prey at Night spent almost a decade in development hell before faring worse with critics and earning less money, and you’d have thought that was that.
Instead, a mere four and a half years after The Strangers got a second chapter, director Renny Harlin is already shooting the first of his trilogy. In short, what we have is the sequel to an original concept being discarded, dusted off, and remade as a trio of rapidly-assembled psychological terrors that will turn the property into a quintet in no time at all, which is nuts even for horror.
Then again, The Strangers clearly has a hold over the horror crowd given that Prey at Night is currently tearing it up on the streaming ranks, having cleaved its way onto Hulu’s Top 10 most-watched list in the United States, per FlixPatrol. If you’re aware of the opener, then it’s pretty much just more of the same, except this time not as exciting.
Sure, there’s probably going to be an audience for parts three, four, and five, but looking at the already oversaturated market for VOD slashers, it’s hard to imagine the continuation of The Strangers is poised to break out of the pack.