The first teaser for Lionsgate’s upcoming horror sequel The Strangers: Chapter 2 is here, and it looks like a completely different direction for the series.
In the clip, we see Madelaine Petsch return as Maya Lucas and awake in a hospital following the events of The Strangers: Chapter 1, before running out into the rain and being picked up by a car full of strangers... you already know how this is going to go.
One of the strangers soon brandishes a large knife before they all don the creepy masks fans of the series are familiar with. The teaser ends with a familiar scene: someone knocking loudly on a door and then only saying "Is Tamara here?" when the door opens. This is a callback to the beginning of the first movie, when an unsettled Scott Speedman opens the door to a stranger asking the same question before all hell breaks loose.
Director Renny Harlin previously told THR the second and third movies in The Strangers reboot trilogy will "go in completely different directions" than the first installment and teased they would be "epic". Indeed, starting out with the main protagonist essentially being kidnapped in a car is in stark contrast to the home invasion theme in all previous Strangers installments.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, with the official synopsis only teasing "the chilling next chapter of The Strangers franchise."
However, it can be deduced from the teaser trailer that the sequel follows directly from the events of the 2024 horror flick The Strangers: Chapter 1 starring Petsch and Froy Gutierrez, and is the second installment in Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin’s The Strangers trilogy. The first movie, which is practically a remake of the 2008 movie The Strangers directed by Bryan Bertino, which follows a troubled young couple forced to spend the night in a remote cabin after their car breaks down in an eerie small town. Things take a turn for the worst when masked strangers arrive looking for blood.
However, 2024's Chapter 1 wasn't met with the best reception, and still stands with a less-than-desirable 21% score on Rotten Tomatoes. In our The Strangers: Chapter 1 review, we said the movie "lacks not only the surprise factor but the controlled craft." This may be the reason why Chapter 2 is delayed, as the studio had previously teased a summer 2024 date, with the third movie set to follow in 2025. With Chapter 2's new 2025 release window, it is unclear when The Strangers: Chapter 3 will be released.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 hits theaters in 2025. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies, or keep up to date with upcoming horror movies heading your way this year.
