The Strangers franchise has three movies, and one ranks higher than the rest. The four 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 2, the second movie in a trilogy that was filmed back-to-back-to-back, just hit theaters in late September of 2025.

Director Renny Harlin has said he considers all three movies to be one complete story, viewing Chapter 1 as the first act of a longer film that continues with Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. With two of the three movies out, it’s worth examining where they rank in comparison to the original two movies of the franchise.

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The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)

The Strangers: Chapter 2 continues the narrative that began in The Strangers: Chapter 1, but somewhat bafflingly it simply runs in place. After introducing Madelaine Petsch’s Maya Lucas as the trilogy’s protagonist in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 picks up with her in the hospital after surviving the first attack from the Strangers. From there, we follow Maya as she runs, hides, and repeats for the rest of the runtime.

The early scenes in the hospital have the closest thing resembling tension, as she is stalked by the bulky killer referred to as Scarecrow (given the nature of his mask). Once Maya escapes to the woods surrounding the town of Venus, Oregon, the movie loses what little momentum it had. The film officially jumps the shark once Maya is chased by a feral pig unleashed by Scarecrow.

The one bit of progress the movie provides comes via flashbacks about the killer known as Pin-Up Girl, who is revealed to be Shelly, the friendly waitress from Carol’s Diner who first sent Maya and her fiancé to the remote Airbnb where the Strangers assault them in Chapter 1. We learn that she had psychopathic tendencies from a young age, and committed her first murder as a child.

It at least breaks away from the ultra-familiar formula that Chapter 1 stuck to, which was very nearly a shot-for-shot remake of the original The Strangers. However, the version of Chapter 2 that hit theaters included a round of reshoots based on audience feedback from Chapter 1; I shudder to think of what the original vision might have looked like.

Like its predecessor, The Strangers: Chapter 2 was almost universally panned by critics, as it yielded an abysmal 16% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score. Shockingly, its Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score, which measures audience feedback, debuted at a 57%, which would make it the highest of any movie in the franchise, including the acclaimed original.

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The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)

The Strangers: Chapter 1has 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 lands differently 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 were concerning upon its release when considering that it was 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.

*Opening weekend projection

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.”

Critically, The Strangers: Chapter 1 hasn’t done well, either. The film holds just a 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest RT score of the horror franchise, and a 4.6/10 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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The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

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.

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The Strangers (2008)

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.

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 for its audience. The film also veers away from being too explanatory of the antagonists and leans into a heartbreaking, terrifying, and unpredictable ending.

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. Nearly two decades after its release, the film still has the ability to leave its viewers bothered and thinking about the story long after it’s over.

Release Date

September 26, 2025

Runtime

96 Minutes

Director

Renny Harlin

Writers

Alan Freedland, Alan R. Cohen, Amber Loutfi

Producers

Courtney Solomon

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  Richard Brake

  Sheriff Rotter