Please Close This Book

The Strangers-Chapter 3 brings an end to one of the most puzzlingly pointless trilogies of all time. Shot back to back (although this instalment underwent some sizeable reshoots after the tepid reception to Chapter 1), the three entries encompass scarcely enough content to cover a single film and are devoid of scares or ideas. In fairness, this instalment seems like it almost has the genesis of something to say. Almost.

If you were lucky enough to miss the previous instalments it won't take long to get you caught up. In Chapter 1, Maya (Madelaine Petsch) ran around in the woods a bit with her boyfriend before he was killed by some mask wearing locals of the backwater town they were visiting. In Chapter 2, she ran around in the woods on her own a bit before managing to kill one her face hiding pursuers.

Here, we pick up straight after Chapter 2 and, after a brief interlude in a church, Maya is capture by lead "Stranger" Gregory. Meanwhile, Maya's sister Debbie and brother-in-law Howard arrive in town with a private detective to search for her. We cut between the newcomers investigating the sketchy townspeople and Maya, as she realises Gregory has plans for her beyond simply knifing her up.

This is where the crumb of an idea comes in. The Strangers franchise has always sold itself on the horror of being stalked and tormented for no reason whatsoever, the idea that violence can happen with no particular purpose. With the effect her journey has had on Maya and some more backstory for Gregory, Chapter 3 seems to push back on that notion, suggesting that there is indeed some twisted logic behind cold-blooded murder. The problem is, with no work done previously to set this shift up, and haphazard execution at best here, it's impossible to tell if this is actually the film maker's position. It is entirely possible that the film is simply an incoherent mess. After all, we still get the standard "because you are here" murder spiel, and it feels unlikely that a film with needle drops as blunt as "Crazy on You" (when the crazy person is driving) is being subtle.

Once you set that aside, this is really more of the same as the previous chapters. That is to say, a whole lot of nothing. Half the film feels like it's just padding time and even when things do pick up, they aren't particularly entertaining and certainly aren't scary. The kills are a little less bloodless this time round and there are a couple of moments when a loud noise might make you jump, but its bare bones stuff.

Petsch does her best to sell Maya's predicament but it feels like she is constantly having to overact to try and give some consequence to the flat script. Gabriel Basso is an intimidating physical presence as Gregory, provided he has the mask on. When the sack comes off he tries to be menacingly distant, but slowly delivering his lines as he stares into space just makes him look partially brain-dead and any intimidation quickly melts away.

The best thing that can be said about The Strangers-Chapter 3 is that it looks fairly good. Not interesting in any way, but not cheap looking either. Director Renny Harlin may mistake boredom for tension but, being a veteran of 90s action cinema, he knows where to put the camera and how to light a scene so it avoids the overly shadowy, budget look of so many mediocre modern horror movies.

When the best thing you can say about a film is that it looks "fine", the writing is on the wall. This entry may have ever so slightly more going on than the others but it's still weak sauce and nowhere near enough to stop the trilogy being an enormous waste of everyone's time. Incredibly, the punishment might not end here, with threats of re-releasing the films as one big supercut. Perhaps this whole thing really is a meta statement on the cyclical nature of violence.

4 missing sisters out of 10.

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