There's A Creepy Knock At The Door In The First Teaser For The Strangers: Chapter 1
The first clip from Renny Harlin's "The Strangers" remake has just dropped at New York Comic Con, and it's a sufficiently nerve-rattling introduction to the new movie. The 2 minute and 26 second clip plays through a familiar scenario for fans of Bryan Bertino's chilling 2008 home invasion flick, with a few key changes. In the role previously occupied by Liv Tyler, we see "Riverdale" star Madelaine Petsch, who's as captivating as ever as she assesses the potential threat standing outside her door.
The scene from "The Strangers: Chapter 1" is a revamp of one of the most unsettling moments from the first movie, in which a woman who's alone in a cabin gets a visitor who keeps asking for someone named Tamara. We never meet Tamara in the movie, but the fact that this stranger won't stop banging on the door and asking about her again and again is creepy as hell. The same holds true in the new version of the scene, with a couple key differences: Maya, Petsch's character, gets a clue that something is up when she looks through the peephole and sees the silhouette of a mask-like face — and when the stranger seems to purposely cover up the peephole.
Tamara's still not home in the Strangers: Chapter 1 teaser
There's also the end of the clip to consider, in which a shadowy figure glides by Maya in the background of a shot, indicating someone's already in the house. Where the original film revealed its strangers over time and with a light touch (sometimes literally, as when one of them hovers their hand above the back of their prey), this new reveal feels a lot more in-your-face. Whether or not that's a good thing remains to be seen, but the new clip is still pretty dang scary — in part because it also doubles as a reminder of the harrowing original film.
"Devil's Pass" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4" filmmaker Harlin is behind the camera for the new film, which will serve as the start of a trilogy. That means that even if this clip echoes something we've seen before, there's certain to be plenty of surprises in store for anyone who tunes in for all three movies. The 2008 original is one of the scariest horror films I've ever seen (though its subtleties were certainly polarizing upon release), and it eventually garnered a 2018 follow-up called "The Strangers: Prey at Night" (though there's no word yet on whether the new trilogy plans to incorporate elements from that film too).
"The Strangers: Chapter 1" does not yet have a release date, but will hit theaters in 2024.