The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)

I should probably have watched the first one of these from last year to remind me because a bit like when “Maya” (Madeleine Petsch) wakes up in hospital, I couldn’t remember what she’d survived either. We are quickly reminded that her and her perfectly manscaped boyfriend “Jeff” (who must have read the script so stayed home and trimmed his beard this time) had been gruesomely assaulted by three local spooks bedecked in rudimentary face masks. He’s since gone the way of the dodo, but she managed to make it to the hospital where the cops were aghast at her story. Thing is, though, once her murderous antagonists discover that not only did she she survive, but that she’s in the local hospital, then the scene is set for a chapter two. Preposterousness now ensues in an almost risible fashion, as she is pursued through this almost empty hospital and then out into the woods towards the very cabin in which their misery began. Of course, after last time, she has mastered some rustic ninja skills but unsure who she can trust from this tightly-knit community, what are her chances of survival against the trio of tormentors who want to slice and dice her - just because she is there? The dialogue is barely worth mentioning, the acting plaudits are easily stolen by the masks - at least they a supposed to be plastic, and the frying pan to fire scenarios that unfold make the decision to board the Titanic in 1912 seem entirely risk-free by comparison. The only thing that is truly scary is that this tees up for a sequel, otherwise it’s a shocker in all the wrong ways.