The Strangers Never Needed a Horror Franchise

The Strangers is one of the best horror invasion films ever made. I remember how this movie haunted me the first time I had watched it. We followed the story of a couple that was having a rough patch, after a proposal rejection. They had attended a friend's wedding, and had gone to a nice vacation home to spend their weekend together.

While the couple is trying to go past this tough time in their relationship, they are unaware of a trio of strangers who are now invading the vacation home. The strangers break in the home throughout the entire movie, playing hide and seek with the poor couple.

The strangers eventually reveal their true motivations at the end of the movie, telling the couple that they only chose to attack this couple, because they were home. The strangers proceed to torture the couple, and the woman is discovered to be the only one left alive, as she screams in terror when she is found alive by a random person.

It's an effective horror film that stays with you, and it's one of the most awful endings I have seen for the fate of two innocent characters.

So why the hell did people think this movie needed a franchise?

This movie was perfect, and it was beyond unnecessary to create a franchise for a home invasion film.

And it sucks that the franchise hasn't worked for the movie's favor. Every single film that followed has had way too many flaws. And I think what bothered me the most was that the director thought it was a good idea to add an origin story for the strangers.

What made these bastards so scary is that the strangers were just that.

Strangers.

We had no idea who they were, and that is what made them so freaking scary. They could be anyone, and the thought that someone we interact with in everyday society could secretly be a killer is horrible.

Why ruin a concept like that?

While the sequel to the Strangers did have a couple of good ideas, I know that the fans complained about the 'teleportation' powers the strangers suddenly had. It was kind of dumb, and even I had to complain about it.

Then they decided to continue the movies with a reboot.

I don't get why the strangers are now all obsessed with a brand-new character in the reboot of The Strangers. In the original film, it was so scary how they just left the residence after the torture of the couple. In the reboot, they are determined to kill the girl they had left alive after the torture of her and her boyfriend.

I got so annoyed that the strangers went crazy and started killing a bunch of people to get to her in Chapter 2 that was released this year. It almost felt like a rip off of the Scream franchise. I don't get why they didn't give up after the first film to the reboot. It didn't do so hot either, so I expected the director to give up on the story. Or if it was going to be continued, the director should have come up with a really good idea.

But instead we were met with more disappointment.

The ending to Chapter 2 was also kind of dumb too.

It straight up ended with the girl succeeding in killing one of the strangers, and it ends suddenly after the two strangers mourn the loss of their fallen comrade. I don't get why the movies are now turning into some kind of revenge fantasy tale from the point of view of the strangers.

This movie should have been left alone, because the strangers were perfect the way they were.

Not knowing enough about these killers is what made them stand out among the horror genre.

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn