The Strangers: Chapter 2 hopes to go away audiences much more frightened than they had been upon seeing its predecessor.
Director Renny Harlin, star Madelaine Petsch and producer Courtney Solomon introduced the scares to San Diego Comedian-Con on Thursday whereas discussing the second installment on this revival of The Strangers film franchise, which kicked off in 2008.
Whereas the primary outing within the trilogy was a house invasion film, Harlin describes Chapter 2 as “a city invasion” with a a lot greater scale.
“So, for me as a director, it was simply an unimaginable likelihood to take a film that begins in a form of claustrophobic, small setting to a completely completely different stage, take it to an epic storytelling stage with out sacrificing these high quality characters that we established,” Harlin continued.
The viewers in Ballroom 20 was handled to loads of footage from The Strangers: Chapter 2 to maintain them satiated till the movie hits theaters within the fall.
The primary clip options Petsch as Maya, working by means of the woods within the pouring rain when she stumbles upon a highway. Clad in solely a hospital robe and with an enormous reduce on her brow, Maya jumps in entrance of a automobile searching for assist, however when she will get within the automobile, she instantly begins to query the motives of the ladies who’ve picked her up. After they lock the doorways, Maya loses it, earlier than ultimately agreeing to be taken to their house.
A second scene, which unfolds in a single single shot, gave a bit extra context for a way Maya acquired into that predicament within the first place. It begins with Maya making an attempt to flee an eerily empty hospital, however all of the doorways are locked. At first, the reason for her panic is unclear, however quickly a masked man with an axe seems within the background, and all confusion is gone. Maya tries to divert his consideration so she will escape, however he’s shortly on her tail once more as she takes off down a hallway and the scene fades to black.
In line with Solomon, that’s “simply the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to what unfolds in that eery scene.
“I believe hospitals are scary to start with. My dad was a health care provider, and I spent most time in hospitals once I was little, and I’m nonetheless traumatized by it,” Harlin mentioned, including that having a stranger stalk Maya by means of the halls of a hospital is “form of a pure option to make Maya very susceptible on this setting that’s presupposed to be secure.”
One final piece of footage shared within the room makes it clear that this is not going to be the final Maya sees of that man from the hospital, both. The brief clip options Maya locking herself within the toilet of an unfamiliar house when unexpectedly an axe comes flying by means of the closed door. As soon as he’s made a large enough gap, the stranger grabs Maya by the top and slams her in opposition to the door a number of instances earlier than ripping out a piece of her hair. However by the point he makes it into the room himself, Maya has escaped out the window and is on the run once more.
The crew went extra in depth on the choice to shoot all three movies on the similar time, with Petsch revealing that she would usually movie scenes from throughout the trilogy on the identical day — which got here with execs and cons, in fact.
However, it was all in pursuit of crafting “the final word last lady” by drilling into Maya’s psyche over the course of a number of days as she’s pushed previous her breaking level.
Naturally, this raises questions in regards to the arrival of Chapter 3. Solomon says that the wait shouldn’t be too lengthy, as they’re set to lock the movie by the point that the second movie arrives in theaters.
Lionsgate’s The Strangers: Chapter 2 will open in theaters on Sept. 26, 2025.
