When The Strangers trilogy was initially announced I think most of us were intrigued. The concept of filming an entire trilogy back-to-back implies a level of faith in the material. Then hearing that they were going back to the aesthetic of the original piqued my personal interest. After all, the first one is a modern-day horror classic. As someone who didn’t love Prey At Night but has always considered the first to be a great thriller, I was ready to go back into the world of violent home invasion. And The Strangers: Chapter 1 looked to take things back to the basics.

I was fortunate enough to talk to director Renny Harlin, producer Courtney Solomon, and stars Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez about their new film. Knowing what a big horror fan Petsch is, I had to ask what it meant to be a final girl in a major horror franchise. We talked all about the tension-building mayhem of the new trilogy opener. But also plenty of teases for what is to come as there are clearly plenty of tricks up their sleeves. Check out the interview above (which features a special appearance by certain Strangers) and check back Thursday for my review.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 plot synopsis:

After their car breaks down in an eerie small town, a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in The Strangers ― Chapter 1, the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature-film series.

THE STRANGERS – Chapter 1 will be available in theaters nationwide on May 17, 2024

The post Interview: Madelaine Petsch, Renny Harlin, and more discuss Strangers: Chapter 1 appeared first on JoBlo.

The episode of The Best of the Bad Guys focuses on the trio of killers from The Strangers. It is written, narrated, and edited by Mike Holtz.

Welcome to The Best of The Bad Guys! Where we rank the best of cinema’s worst villains. From their best kill to their best jump scares and even their French kissing abilities. What? Today, we’re talking about The Strangers. A trio of mysterious and sadistic murderers who like to show up in remote locations, toy with, piss off, and eventually murder human beings for absolutely no reason whatsoever. 

They return to their cabin in the middle of the night, only to be terrorized by three strangers with masks. Ten years later, the sequel, The Strangers: Prey At Night, blessed us with the same kind of dark trappings, only this time, backed by a great soundtrack of ironic scoring like Total Eclipse of The Heart and Kids in America by Kim Wilde as the trio slashes through a lovely family of four at a remote campground. 

Personally, I’m a fan of both movies. And find the first film to be a mean but necessary home invasion flick that makes all horror movies around it better by being as mean as possible. And what I mean by this is that The Strangers being so cruel and hopeless in its ending makes you just that much more nervous for the next few horror films you watch that may just do the same unless you’re watching a Conjuring spin-off or a recent Blumhouse film. We all know there’s nothing gnarly happening there.

While the second movie has a little bit more fun with itself, especially in the ending (which we’ll definitely be talking about today)…it was kind of genius to take a concept so seriously and put it under the lens of a more traditional slasher fare and had a little bit of fun with it while maintaining its teeth. I thought both films had their place in the world in their own ways. So, with that being said…. let’s start ranking these potato sack-wearing buttholes! We mentioned the Conjuring universe earlier, so let’s start with the best Strangers jump scare!

There is a metric butt-load of jump scares throughout the two movies, but many of them are done in a far more subtle fashion than what we’re used to in today’s paranormal-heavy film landscape. This one came to two specific moments for me, and the runner-up is going to be this moment in The Strangers Prey at Night. As Bailee Madison’s character Kinsey tries to take refuge in one of those pumpkin patch-type playground tunnels for easily pleased children, Michael Myers shows up and helps her murder her friend before weirdly gyrating all over the place….oh shoot, wrong movie sack man, then drives the truck up to the opening, prompting her to try to scream it away before realizing one of those wily f*cks are in the tunnel with her. This was an amazingly done jump scare, but it doesn’t take the cake today solely because the big dummies at the studio included it in the main trailer for the film, totally spoiling it. 

However, I forgot that upon my most recent rewatch, I can confirm its potency. I’m going to give the leading award here today for the closet jump scare in the original film. Liv Tyler hides in the closet in what should be one of the most by-the-numbers horror movie trope moments but is really elevated by some nice camera work and tension. All the focus here is on potato sack head, and you’re still staring into the part of the screen he disappeared at when suddenly dingus #2 comes out of the left side of the screen and scares the bejesus out of you. Love it. It isn’t a jump scare, but the creepiest moment in both has to be this scene, also from the original, where he first appears behind her in the living room. It’s a beautifully lit and framed shot where he stands there and watches her without her knowing whatsoever. It’s just so invasive. 

Speaking of invasive, how about The Strangers best kill? Well, I have an opinion, of course, but why don’t we ask our friend ole’ potato sack head himself, the Wrong Turn, Haunt, and, of course, Strangers Prey at Night actor….I give you the man who played “the man in the mask” himself…..Damian Maffei is on his favorite kill of the franchise. Damian is my favorite kill in Strangers Prey at Night. My favorite scene is when I get in the car with Pop and Mike. I sit down in the van with him, and he’s pinned to the seat because a plank of wood came through the window there. When I first read that scene in the script…that one stopped me there because I felt like this was the one. 

This is the whole reason I am doing the movie: to be able to take my time with this. In one scene, I could slow down and do it at my own pace. Kind of sets the pace for the scene and plays around with it. It really kinda makes something kind of harrowing. Kind of menacing. It really played out pretty much exactly as it did in my head. Played out really well in my head. I think we nailed that one. That was one time I kind of stuck with him and maintained eye contact. The music in there. It was pretty great. That’s my favorite one. That’s my favorite scene. I liked that one. I enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed doing multiple takes of it. Martin is screaming the whole time. Trying to maintain that panic and fear. It’s good stuff. Anyway, there you go. Oh, I’m Damian Maffei, by the way. I don’t know if I should have led off saying that. But I didn’t! 

Thanks, Damian! For the record, I really wanted to see the alternate ending of Prey at Night, where Damian’s character was still alive and came bursting into that hospital room all burned to a crisp. I also would have loved a third film with Damian, where the franchise shocked everyone by going full-on supernatural slasher with no explanation. But that’s just me. Anywho, for my personal favorite kill of the franchise, I WANT to say the pool scene….but he didn’t die, now did he? More on that later. My instincts tell me to go with the same scene as Damian (which I did not know before I wrote this), between Damian and the dad (played by Martin Henderson) in the truck, as he stabs Dad in the neck with a screwdriver and stares into his eyes while Cambodia by Kim Wilde plays.

Partly because I am a self-professed radio hog, and I totally get having to have the perfect song on before you handle your business. Also, because it’s just so darn uncomfortable, it almost makes you giddy. And I know how messed up that sounds. In the scene, potato sack man throws a cinder block at the vehicle Mike and his son Hoyt (played by Lewis Pullman) are in, and Mike very much so overreacts, crashing the vehicle into a trailer and inconveniently lodging a large piece of immovable wood into his own abdomen. In the words of Macho Man Randy Savage as Bonesaw from Spider-Man….” You ain’t goin’ nowhere.” The man in the mask then calmy enters the truck and searches through the radio for the perfect song to kill to. 

All while Mike is pleading in pain for his life and the life of his family. But he knows that’s not going to do any good once the man shows him the screwdriver-like thing he’s holding in his hand. The man slowly stares at him before stabbing him in the neck and excitedly watching the life leave his body. Damian did a great job in this scene using his body and eye movements to really creep you the f*ck out (bleeped).

Now, how about The Strangers MEANEST kill? Jesus H Shuff N’ Stuff, was that last one not the meanest? Oh, no. That title belongs to the end of the original film, where they murder Scott Speedman’s James Hoyt in front of the indecisive woman he loves. This scene just makes my heart ache. Not only have we watched these two suffer at the hands of this unholy triumvirate throughout the night….torturing them mentally more than physically, tricking them into shooting their own best friend in their face (although that kind of just happened, I think potato sack man wanted to axe that dude), and just being huge jerkoffs in general. Now, we have to watch as all their attempts to escape were for naught. 

The morning light has arrived but provides no solace. The strangers stand before them and begin to remove their masks, which, if you’ve ever seen a movie, you know that means you are absolutely about to die. If they aren’t scared of showing you their face, it typically means it’s going to be the last face you see. And for James quick draw McGraw Hoyt…..it was. This moment is breathtakingly messed up because they all know it’s coming. They slowly pull out a large kitchen knife and reveal it to the two of them as they hold each other and cry before he just unceremoniously begins stabbing him in the stomach as she’s forced to watch. Just brutal. That’s nearly Funny Games levels of meanness.

Honorable mention here goes to The Strangers Prey at Night scene where the mom, played by the beautiful Christina Hendricks, is killed in front of her daughter. As she helps Kinsey through the extremely inconveniently placed ceiling window in the camper, Dollface (played impressively by Gemma Ward) gets up in on her real close from behind and begins to stab her in the back multiple times, even twisting the knife just to be a dick. The scene is so heartbreaking because she was a good mom, and her poor daughter has to watch her sacrifice herself for her safety. And to such an unemotional psychopath in a mask to boot. I’m equally mad at this scene because she didn’t even fight back! Grab that toilet seat and start swinging, lady!

Well, now I’m just sad….let us move on to the coolest moment in The Strangers short filmography……I think we all know where we’re going here, right? It has to be the pool scene in The Strangers: Prey At Night. But first, I have to give a shout-out to a personal favorite scene as well: When the man in the mask is bested by Kinsey and experiences not only a gnarly car wreck but is lit on fire and explodes. First off, that look that he gives her here is demonic as hell. It’s kind of how my dog looks at me when I wake him up, and he’s half pissed and out of it.  But as Kinsey walks away like the badass she is, and you think the film is for sure toast…along with potato sack head…. the truck, fully engulfed in flames, starts driving towards her again, and he somehow, still alive, chases her to a bridge before removing a large shard of glass from his stomach and passing out for a moment. 

Look, I know this scene is probably some folks’ least favorite, eliciting laughter and eye rolls from the audience….’ there’s NO WAY that guy is still alive after all that!’ But again, I am a weirdo, and I just LOVE the idea of doing the unexpected in a sequel to an ultra-realistic movie, throwing caution to the wind and surprising an audience with a supernatural twist. Plus, it looked cool as f*ck (bleeped). So did the scene that followed when he’s Halloween IV style chasing her on the bed of a truck in an underratedly creepy atmospheric moment. But I digress. We all know the pool scene is best! What’s that? Is my shirt the best? Well, thank you…. here’s where you can get one.

First off, the neon palm tree lights illuminating the water is just a freaking vibe. When you add to that the musical stylings of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart? It just takes it off the top rope. But there’s also a lot that happened story-wise here. We see the death of a Pin-up girl when she comes running at Luke and catches a well-earned golf club to the face before Luke goes full Zodiac on her, KILLING one of the strangers! We’ve never seen that before! When the man in the mask shows up, Luke even talks a little shit (after all, they did just kill his parents), and potato sack head goes full berserker mode with the axe. Luke finds his marbles and fights with the lead stranger for a while before a short chase scene takes place. The music even goes in and out as the two go in and out of the water before; sadly, Luke is dispatched with a knife in the back in the same way his mom was. Or was he? Spoiler alert HE LIVES! And so does this scene, in all of our minds, forever. 

Here is where I would usually talk about a villain’s best quote, but that’s a little difficult for a trio of folks who don’t have much to say for themselves other than “Is Tamara home?” (the answer is still no by the way and if she was home, she’d probably ignore you because you seem needy) and “Because you were home”, with maybe a “why not” or “you’re gonna die” thrown in there. They don’t divulge a lot of information about themselves, which leads me to what is most interesting about The Strangers. And that in itself is how mysterious they are. What do we know about these masked nutbars? They like to play with their food before they kill the hell out of it. The closest thing we’ve gotten to insight into who they are is at the end of the first film when they ask these nosey little bastard kids if they can have one of their sinning pamphlets, and one of them reassures the other: “It’ll be easier next time.” That. Is. It. These folks are very Michael Myers (pre-runes, trailer parks, or sibling explanation attempts) in that we have no idea what makes them evil or where that evil comes from. And I like it. Keep it that way! 

We’ll find out if they do just that in Renny Harlin’s upcoming trilogy, but for now, my friends, that is THE BEST OF THE BAD GUYS. Thank you for spending some time with us today, and please be sure to subscribe for more and check out our last two iterations of the series, where we covered both Damien Thorn and Freddy Kruger. And a special thanks to our friend Damian Maffei for taking the time to give us his thoughts in this video as well. You can see him in everything from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre video game as the voice of Johnny Boy or as Columbo in Mutilator 2. You can see me heading to the store right now to buy a weapon and a ring doorbell. Maybe some gummy bears. Just because it sounds nice, have a great day, everyone!

The previous episode of The Best of the Bad Guys can be seen below, along with a sample episode of one of our other shows. To see more, click over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

The post The Best of the Bad Guys: The Strangers appeared first on JoBlo.

The third movie in The Strangers series, the appropriately subtitled prequel Chapter 1, had its Los Angeles premiere earlier this week, and based off of the initial reactions, it’s looking like a solid homage to the 2008 original and a way to establish the rest of the trilogy.

Our own Tyler Nichols was at the premiere for the movie, where he also chatted with director Renny Harlin and some of the movie’s stars. As for his thoughts: “The Stranger: Chapter 1 is sure to be divisive as it feels like a soft reboot of the original with a more slashery approach, but its usage of tension is what elevates it. Petsch is a great final girl and I can’t wait to see what is to come.”

Check out some of the other reactions to The Strangers: Chapter 1 below:

Maybe The Strangers: Chapter 1 isn’t looking to break any ground, but it also doesn’t need to. Most of the reviews are far from bonafide raves, but Lionsgate and Renny Harlin are all in here (as odd of an endeavor it may seem for the guy who brought us Die Hard 2 and The Long Kiss Goodnight), with this first movie arriving on May 17th and the second and third installments also hitting theaters this year. Harlin even has plans for a four-and-a-half-hour cut of the trilogy.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 has also had a pretty invasive viral marketing campaign, with characters from the movie creepily moving about last month’s Coachella and Lionsgate launching a TikTok livestream that ultimately got shut down for freaking people out. As such, the studio might want to reconsider their marketing strategy going forward – and there will be a lot of it to plan.

As for how the story itself will evolve over the span of a trilogy, Harlin said, the The Strangers: Chapter 1 “is close to the original movie in its set-up of a young couple in an isolated environment in a house and a home invasion happening for random reasons” while the subsequent movies will “explore what happens to the victims of this kind of violence and who the perpetrators are of this kind of violence. Where are they coming from and why?” That’s actually pretty compelling for an arc we never expected.

Will you be checking out The Strangers: Chapter 1 when it breaks into theaters next week? What do you think of a full trilogy?

The post First reactions say The Strangers: Chapter 1 is tense setup for trilogy appeared first on JoBlo.

Movie promotion can get more creative these days with the use of social media. Sometimes, staged moments in public also enhance the “viral” intention. Years ago, stories made the rounds of creepy clown sightings spotted in neighborhood areas, complete with haunting pictures of said clowns standing eerily still. The sensation coincidentally would do wonders for the release of the It films, and similar viral marketing was attempted with the Ghostface killer for the new Scream movies. Low and behold, The Strangers – Chapter 1 is about to be released by Lionsgate and the movie is all about property invasion by mysteriously scary figures.

The new film from Renny Harlin is getting in on the action as costumed killer characters were seen at Coachella as well as creepy viral footage of these characters appearing on Ring cameras as they stalk on doorsteps. People Magazine has now reported that Lionsgate would attempt to reach audiences with a TikTok livestream in an effort to promote The Strangers – Chapter 1. However, the account would get temporarily banned from the social media app for being too disturbing. As the livestream shut down, the app alerted viewers that it was ended due to violations of “dangerous activities and challenges.” At one point, there was a particularly creepy moment when a mysterious masked figure was seen holding up a sign that read, “Is Tamara Here?” A viewer took to the comment section to exclaim, “STOP I DONT LIKE THIS.”

Once the livestream was ended, an alert from TikTok would state, “We do not allow showing or promoting dangerous activities and challenges. This includes dares, games, tricks, inappropriate use of dangerous tools, eating substances that are harmful to one’s health, or similar activities that may lead to significant physical harm.”

JoBlo would have the opportunity to meet the cast and director of The Strangers – Chapter 1 as our own Tyler Nichols got to stalk the red carpet. He posted, “At the red carpet premiere of @thestrangersfilm where our own @zombievictim chatted with @madelame @rennyharlin @sarafreedland @thebrookelenajohnson and more! Stay tuned to @joblomovienetwork for more! #thestrangers #thestrangerschapter1”

The post Lionsgate’s TikTok Livestream of Strangers characters gets shut down for being too disturbing appeared first on JoBlo.

Four months of horror releases down, eight to go! With our 2024 Horror Preview, we’re looking ahead at some of the other horror movies we can’t wait to check out this year. For now, we’re only including movies that have a known release date, so films like the remakes/reboots of The Toxic Avenger and Witchboard are currently absent because they don’t have a release date yet, even though they’re likely to show up at some point in 2024. Here we go:

I SAW THE TV GLOW – Now Playing

JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray wasn’t a fan of I Saw the TV Glow (which is coming our way from A24 and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair director Jane Schoenbrun) when he saw it at the Sundance Film Festival, giving it a 5/10 review (you can read it at THIS LINK) where he said the movie is “so experimental that it feels like a half-baked attempt at a genre version of Inland Empire-era David Lynch.” But maybe it will work better for some genre fans when they get the chance to see it later this year.

TAROT – Now Playing

Formerly known as Horrorscope, this horror film is based on a 1992 novel by Nicholas Adams (pick up a copy HERE). Jacob Batalon, who is best known for playing Peter Parker’s best friend Ned in the recent Spider-Man movies, plays a character who is part of a group of college friends who get their horoscopes read, then start dying in ways connected to their fortunes. Seems sort of like a Final Destination set-up, but with the supernatural aspects pumped way up.

THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 – Theatrical, May 17

Director Renny Harlin has shot an entire trilogy inspired by the 2008 film The Strangers, and we’ve heard that Lionsgate intends to release all three of the movies – said to be titled The Strangers: Chapter 1, The Strangers: Chapter 2, and The Strangers: Chapter 3 – over the course of 2024. Chapter 1 is the only one we know a release date for so far. Madelaine Petsch of Riverdale plays a young woman on a road trip who crosses paths with the title characters when her car breaks down in Oregon.

IN A VIOLENT NATURE – Theatrical, May 31

Written and directed by Chris Nash, In a Violent Nature is a slasher movie that follows a masked killer named Johnny as he hacks his way through a group of vacationing teens – but what sets this movie apart from the slashers we’re familiar with is the fact that the focus is on the killer. Instead of hanging out with the teens while we wait for them to get picked off, the camera follows Johnny as he splatters blood all over the forest. After its theatrical run, In a Violent Nature will be available to watch on the Shudder streaming service.

THE EXORCISM – Theatrical, June 7

Before he worked on The Pope’s Exorcist, Russell Crowe starred in another exorcism horror film that was called The Georgetown Project. Now titled The Exorcism, the film is ready to head out into the world – and what makes it really interesting is the fact that it was written and directed by Joshua John Miller (with M.A. Fortin), the son of Jason Miller, who played Father Karras in the classic The Exorcist. This film tells the story of “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.”

THE WATCHERS – Theatrical, June 14

We’ve seen a lot of thrillers from director M. Night Shyamalan – and in 2024, we’re going to see one from his daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan. The younger Shyamalan makes her feature directorial debut with the story of a group of strangers (including Barbarian‘s Georgina Campbell) being stalked by mysterious creatures in the wilderness of western Ireland. Will Ishana be able to match or exceed the thrills her father has provided? We’ll find out soon.

A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE – Theatrical, June 28

A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II director John Krasinski helped craft the story for this spin-off/prequel directed by Michael Sarnoski, director of the Nicolas Cage drama Pig. Although the release date is just a month away, we still don’t know much about this one beyond the fact that it stars 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn – better known as Eddie Munson from the most recent season of Stranger Things – and Alex Wolff (Hereditary), and is set in New York City. The story doesn’t involve the Abbott family, the characters we followed through the first two movies, but it should be interesting to see the alien creatures stalking people in NYC.

MAXXXINE – Theatrical, July 5

Writer/director Ti West and star Mia Goth blew horror fans away with their collaboration X (which was set in 1979) and its prequel Pearl (set in 1918), and now they’re turning the series into a trilogy with the 1985-set MaXXXine, in which Goth reprises the role of Maxine Minx from X. Maxine is in Hollywood now, pursuing her dream of being a mainstream actress, while the Night Stalker terrorizes L.A. Joining Goth in the cast are singer Halsey, Kevin Bacon (Tremors), Elizabeth Debicki (Tenet), singer Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Bobby Cannavale (Netflix’s The Watcher), Lily Collins (Emily in Paris), and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad).

LONGLEGS – Theatrical, July 12

The marketing for Longlegs, a psychological horror thriller from director Osgood Perkins – who, yes, is the son of actor Anthony Perkins – has been so awesome and creepy, the actual film might struggle to live up to it. Still, it sounds very promising, with genre regular Maika Monroe taking on the role of an FBI agent who is tracking an elusive serial killer played by Nicolas Cage. Cage has described his character as being like “a possessed Geppetto.”

TRAP – Theatrical, August 2

Two months after his daughter Ishana’s film The Watchers reaches theatres, we’ll be getting another thriller directed by M. Night Shyamalan – and this one stars another of his three daughters, Saleka. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but we know that the story plays out at a concert and Saleka, who is an R&B singer/songwriter, plays the popstar on stage. Josh Hartnett, fresh off playing a role in Oppenheimer, plays a father who takes his child to the concert. Shyamalan has had hits and misses, and it’s always interesting to see how his latest film is going to turn out.

CUCKOO – Theatrical, August 9

Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), Dan Stevens (The Guest), Jessica Henwick (Love and Monsters), Marton Csókás (Freelance), Greta Fernández (Santo), and Jan Bluthardt (Tatort) star in the new horror film from writer/director Tilman Singer (Luz). The story follows a 17-year-old American girl who reluctantly moves with her father to a resort in the German Alps… but there’s something strange going in at this resort, leading to an encounter with “a bird-like monster.”

ALIEN: ROMULUS – Theatrical, August 16

Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez has set the story of Alien: Romulus between the events of the original Alien and Aliens. It involves a group of young people – played by the likes of Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), Aileen Wu (Away from Home), and Isabela Merced (Rosaline) – who find themselves in a fight for their lives with the titular alien on a distant colony. All we really needed to know to be sold on this one was “Fede Alvarez directing an Alien movie”.

STREAM – Theatrical, August 21

Directed by Terrifier cast member Michael Leavy and featuring special FX by Terrifier and Terrifier 2 director Damien Leone, Stream tells the story of a family being stalked by deranged murderers at a quaint hotel, and the movie is packed with genre icons. Here’s a sample of the Stream cast list: Tony Todd (the original Candyman himself), Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator), Danielle Harris (Halloween 4), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Dee Wallace (The Howling), Mark Holton (Leprechaun), Daniel Roebuck (Final Destination), Dave Sheridan (The Devil’s Rejects), Terry Alexander (Day of the Dead), David Howard Thornton (Terrifier), Tim Reid (Stephen King’s It), Charles Edwin Powell (Exorcist III), Bob Adrian (The Conjuring 2), Sydney Malakeh (Cheer Camp Killer), Wesley Holloway (Terrifier 2), and Linden Porco (Leprechaun Returns). 

THE CROW – Theatrical, August 23

The first images of Bill Skarsgard in the titular role in director Rupert Sanders’ reimagining of The Crow didn’t go over very well (and Alex Proyas, the director of the original film, let it be known that he wasn’t a fan). However, the folks behind the movie say this is NOT a remake and that it’s a fresh reimagining of the character James O’Barr came up with when he created the Crow comic book series. So, there’s a good a chance the new movie could still work even for viewers who think the new version of the character looks ridiculous.

BEETLEJUICE 2 – Theatrical, September 6

Thirty-six years after the classic Beetlejuice was released, we’re finally getting a sequel. Director Tim Burton is back at the helm, Michael Keaton is reprising the role of the title character, and Winona Ryder is back as Lydia Deetz, with Catherine O’Hara returning as her stepmother Delia. Joining the party are Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s wife, Willem Dafoe as a law enforcement officer in the afterlife, Justin Theroux in an unspecified role, and Burton’s Wednesday star Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter. Depending on whether or not Burton and his cast were able to recapture some of the original magic, Beetlejuice 2 could be a blast.

SPEAK NO EVIL – Theatrical, September 13

Director James Watkins and Blumhouse have teamed up to bring us a remake of the 2022 Danish film Gæsterne, a.k.a. Speak No Evil – and if this is as intense as the original film was, it sounds like it’s going to be a real endurance challenge for a lot of viewers. The story centers on “a family who takes a dream holiday to an idyllic country house, only to have the vacation turn into a psychological nightmare,” and the cast includes James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scott McNairy, Aisling Franciosi, and Alix West Lefler.

TERRIFIER 3 – Theatrical, October 11

Terrifier 3 may be reaching theatres in time for Halloween, but unlike its predecessors this one is not set on Halloween. Instead, the setting is moving a couple months, over to Christmastime. Writer/director Damien Leone had a budget of around $55,000 to work with on the first Terrifier movie, and a budget of “a little over” $250,000 for Terrifier 2 – which was so successful, a “couple million” is going into the budget of Terrifier 3. Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) will be spilling more blood and facing off against heroine Sienna (Lauren LaVera) again, and Leone said he’s aiming to make this one shorter and less mystical than the second film.

SMILE 2 – Theatrical, October 18

Writer/director Parker Finn’s sequel to his 2022 horror film Smile is another project we don’t know much about yet, but Finn has said that if he were to make a Smile 2 he would want to make sure it’s “new, exciting, fresh” rather than just a retread of its predecessor. The freshness begins with the casting of Naomi Scott – who was not in Smile – as the lead character in Smile 2. The release date and the involvement of Finn and Scott are the only pieces of information that have been provided so far.

NIGHTBITCH – Theatrical, December 6

Amy Adams stars in this darkly comic “neo-horror” movie, written and directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and based on a novel by Rachel Yoder. The lead character is a stay-at-home suburban mom who begins to suspect that she might be turning into a dog… and that’s about all we know about this one so far. Scott McNairy plays Adams’ “oft-traveling husband,” while Mary Holland takes on an unspecified role.

NOSFERATU – Theatrical, December 25

Nine years have gone by since it was first announced that The Witch director Robert Eggers was going to be writing and directing a remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu. At the end of this year, we’re finally going to be able to see what Eggers – who made The Lighthouse and The Northman in the interim – has done with the concept. Bill Skarsgard (It) plays the title character and is joined in the cast by Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol), Nicholas Hoult (Renfield), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train), Emma Corrin (The Crown), Ralph Ineson (The Witch), Simon McBurney (The Conjuring 2), and the legendary Willem Dafoe, who plays a crazy vampire hunter. Focus Features wanted to give this film “a prime holiday season release”, so they clearly believe Eggers has turned in something special.

The post 2024 Horror Preview: All the Horror Movies We Want to See appeared first on JoBlo.

Like many of you, I was scratching my head when I learned that director Renny Harlin would be making not one, not two, but three movies based on the horror cult classic The Strangers. While a pretty slick horror flick, the original spawned a modest follow-up that didn’t get a ton of buzz. When it came out, I figured it was a series that had run its course. It seems this is not so, with Lionsgate releasing a widely ambitious trilogy of horror films this year (it’s like the horror version of Kevin Costner’s Horizon). 

Notably, it marks the return of director Renny Harlin to the horror genre. Now mostly known for his action films, such as the classics Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and many more – horror was where he made his original reputation. Prison, which gave Viggo Mortensen his first leading role, was a cult hit, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was a smash. Since then, he’s dipped his toe back into the genre with movies like Deep Blue Sea and Mindhunters, but usually when they’re a hybrid with another genre.

Not so for The Strangers trilogy, which is straight-up horror. According to a recent report in Variety, Harlin shot all three films in one fifty-two-day shoot, and he’s already planning to cut together a 4.5-hour version of the film (from a 285-page script), which will exist as a kind of horror odyssey. As he told Variety, “I definitely want to have that event and see if people take four and a half hours of dread and fear and terror and despair.”

In the interview, Harlin denies the movie is any kind of remake, with him evoking a lot of admiration for the original Bryan Bertino film, even admitting to being intimidated by its quality. “Simply doing a sequel or remake didn’t appeal to me, but this was such an opportunity to have four and a half hours of a case study of victims of a violent crime and the perpetrators and what makes them tick and how it affects a person who goes through this.”

Indeed, the producer Courtney Solomon admits its the hook of the original movie that’s proved to be irresistible: “It’s the primal nature of the original concept, these three random people and unexplained, random acts of violence, which is just so terrifying and real. I don’t know if you can improve upon that, so why don’t we take that basic premise as a starting point and modify it for a bigger story that becomes proper, character-driven horror.  

For a whole lot more on The Strangers: Chapter 1, which opens May 17th, stay tuned to JoBlo as our own Tyler Nichols is attending the premiere in Los Angeles this week. For more on Harlin’s take on The Strangers, check out our exclusive interview with him HERE.

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Lionsgate is planning a May 17th theatrical release for the horror film The Strangers: Chapter 1, and this past weekend they continued their viral marketing approach to promoting the movie. When the South by Southwest festivals were held in Austin, Texas last month, the Strangers were spotted around the city. When the music and arts festival Coachella was going on in Indio, California, the Strangers showed up there, too. Over the weekend, the Stagecoach Festival – which is described as “country music’s biggest party” was also held in Indio… and the Strangers crashed that party as well. A video of the Strangers at Stagecoach can be seen in the embed above, and images of their time at the festival can be seen at the bottom of this article.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 was directed by Renny Harlin, who shot an entire trilogy of Strangers movies at the same time. We’ve heard that Lionsgate will also be releasing The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3 by the end of the year.

Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale)  has the lead role in Chapter 1 and is joined in the cast of these films by Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer), Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great and Small), Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy), and Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). The Strangers: Chapter 1 centers on Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. Lionsgate plans from there to expanding the story in new and unexpected ways with its sequels.

The new Strangers trilogy was filmed in Slovakia. Courtney Solomon produced them with Mark Canton, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin, Charlie Dombeck, and Alastair Birlingham. Andrei Boncea, Dorothy Canton, and Roy Lee serve as executive producers. Rafaella Biscayn, Frame Film SK, Johanna Harlin, Juan Garcia Peredo, and Alberto Burgueno are co-producing. The first film has earned an R rating for “horror violence, language and brief drug use.”

Harlin has said The Strangers: Chapter 1 “is close to the original movie in its set-up of a young couple in an isolated environment in a house and a home invasion happening for random reasons.” Then Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 “explore what happens to the victims of this kind of violence and who the perpetrators are of this kind of violence. Where are they coming from and why?“

Are you looking forward to The Strangers: Chapter 1 and its sequels? Let us know by leaving a comment below – but first, take a look at these images of the Strangers at Stagecoach:

The post The Strangers infiltrated Stagecoach to promote the release of Chapter 1 appeared first on JoBlo.

Lionsgate is planning a May 17th theatrical release for the horror film The Strangers: Chapter 1, and with that date just three weeks away the Motion Picture Association ratings board has announced that they’ve given the film an R rating for “horror violence, language and brief drug use.” That puts it pretty much in line with the ratings to the previous two movies in the Strangers franchise. Released in 2008, The Strangers was rated R for violence/terror and language. The Strangers: Prey at Night followed in 2018 and was rated R for horror violence and terror throughout, and for language.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 was directed by Renny Harlin, who shot an entire trilogy of Strangers movies at the same time. We’ve heard that Lionsgate will also be releasing The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3 by the end of the year.

Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale)  has the lead role in Chapter 1 and is joined in the cast of these films by Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer), Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great and Small), Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy), and Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). The Strangers: Chapter 1 centers on Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. Lionsgate plans from there to expanding the story in new and unexpected ways with its sequels.

The new Strangers trilogy was filmed in Slovakia. Courtney Solomon produced them with Mark Canton, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin, Charlie Dombeck, and Alastair Birlingham. Andrei Boncea, Dorothy Canton, and Roy Lee serve as executive producers. Rafaella Biscayn, Frame Film SK, Johanna Harlin, Juan Garcia Peredo, and Alberto Burgueno are co-producing. 

Harlin has said The Strangers: Chapter 1 “is close to the original movie in its set-up of a young couple in an isolated environment in a house and a home invasion happening for random reasons.” Then Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 “explore what happens to the victims of this kind of violence and who the perpetrators are of this kind of violence. Where are they coming from and why?“

Are you looking forward to The Strangers: Chapter 1, and are you glad to hear it has secured an R rating? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

The post The Strangers: Chapter 1 earns an R rating for its horror violence appeared first on JoBlo.

Lionsgate is planning a May 17th theatrical release for the horror film The Strangers: Chapter 1, and they’re taking a viral marketing approach to this one. When the South by Southwest festivals were held in Austin, Texas last month, the Strangers were spotted around the city. The music and arts festival Coachella is going on Indio, California right now, and Lionsgate sent the Strangers out to crash this festival as well. A video of the Strangers at Coachella can be seen in the embed above, and images of their time at the festival can be seen at the bottom of this article.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 was directed by Renny Harlin, who shot an entire trilogy of Strangers movies at the same time. We’ve heard that Lionsgate will also be releasing The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3 by the end of the year.

Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale)  has the lead role in Chapter 1 and is joined in the cast of these films by Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer), Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great and Small), Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy), and Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). The Strangers: Chapter 1 centers on Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. Lionsgate plans from there to expanding the story in new and unexpected ways with its sequels.

The new Strangers trilogy was filmed in Slovakia. Courtney Solomon produced them with Mark Canton, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin, Charlie Dombeck, and Alastair Birlingham. Andrei Boncea, Dorothy Canton, and Roy Lee serve as executive producers. Rafaella Biscayn, Frame Film SK, Johanna Harlin, Juan Garcia Peredo, and Alberto Burgueno are co-producing. 

Harlin has said The Strangers: Chapter 1 “is close to the original movie in its set-up of a young couple in an isolated environment in a house and a home invasion happening for random reasons.” Then Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 “explore what happens to the victims of this kind of violence and who the perpetrators are of this kind of violence. Where are they coming from and why?“

Are you looking forward to The Strangers: Chapter 1 and its sequels? Let us know by leaving a comment below – but first, take a look at these images of the Strangers at Coachella:

The post The Strangers crashed Coachella to promote the release of Chapter 1 appeared first on JoBlo.

Lionsgate had a whole lot of interesting projects to promote at CinemaCon today. Alexandre Aja’s Never Let Go, The Crow remake, the Margot Robbie-produced Monopoly, Guy Ritchie’s In the Grey and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Highlander, Borderlands, a Blumhouse reimagining of The Blair Witch Project, the John Wick spin-off Ballerina, the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, they all got a moment in the spotlight in one way or another. And that’s far from the complete list. Attendees also got to see trailers and previews of multiple other films, and we’ve got a bit of a round-up compiled below.

The Killer’s Game: An action comedy directed by stuntman J.J. Perry and starring Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Pom Klementieff, and Ben Kingsley. Based on Jay Bonansinga’s novel, The Killer’s Game follows a veteran assassin (Bautista), who is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and authorizes a hit on himself to avoid the pain that is destined to follow. But soon after, he finds out that he was misdiagnosed— and must fend off an army of former colleagues trying to kill him. A trailer for this film was shown during the panel, and JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray reports that “The person in charge of the contract is Pom Klementieff, who hates Bautista because he killed her father and she calls in all the assassins in Europe to kill him. Looks like a hardcore, R-rated action flick and might be Bautista’s John Wick.“

Flight Risk: A “very slick action thriller” directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mark Wahlberg. CinemaCon attendees got to see a trailer for this one, and Bumbray writes that it “seems commercial. Michelle Dockery is a US Marshal flying a witness (Topher Grace) to testify against the mob, but the pilot of the plane is a psychopathic hit man played by Mark Wahlberg playing WAY against type. He even shaved his head to look like he has a bald pate. Looks like a really tight kickass thriller, and Gibson REALLY makes Walhberg look crazy in this. Scored by a cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer.’“

Also promoted was director Joe Carnahan’s Shadow Force, which is about “an estranged couple with a bounty on their heads who must go on the run with their son to avoid their former employer, a shadow ops unit sent to kill them.” The film stars Kerry Washington and Omar Sy, and Bumbray said it’s “another cool looking action flick in the John Wick vein.“

A trailer for The Strangers: Chapter 1 was shown, but it may have been the same trailer we’ve already seen online. Directed by Renny Harlin and shot simultaneously with two sequels (Chapter 2 and Chapter 3), The Strangers: Chapter 1 centers on a character played by Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. Lionsgate plans from there to expanding the story in new and unexpected ways with its sequels. JoBlo’s own Lance Vlcek, who attended the panel with Bumbray, reports that these films are being sold as “an origin story of how the Strangers came to be.“

Another trailer shown during the panel was for the comedy Good Fortune, which was directed by Aziz Ansari – who also stars in the film alongside Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves. Bumbray reports, “Ansari is a broke guy who goes to work for a rich asshole, played by Rogen. Reeves plays an angel! Even has wings. He’s a f*ck-up angel who wants to save Ansari from killing himself. So what he does is he swaps Ansari and Rogen’s lives. But, Reeves thinks Ansari will realize ‘wealth won’t solve his problems’ but Ansari loves being rich and won’t go back to where he was before. The idea backfires so much it costs Reeves his wings, so now the three guys, Rogen, Ansari and Reeves are all stuck together. Looks hilarious and might become a HUGE hit. Reeves is really hilarious in it.” After the trailer was shown, Ansari took the stage. He said he “hates that comedies are no longer going to theaters. So he wanted to prove you could make a big comedy with stars that will be hit. He wanted it to be in the vein of big comedies like Anchorman and 40 Year Old Virgin. Keanu – the man Chad Stahelski couldn’t break while making the John Wick movies – actually broke his knee by tripping on a run in his dressing room. He did the whole movie with a broken knee but you can’t tell. He wanted to do everything and just plowed through.“

What do you think of the Lionsgate line-up that was promoted at CinemaCon? Which of these movies are you looking forward to? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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