“Is Tamara Home?” has been asked for the last time.
By: Amanda Musto
Two years since “The Strangers” trilogy had hit the big screen, it has come to a close and while I hate to admit it, I couldn’t be happier that it’s over.
When the trilogy was first announced, I had high hopes for it, especially since the original from 2008 was amazing and set the bar high for these to follow. If these three films stood on their own without two prior movies to compare it to, then maybe they would have held up better, but unfortunately, they fell flat in “The Strangers” universe.
Out of the three in this new set, the third would win for best picture. In this film, flashbacks were added which gave a backstory and finally gave an answer to the question, “Who the hell is Tamara?” Obviously, the franchise could have ended without it being known who Tamara is, who the three killers were, or why they decided to start these killings, but it was a nice touch to give an identity to each of them. The audience was then able to connect to each killer in a different way than before now that faces and names were put to the masks. They’re still psycho’s and by knowing who they were doesn’t negate that, but it gave insight to when or how the psychotic tendencies started.
The biggest issue that made this trilogy, especially this last film, less of a hit than its first original counterpart is that it didn’t convey true fear as well. Sure all three of these were nerve-racking and the thought of three masked strangers showing up at your door ready to kill you would unsettle anyone, but the hair on your neck didn’t stand up the way it did in the 2008 version. These films tried to keep the slow burn aspect, but moved too slowly, brought in the drama basically at the end, and had little payoff for the buildup it presented.
Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale, Sightless) who played Maya in this film as well as the first two, did a great job at being both a fighter and a victim. She had done prior roles in two thriller/horror films, Sightless and Polaroid, but they were smaller films and she didn’t have to fight for her life as hard as she did in these. I think her shift from the world of “Riverdale” to “The Strangers” showed how versatile she is as an actress and that she can nail a horror movie scream. She also managed to go through three movies being beaten and battered and somehow look beautiful the whole time.
The gore factor of this film did improve from the last two which I always find to be a plus especially in a movie that’s main focus is just murder. The sick and twisted factor also improved, which adds to the reason this film tops the first two of the trilogy. I had to try to wrap my mind around the depravity of the three strangers.
Hopefully now that the evil has ended, Maya can get the therapy she heavily needs.
Nice article Amanda, it was well written. Stranger Things was a delightful series, it brought back elements that I remember 🥰