THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 is a 2026 horror film directed by Renny Harlin, from a screenplay by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. It serves as the fifth film in The Strangers film series, and the final installment of a new trilogy following THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 (our full review here) and THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 (our full review here).
In the "Strangers" finale, survivors face new threats from masked strangers. Secrets emerge, jeopardizing their lives as the line between reality and peril blurs in their battle for survival.
The cast includes Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, and Richard Brake.
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 made its debut in theaters February 6th, courtesy of Lionsgate.
You simply have to respect a franchise that is seemingly un-killable, pun intended. The original 2008 film built a massive following within the underappreciated horror slasher genre, and I have been along for the ride from the very beginning. I thought the original film was fantastic, and the majority of critics still trashed it pretty good. I have also seen every single series entry in theaters, that’s commitment, right?
Anyway, the new trilogy kicked off in May 2024 with THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1, and I will admit I was excited to jump back into this horror slasher world. Please check out my review if you haven’t already, but similar to THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (our full review here), the sequel to the original film, it was packed to the brim with “why would you do that?!” moments and just too many things that made zero sense that took away from the overall impact of the film. And for that reason I was pretty harsh in my review. THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 suffered a very similar fate with a ridiculous amount of dumb moments throughout the film.
But listen, at the end of the day a defining characteristic of this series of films is people doing idiotic things that result in a brutal murder by these “strangers” for seemingly no reason whatsoever. The film did however try and set the stage for what was to come with a similar series of events to the original film. Now all is not lost as THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 took a step in the right direction, focusing on the survival element and including more of the horror slasher elements I came to see. I left the theater very pleased, and even the cliffhanger ending had me looking forward to the next film which was right around the corner. Now in comes the finale to the new trilogy, THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3.
Now this film is very much a mixed bag as it borrows from the first two films instead of continuing the positive momentum of the 2nd film. I’m going to first focus on the positives, and honestly if you can get past the annoying stuff their is a lot to like about this movie as it relates to THE STRANGERS universe. Up until THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 we really didn’t have much backstory on what was going on, all we knew for sure that this podunk town and grimy diner was to be avoided at all costs. Oh and if someone comes looking for this Tamara person, you better grab yourself a weapon, and fast. But this film actually sheds some light on the backstory of who this Tamara person is, and why people are seemingly murdering random strangers. I thought this was really cool, and it was another reason why I was impressed with this film. It still left questions to be answered by the end, but the cliffhanger was significant in terms of the series’ main backstory.
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 kicks off right where the last film ended, continuing the pursuit for Maya, the first person to ever survive a visit from THE STRANGERS. The film also includes several flashback scenes as we learn more about each one of these crazed killers, which was a nice touch. Similar to the last film THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 makes sure to include several shots of the killers and their iconic old truck, which was a real treat for me. I always loved how the guy, known as Scarecrow, reminded me so much of Jason back in his burlap sack days. Just a big dude that carried that you better not let me get my hands on you type attitude along with him, and the axe certainly didn’t hurt his intimidation factor.
By the end of the film fans have a full-circle understanding of how THE STRANGERS came to be, and I thought this part of it all was super cool. The core of the story made sense to me, and I liked how it all came together. Fans of the films will have fun talking about the lore of THE STRANGERS, and even the ending of THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 leaves viewers with room for interpretation. Also as expected the film includes a fantastic soundtrack, with a nice mix of some classic hits. Plus I have become a fan of actress Madelaine Petsch, and I think she is absolutely gorgeous.
Alright so as you can imagine all is not flowers and rainbows, and even though I liked a lot about THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3, it was yet again riddled with many of the same issues. The acting in general was actually pretty good although the younger versions of the characters in some of the flashbacks could have been better. From start to finish the film is full of the trademark what the hell are you doing moments, and some of the decisions the characters make are just beyond ridiculous. Now I can’t go in depth without spoiling the film obviously, but at the end of the day are we really going to just shred the film for doing something it has been doing from the very beginning?
I’m not giving it a free pass by any means, but as a fan of the films from the start THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 still delivers. In some ways the dumb stuff makes for fun back and forth with your friends after seeing the movie. Like when I saw THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT in theaters with my buddy, I swear we spent an hour talking about the dumb things the characters did. At the end of the day the backstory alone makes this film worth seeing for fans, and anything we can do to support the horror genre I am all for.
I will say that I feel like they could have done a better job of telling the origin story where it would have been more impactful. As far as the majority of critics are concerned, I’m honestly not even sure why they bother reviewing these movies because they say the same things every time. The horror slasher genre in general tends to live outside of the world of proper film critiquing, and for that reason I would take what Rotten Tomatoes has to say with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, I’m just a guy who is also a fan of the films trying to give you my honest opinion.
THE VERDICT
A horror slasher with several redeeming qualities yet still plagued by many of the same issues as previous installments, THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 finally shares the full origin story for our favorite masked serial killers and is definitely worth seeing for fans of the franchise.
After the film ended I quickly checked online to make sure it didn’t include a post-credits scene (it does not), and I got sucked into a Reddit thread that included the poster spoiling the movie, and all of the commentors asking 1000 questions so they didn’t have to see the movie for themselves. I mean come on people, clearly you care enough to ask all of these questions, so get off your ass and see the movie for yourself!
TED TAKES RATING - 5.9/10
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.