Summary
Best known for writing and directing the 2008 sleeper hitThe Strangers, filmmaker Bryan Bertino also made one of the best horror movies of the 2020s — and hardly anyone saw it. With the release of the poorly receivedThe Strangers: Chapter 1, the first installment of an intended relaunch of the cult classic franchise, horror fans are likely looking for a more compelling watch. Partly based on atrue story from Bertino’s childhood,The Strangersis a truly chilling psychological horror film that centers on a distraught couple, Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) and James Hoyt (Scott Speedman).
After Kristen rejects James' marriage proposal, the couple weather an awkward night in a remote summer home. However, the couple’s uncomfortable evening takes a terrifying turn when three masked strangers invade their house. The violent intruders — Dollface, Man in the Mask, and Pin-Up Girl — reveal inThe Strangers' endingthat the home invasion is random: hauntingly, the truth is that Kristen and James were targeted simply because they were there. WhileThe Strangersis Bertino’s most acclaimed and enduring film,the writer-director has also created several other stand-out horror films, including one released in 2020.
Bryan Bertino Wrote and Directed The Dark And The Wicked
The Supernatural Horror Movie Is One Of The Filmmaker’s Best Projects
When it comes toranking every Bryan Bertino movie,The Strangerscomes out on top, and onlyThe Dark and the Wickedgives the 2008 classic a run for its money. After penning the box-office smash —The Strangersmade a staggering $82.4 million against its $9 million budget— Bertino wrote and directed horror flicks like 2014’sMockingbirdand 2016’sThe Monster. The filmmaker also produced a few well-received scares, includingThe Blackcoat’s Daughter, a supernatural psychological horror film starring Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, and Lucy Boynton, and the Yvonne Strahovski-starring slasherHe’s Out There.
…the writer-director found a return to form with The Dark and the Wicked.
In 2018, a whopping decade after his original film, Bertino returned toThe Strangersfranchise. Although he didn’t directThe Strangers: Prey at Night, Bertino wrote and executive produced the sequel. Unfortunately, the secondStrangersflick wasn’t as successful or well-received as the first outing, but, two years later, the writer-director found a return to form withThe Dark and the Wicked. Starring Marin Ireland as Louise and Michael Abbott Jr. as Michael,The Dark and the Wickedfollows two siblings as they confront a demonic entity at their family farm — a premise that leverages Bertino’s strengths.
Is The Strangers: Chapter 1 A Prequel, Remake Or Reboot? It’s Complicated
The new film in the psychological horror series is the first of three new The Strangers films coming out in 2024, with the first one coming in May.
One Of The Best And Most Disturbing Horror Movies Of The Decade (So Far)
The Dark And The Wicked Is A Better The Strangers Replacement Than The Strangers: Chapter 1
As the siblings deal with the demonic entity taking hold of their homestead, they also navigate the fallout of their mother’s death by suicide as well as their ailing father. One of themost underrated horror movies of 2020,The Dark and the Wickedis a classic folk-horror film that harnesses its isolated setting.
Packed with creeping dread,The Dark and the Wickedkeeps its focus on an unsettling, not-quite-right atmosphere. Although Bertino doesn’t reinvent the haunted house genre, he does create an incredibly effective — and, at times, downright scary — psychological horror film.
The Dark and the Wickedstreams exclusively on Shudder.
The Strangers
The first film in the horror series, The Strangers, follows an unsuspecting couple on vacation who find themselves at the mercy of a group of murderers who seek to physically and psychologically torture them. After a series of unfortunate events that lead the couple to commit an accidental crime, they find themselves fighting for survival against three masked intruders that chose to attack them “because they were home.”
