Nearly 16 years after Bryan Bertino's The Strangers shocked moviegoers, the movie's masked murderers are slicing their way back onto the big screen this week with Lionsgate's release of The Strangers – Chapter 1, the first film in a new trilogy within The Strangers franchise. Ahead of the film's world premiere in Los Angeles last week, Daily Dead had the chance to talk with legendary director Renny Harlin about bringing his own personal style to The Strangers franchise, building tension through tense close-ups and foreboding wide shots, keeping audiences on edge, and more!

You can watch our full video interview with Renny Harlin below, and go here to catch up on all of our coverage of The Strangers – Chapter 1!

Directed by Renny Harlin from a screenplay by Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland (and based on The Strangers written by Bryan Bertino), The Strangers: Chapter 1 stars Madelaine Petsch (who is also an executive producer on the film), Froy Guitierrez, Gabriel Basso, and Ema Horvath. The film is produced by Courtney Solomon, Mark Canton, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin, Alastair Burlingham, and Charlie Dombek.

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."

  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.