ExclusiveFilmInterviewPanelReboot / RemakeSneak Peak

Exclusive New York Comic Con Interview with the Master Minds Behind ‘The Strangers: Chapter 1’

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 The 2023 New York Comic Con set the grand stage for a panel introduction of LionsGate’s The Strangers: Chapter 1A reboot of the original 2008 horror master piece The Strangers. Latin Horror was invited to attend this showcase that featured Producer Courtney Solomon (An American Haunting) and Director Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, The Exorcist: The Beginning) and moderated by Josh Horowitz (MTV News).

Josh Horowitz, Renny Harlin and Courtney Solomon, New York Comic Con Panel, The Strangers: Chapter 1

For those who attended the panel, they were treated to a surprise as Renny and Courtney who brought with them not one sneak peek but three scenes from the upcoming The Strangers: Chapter 1. The first clip featured actress Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) playing the lead Maya. In this scene it is clear that Renny had all the intention to pay tribute to the original as we find Maya fearfully answering the door after a mysterious stranger knocks, not knowing that strangers are already in her house, much like the Liv Tyler’s Kristen character in the original. The second scene revolved of around Maya and fiancé Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) trying to escape from Pin-Up Girl. And in the 3rd and final scene we find Maya hiding form Dollface in a pile of dried up crunchy dead leaves in a forest. These sneak previews all drove home the comment from the panel by Renny, “We don’t manipulate the audience. We don’t make jump scares. It is real.” Reinforcing that sound will drive the tension and fear just like in the original film.

Renny and Courtney also mentioned that the film is a part of a 280 page script that was converted into a trilogy. The Strangers: Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 were all filmed back-to-back. With the hope that all three movies would be released in 2014, two or three months apart from each other. Renny said that all three films will have it’s own “visual language” to show the characters arch, in this case Maya’s four days journey throughout the films. In an important note, Courtney said that the movies will “answer the questions left by the original.” One of the questions is Why did Man in the Mask, Pin-Up Girl and Dollface decide to home invade and kill? This is actually a question that bothers me because what made the original special was the fact that the killers were unknown. The killings were random with no rhyme or reason for the murders, which made that film so terrifying. But an origin story for these three killers sounds exciting. I do look forward to it especially after watching those very scary sneak previews.

Renny Harlin and Courtney Solomon, New York Comic Con Panel, The Strangers: Chapter 1

Finally, Horowitz had a bag containing the signature masks of Man in the Mask, Pin-Up Girl and Dollface. Renny and Courtney explained that each mask was custom made to fit the actors portraying the roles. Only one version of these masks were made for the film because of time constraints, and that their decision not to tamper with the look of the mask was to keep the “cold, creepy, and friendly kind of way” of the original.

The panel ended with everyone in the audience receiving a limited edition poster of The Strangers Trilogy.

Below you will find an interview with Producer Courtney Solomon and Director Renny Harlin as they reveal their initial reaction to the production’s 280 page script, being green lit by the studio, and how the The Strangers Trilogy connects to the Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise!

Christian A. Morán
Christian A. Morán has been working on feature films, shorts, music videos and in documentaries, for which he won an award in 2002 at the Aurora Film Festival. As a Production Manager and Senior Editor at Media Blasters Inc., he has worked on and revived numerous Cult and Horror titles such as Lucio Fulci's Zombie 2, Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer and One Missed Call. He also worked on post-production for Fever Dreams' feature, "Shadow: Dead Riot", starring Tony Todd of Candyman and worked on "Death Trance" directed by Yuji Shimomura and starring Versus' Tak Sakaguchi. Christian has also worked on animated titles including Invader Zim, Berserk, Giant Robo, Samurai Deeper Kyo, 12 Kingdoms and Voltron: Defender of the Universe. He also produced and edited a promotion video for a branch of The United Nations called Alliance of Civilizations which featured President Barack Obama. Currently, he is working with legendary producer Roger Corman and Code Red DVD, who handle titles from MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). At this time he is producing and directing his own films such as Silentious (2013), Flawed God (2014), Halloween Treat (2014) and the award winning film, Let's Play Dead Girl (2015).

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