Written by Sam Clark 

Certificate: 15 

Running time: 98 minutes

Director: Renny Harlin 

Now that we've enjoyed our time in the sun with some great horror flicks during the summer, it's time to return once again to the usual, conventional cliche-ridden horror just here to make money and fill seats. Despite being the scariest of the bunch, The Conjuring: Last Rites proved to be, yet again, more ''quiet quiet boo'' affair and was far from anything memorable. The Strangers: Chapter Two kickstarts the Halloween season, then followed by American football themed horror Him next week from producer Jordan Peele, and I'm afraid to say we are off to a very bumpy start. As to why this is called Chapter 2 when it is the fourth film I could not tell you, I am just as confused as you are. 

This comes to us from Finnish director Renny Harlin, the name behind iconic action flicks such as Cliffhanger and the enjoyably silly Deep Blue Sea, who also directed Chapter One. We are four films into The Strangers franchise, so just in case there are those out there who are unfamiliar with what has happened so far, allow me to catch you up quickly. The first strangers film was released in 2008, and attempted to dramatize true stories of home invasions in the U.S, for which we are told they are 1.7 million each year. But horror and ''true stories'' do not go hand in hand. ''The Strangers'' refers to three masked individuals, whose identity has always remained anonymous, who orchestrate these attacks. We do not know their intentions nor does the film tell us , but that's where Chapter Two comes in and finally gives us some context. As I suspected it would be, the revelation is nothing shy of utterly underwhelming and a complete waste of time, and why we continue to get these films is beyond me. The film thinks it is far more serious than it actually is, but that could not be further from the truth. 

The last film focused on a couple taking a romantic getaway together, Maya (Madeleine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez), before they encounter ''The Strangers''. Without wishing to give too much away, Ryan this time around is not featured as much. Maya wakes up in a hospital, and is questioned by the local police as to what happened. She suspects them of covering something up as they seem reluctant to get higher powers involved. Since we know what kind of film this is, we very quicky discover the three axe and knife wielding figures are still after her. Who are they really? Why are they doing this? We are about to find out. 

In similar vein to The Conjuring, The Strangers is based on real events. However, it goes without saying that these are far more believable and far easier to get on board with than they are, but that's due to the fact anything supernatural is harder to buy into anyway. At the start of each Strangers film, we are given captions explaining the history and context, like The Conjuring. Because of how underwhelmed that has made me feel in the past, any horror that follows suit loses me almost instantly. 

I did my homework on this one and prepared by watching all three of the previous films. As is the case with most horror franchises (*cough cough Saw cough cough*), the first is the always the best as that kickstarts everything. The home invasion concept had already been a thing for decades by the time it came out (2008), but for what it was, I thought some of it was fairly well done and has some admirable suspension and moments in which you held your breath. But after that, things inevitably go down hill as you just repeat the same film over and over again. ''The Strangers'' literally orchestrate their attacks the same way in each film and repeat the same lines so you best bet I was getting bored of it, as well as the issue of each film being so predictable. 

The only category of horror that genuinely effects me is that of the supernatural, as I find hauntings, ghosts and other apparitional manners creepy and scary (only when done right - which none of The Conjuring films have been able to do). Despite horror being my joint favourite genre of all time (alongside science fiction and martial arts), I have never been interested in slasher films, as the concept of someone running around in a mask just seems boring and does not engage me. You want to make me jump and get under my skin? Put me in front of anything supernatural and watch the spark's fly. Therefore, a boring slasher is my one way ticket to snoozeville. Having yet another entry that repeats everything you have already seen before is bad enough, but when you can't live up to the long awaited reveal that has always been the main point of these films is worse. It's not one star bad, it's two stars forgettable. 98 minutes of my life I'm never getting back. 

In cinemas now