Naman Shrestha
The second installment of the new eponymous stand-alone trilogy and the fourth film in ‘The Strangers’ film series, ‘The Strangers: Chapter 2,’ serves as the continuation of ‘The Strangers: Chapter 1.’ Helmed by Renny Harlin, the slasher horror movie follows Maya, who manages to survive the attack in the first installment. Now, in order to finish the job they started, three masked killers embark on a mission to kill Maya and get rid of anyone who gets in their way.
With the trio of maniacs, driven by a violent purpose, behind her, Maya can’t afford to trust anyone as she tries her best to survive the horrific ordeal for the second time. Starring Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, and Ema Horvath, the thriller movie takes place in the familiar setting of the town of Venus in Oregon, serving as a reminder of how dangerous the masked killers are. The small town also serves as an additional character due to the secrets it hides beneath its peaceful facade.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 Filming Locations
Following the pattern of the first installment of the trilogy, ‘The Strangers: Chapter 2’ was also filmed in its entirety in Slovakia, specifically in and around Bratislava. According to reports, principal photography for the second chapter of the slasher also took place between late August 2022 and November of the same year, over the course of 52 days, alongside the first and third installments. However, after ‘The Strangers: Chapter 1’ was criticized by the audience, the filming unit got back to work and spent about a week or so reshooting the second installment.
Bratislava, Slovakia
Though the events of ‘The Strangers: Chapter 2’ are set in the town of Venus in Oregon, it is not where the filming took place. The shooting was extensively conducted in Slovakia in Central Europe. Bratislava serves as the creepy town where the lives of Maya and Ryan turn upside down as circumstances lead them to hole up in an Airbnb in ‘The Strangers: Chapter 1.’ The second instalment takes things up a notch as the narrative expands beyond the AirBnb, as Maya returns from the hospital only to find herself in survival mode again, trying to escape the killers who return to take her life. An abandoned military/army hospital (Opustená vojenská nemocnica) in Patrónka in Bratislava stands in for the hospital where Maya is treated for her grave wounds.
In Maya’s pursuit of freedom and safety, the movie takes us through multiple spots in the town, all of which were actually lensed in the capital city of the landlocked country. The Elephant Diner at Púchovská 12 in the borough of Rača in the Bratislava III district doubles up as Carol’s Diner in the thriller film. While filming all the movies of the trilogy back-to-back had its advantages, the team also had to face a few challenges. In an interview with Moviefone, director Renny Harlin opened up about the hurdles they endured during production, mainly concerning the need to film scenes out of sequence. In order to make production cost-effective and maintain practicality, the shooting of scenes set in locations that overlap across films, like the house, diner, and hospital, was done in blocks.
Explaining the challenges faced by the cast and crew due to the decision, the director stated, “It was challenging for everybody in the crew, from the makeup and the art department to wardrobe, and to the actors, of course, and especially to Madelaine, having to emotionally be able to go from one place to another like this quickly. For me to keep track of like, okay, where are we in the story, what’s happening now? What’s the tempo, what’s the style? Where are the characters emotionally? So, I made this chart where I went through all the three scripts, or the one very long script, then charted exactly where I think the character is emotionally in each scene.” However, due to the cooperation and understanding of all the cast and crew members, the team managed to pull it off in the end.
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