The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) aims to improve upon its poorly reviewed predecessor The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024) that received a 21% Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics – and if its creepy, weirdly addicting website is anything to go by, it’s got a real chance of redeeming itself.
I loved the original The Strangers (2008) and would consider it to be one of the best horror movies, but so far this reboot of the franchise has gone down like a lead balloon. So, I was surprised to find myself feeling excited for the upcoming movie, and it’s all thanks to this genius fake website.
We’ve seen this style of marketing recently inWeapons. Even though director Zach Cregger told me he didn’t believe it in at first, it went on to be a huge success. In my five star review of Weapons, I couldn’t praise the original horror movie enough.
Dare I say it, Visit Venus, Oregon is arguably a better fake website than MaybrookMissing.net, which Weapons used briefly before the movie was released. Nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed the resurgence of this type of marketing very much.
Visit Venus, Oregon is an interactive experience with news reports, comments sections, photographs and a hidden chat feature where you can speak to an AI private investigator. I found myself sucked in, and now I’m encouraging everyone else to go and try it.
There’s something wrong with this town
As soon as I discovered the fake website, I was immediately impressed by the effort that has gone into it. “Don’t be a stranger” is very on the nose, admittedly, but it made me laugh because it adds an ominous touch to the whole thing.
If you look closely at the town logo you can also see that it looks like the “pin-up girl” mask as worn in the movies, another wonderfully eerie detail. Both of these things made me want to read on and see what else I could learn.
I soon found out I could sign up for updates, which also took me to a secret “live chat” function. Here, I was greeted by a private investigator who wanted me to look at some case files. This is where it got really interesting and I learned I could actually respond back to the AI, who gradually fed me more clues.
As fun as it is, it’s also very creepy and some of the realistic case files, images and audio files have left me spooked.
You can take this as far as you want to. If you’re keen to do a deep dive, you can, or you can simply exit the chat and not be spoiled any more. I did learn a lot of important backstory about the movie by checking out the files and requesting more information.
There are lots of hidden things you can do throughout the website too. Without spoiling anything, yes, any button you press or form you fill in does work.
As you talk to the investigator you’ll learn that this town is definitely covering stuff up, and before he disconnects he’s about to head there and find out what’s going on. That’s where the movie will pick up when it releases on September 26.
I’m keen to head to the theater to see this movie after enjoying the website and I’m sure it’s spawned plenty of fan theories too.
If you want to watch The Strangers: Chapter 1 ahead of the sequel, it’s now streaming on Starz (US), Prime Video (UK) and Binge (AU).
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lucy.buglass@futurenet.com (Lucy Buglass)
