15 things we learned from listening to The Strangers: Chapter 1 audio commentary track

Lionsgate's horror movie The Strangers: Chapter 1, directed by Renny Harlin, was recently released on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD. For those who liked this movie and enjoy physical media collecting, this one is worth picking up.

Based on Bryan Bertino's 2008 movie, The Strangers: Chapter 1 follows a new couple, Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez). The couple's car breaks down while passing through a small town in Oregon, leading them to spend the night in a cabin in the woods, where they're tormented by three strangers.

The Blu-ray includes several special features (plus the DVD and digital copy), including some behind-the-scenes featurettes and an audio commentary with Petsch and producer Courtney Solomon. Petsch also served as an executive producer on the trilogy. The following two chapters have already been filmed and are in post-production, with the second film expected to be released sometime later this year.

Listening to the audio commentary, Petsch and Solomon revealed several fascinating production details about the movie and teased what fans can look forward to in the forthcoming sequels. Here's your spoiler warning before you continue scrolling.

15. Jeff Morrell is an important character

The opening scene shows a man named Jeff Morrell running from the titular "strangers," Scarecrow, Pin-Up Girl, and Dollface. Scarecrow (presumably) murders him with his ax. That's the last time Jeff, played by actor Ryan Bown, appears in this film apart from a shot of his missing poster, but Petsch and Solomon tease that his character is integral to the overall story.

14. The Strangers is really one big movie broken up into three chapters

It's no secret that Chapter 1 is only the first chapter of a trilogy, but this isn't an ordinary trilogy with breaks in filming. All three movies were filmed back-to-back in just 52 days.

Each seamlessly transitions into the next, and the events of all three films take place over about four days. The first movie alone only encapsulates one night. That means Chapter 1 is really like the 90-minute opening act of a 4 1/2-hour movie.

It's not three separate films but "one giant movie, broken up into three chapters."

13. One of the Carol's diner waitresses co-produced the film

There's a character introduced during the film's early scene where Ryan and Maya stop by the local diner Carol's, who was actually played by one of the movie's co-producers, Rafaella Biscayn. Her character is a waitress named Eden.

12. Part of why Madelaine Petsch signed onto this movie is because of her love for the original

Petsch was genuinely terrified by the original 2008 film. She says it's one of the few horror movies that really scared her right down to the bone, and she still thinks about it all these years later.

She was so hopeful and motivated to get the role of Maya in this film that she brought over 20 pages of script and character notes to her first meeting with the producers.

11. Froy Gutierrez sometimes had to be told to play 'grumpier'

Petsch and Solomon had nothing but nice things to say about co-lead Froy Gutierrez, who plays Ryan. He's an extremely happy and sunshiney guy in real life, and it's a testament to his acting ability that he's able to do the more challenging aspects of this movie.

However, Solomon says there were a few moments they asked Gutierrez to be even "grumpier," like during the scene where Maya and Ryan learn their car needs further maintenance and they'll be stuck in a random guy's cabin overnight.

10. Many elements from the first film will show up in the next two

Neither Petsch nor Solomon could say what fans should keep an eye out for, but Petsch notes that because they wrote and filmed all three movies back-to-back, they were able to ensure continuity and include callbacks in the later chapters that eagle-eyed viewers might catch.

9. Maya's gold nail polish

If you were like me, you might have been distracted by the gorgeous gold shade of nail polish Maya wears throughout the movie. I kept thinking about how much I loved the color. Petsch says she noticed that in many horror movies, female characters don't have painted nails.

She wanted to add a little flair and personality to Maya, who has to wear sweatpants most of the film, and she chose golden nail polish to do it. It's a testament to the gel polish because it never once chipped! They almost went with a silver color, but gold won out. (And we still need the name of the shade, Mads!)

8. We will meet Debbie in one of the next films

Maya's sister, Debbie (Rachel Shenton), only appears on-screen for one brief scene in which Maya and her chat via video call. The commentary mentions that we'll properly meet Debbie later. That's teased in the end when we see Maya has received a "get well" gift from her at the hospital.

7. That was really Madelaine Petsch playing the piano

Petsch actually played the piano for the scene where Maya plays Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" at the cabin. That specific song was one of several choices written in the script, and thanks to her mom, she was already familiar with it. Petsch took actual lessons while filming in Slovakia to refresh her memory and fine-tune her skills.

6. Madelaine Petsch helped come up with the shower scene

Petsch had the idea to implement another scare early on in the movie when her character is showering. In real life, the actress has said she often fears that a killer will burst in on her right when she's shampooing her hair and gets soap in her eyes—since seeing Psycho, I think most women have. Because it's a real fear of hers, she thought it felt right to add it into the movie, hence why Scarecrow ominously stares at Maya during those few moments.

5. No tear sticks necessary

Maya spends a significant amount of time crying or in anguish. All of those tears were really Petsch's. She previously reacted badly to a tear stick (a menthol-infused wax some actors use to induce real tears) and doesn't really need them anyway since she can clearly cry on cue.

Even more interesting is that the moments of emotional distress and tears weren't written into the script. That came naturally to Petsch while acting out those challenging scenes.

4. No real chickens, but cute rat co-stars

Maya and Ryan finally realize something is seriously wrong when they find a dead chicken strung up over the kitchen table. Animal lovers, don't worry. Though they were given the option to use an actual dead chicken, production declined. Petsch says she wouldn't have been okay with that anyway, which makes sense as the actress is a big animal lover and a vegan.

That said, the rats that we later see during the scene where Maya and Ryan are crawling beneath the house are very real (and very adorable). Petsch says she loved working alongside the furry little guys.

3. Extra filming details

The Strangers trilogy was primarily filmed in Bratislava, Slovakia. But the interior of the cabin was built on a soundstage while the exterior was shot in a different location.

They also built an entirely different, albeit small, set to create the shot where the camera pans directly from the crawl space to the cabin's living room so you can see Pin-Up Girl standing above the place where Maya and Ryan are hiding below.

Also interesting is that Petsch gets a prosthetic during the moment when Maya accidentally brings her hand down onto a nail. The special effects team worked quickly and efficiently to add the prosthetic to her hand in just a few minutes between scenes so they could keep filming without Petsch needing to leave the set.

2. The window grab was a surprise

Maya's first violent encounter with the strangers happens in the shed outside of the cabin. Petsch was unaware that the Scarecrow actor would burst through the window to grab her from behind, so her reaction was genuine.

1. Scarecrow was going to have a disturbing moment in the end

In the climactic final scene, when Maya is tied to the chair watching Ryan die and about to be stabbed herself, Scarecrow cups her face and wipes away her tears. In an earlier version, Scarecrow would have wiped away her tear and pressed it to his own eye through the hole in his mask. The shot didn't work out as intended and was cut.

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