20 Great Performances Wasted In Terrible Horror Movies
2. Madelaine Petsch - The Strangers Trilogy
Renny Harlin's new trilogy of Strangers movies were thoroughly - and rightly - panned by just about everyone, though there was one single bright spot among it all, lead actress Madelaine Petsch.
Petsch, bless her, gives a fully committed performance as embattled protagonist Maya across the three films, clearly trying her damnedest to elevate both a wonky script and Harlin's consistently flat direction.
It's ultimately not a battle she wins because, of course, not even the most skilled veteran actor could overcome such fundamental deficiencies.
However, it's nevertheless clear that with a stronger script and tighter vision for the entire trilogy - which was retooled extensively in post-production - Petsch would've gotten her Scream Queen flowers.
Hopefully, we'll see Petsch back in the horror realm soon enough, because she's clearly got the ferocious Final Girl energy to do the genre justice, even when she's working under such patently lacklustre conditions.
For all the many problems with this trilogy, she was one of the few things going for it.