We Finally Learned Who “Tamara” Is in ‘The Strangers: Chapter 2″

This weekend the second part of a new Strangers trilogy, The Strangers: Chapter 2, opened in theaters. Like The Strangers: Chapter 1, this movie has not been well-received by fans and critics. However, in my opinion, this is a perfectly enjoyable movie for anyone who likes a basic slasher movie where a beautiful woman is chased by masked killers for 90 minutes. And as a big fan of the Strangers movies, Chapter 2 finally revealed some interesting lore about why the Strangers are killing people.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 followed Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez), a couple on a cross country road trip who stopped in the small town of Venus, Oregon where they attracted the attention of the Strangers. After the events of that movie, Chapter 2 begins with Maya recovering in the Venus hospital. When the Strangers arrive, Maya runs but doesn’t know who her masked tormenters are or which of the townspeople she can trust. We are also shown flashbacks that tell the story of how the Strangers came to know each other and begin killing people.

The flashbacks follow a group of children at a church, religious school or some kind of religious organization. They are dressed in black pants and white shirts, similar to how Jehovah’s Witness proselytizers dress. We saw child proselytizers (of unknown religious association) dressed like this in the original 2008 The Strangers movie as well as in The Strangers: Chapter 1.

A group of children play a game in a play house where they take turns knocking on a door and asking if someone is there. It may be a game taught to them to prepare them for proselytizing when they are older. The first example shown is a child asking “Is Sally home?” Later on, the boy who grows up to become the Scarecrow Stranger plays the game and asks “Is Tamara home?” as the girl who grows up to become the Dollface Stranger looks on.

This is significant because asking if “Tamara” is home is something the Strangers have done since the original. Brian Bertino, who wrote and directed The Strangers (2008), said the story was inspired by an experience he had where someone came to his door and asked for a person who did not live there. Later, he found out several houses in his neighborhood were robbed and he believes the person at his door was casing his home. However, the reason for asking if Tamara is home is slightly different in the movies.

Spoiler warning: stop reading now if you have not yet seen The Strangers: Chapter 2.

In the flashbacks, it is implied that the Dollface girl is obsessed with the Scarecrow boy as children. Later, when Dollface is killed as an adult, Scarecrow is shown to mourn her tenderly, though his feelings as a child seem ambiguous at first. The end of the flashback story shows the very first Strangers murder: Dollface murders a little girl with a rock because she was jealous the girl was playing with Scarecrow. Scarecrow then draws a smiley face in the girl’s blood and he and Dollface cement their connection as adults in the background flock to the murder scene.

Asking if Tamara is home is a ritual Scarecrow and Dollface have from their childhood. Tamara is not a real person. Tamara is just one of many names that were used for the children’s knocking game, but it has special sentimental significance as this was the name used right before the Strangers committed their first murder.

The Strangers: Chapter 2 is now in theaters.

Further reading:

• 20 Best Religious Horror Movies of All Time
• Is Tamara Home? — ‘The Strangers’ Trilogy Will Reveal Who Tamara Is
• 9 Unanswered Questions From ‘The Strangers: Chapter 1’