The Strangers: Prey At Night Isn't​ As Well-crafted Nor As Creepy As The First But Still Manages To Be Reasonably Entertaining

      Crafting a sequel to a successful horror film is by no means an easy task as expectations are high for that film to meet or exceed the standard set by its former predecessor both critically and financially. In most cases, horror sequels end up falling short of the standard set by their originals. Very rarely does a horror sequel live up to the expectations placed upon it, while turning out to be a worthy entry in their respective franchises. Even though a horror sequel may not quite reach the heights of the first movie, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's devoid of its own form of entertainment value as generating the same kind of scare twice is an extremely challenging job for horror filmmakers to pull off. In the case of The Strangers: Prey At Night, the filmmakers behind the long-awaited horror sequel hope to generate the same kind of impact with audiences that the previous Strangers left with them a decade prior in summer 2008. While the first The Strangers wasn't necessarily a runaway smash hit, it still proved to be a sizable one with audiences grossing $52 million domestically and over $80 million worldwide with a strong desire for a sequel to be green-lighted. Strangely enough, it took a decade for a sequel to the first film to arrive in theaters with fans who've seen the film wondering what took so long as the overall quality of the film isn't anything to warrant such a substantial wait. Unfortunately, The Strangers: Prey At Night is not as good of a horror sequel that fans have been hoping for it to be with such a long wait, though the end film isn't a total loss as it manages to reasonably entertain fans of the original despite taking a step back.

      The plot for The Strangers: Prey At Night centers around a family (Played by Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, and Lewis Pullman) going on a road trip that leads them to an isolated trailer park in hopes of staying with some relatives. However once they arrive, they discover that the park is abandoned and while staying in one of the trailers, become terrorized by a masked trio (Played by Emma Bellomy, Damian Maffei and Lea Enslin) wielding both knives and axes, leaving with the family no choice but to escape for their own survival. What The Strangers: Prey At Night does well with its story is maintaining the same story structure as the first film, while expanding the body count from being a helpless couple to a full-blown family of four being terrorized by unknown outside forces. The sequel understands what made the first film work so well with audiences and aims to stick close to that formula along with adding new twists and turns to the plot. Whereas the second film is effective in terms of building off the foundation of it's predecessor, it often feels as if it takes a backwards step in regards to quality. The sequel doesn't feel as well-crafted as the first film, and lacks a key moment that generated the kind of response from audiences they had upon seeing the strangers in the house for the first time in the original. The main characters also aren't as likable and sympathetic this time around, which makes the audience confused on whether they should root for their survival or for the strangers to get them. They aren't an unlikable family to where they deserve to get killed as no member of the bunch warrants that (Though they will drive audiences nuts with some of their logic during the films chase or kill sequences), but they also aren't people the audience will go crazy for. Despite those issues with the sequel, Prey At Night still has enough elements that work in it's favor, making it feel like a routine though effective horror flick. What works in the sequels favor is it maintains the mystery behind the strangers terrorizing the family, which was a key element of the first film that ultimately worked so well. The audience still doesn't know the motivation behind the strangers committing horrific acts of murder with the response from one of them being simply "Why not?" when questioned about why they're doing this. It's what the audience doesn't know that makes the situation much more intense and creepy. Thankfully, the makers of The Strangers: Prey At Night understand that cause they maintain the mystery. As a sequel that's​ tied to the first Strangers film, Prey At Night falls short of the strength of the first one in regards to being on par quality wise. However as a distant horror sequel with its own story, it has something to offer in terms of being entertaining and providing some decent jump scares.

      As far as the films performances go, the acting by the main cast proves to be both believable and ultimately convincing. In the films main role, Bailee Madison is serviceable as the families troubled daughter Kinsey, whose supposed to spend one last reunion with her family before being sent off to juvenile hall. Madison makes the most out of her role as the audience doesn't care much for her part at first but grow to like her throughout the course of the film, especially when she's forced to take action to help her family and assumes the role of being the strong female character in a typical horror flick. Lewis Pullman does well playing Kinsey's brother Luke with both Pullman and Madison carrying natural chemistry as brother and sister, along with conveying the right emotions of being terrified at what's unfolding throughout the story in their intense scenes. On the young characters front, both actors give performances that makeup for the shallow development the script gives their characters while managing to make the audience care about them to a certain extent. For the roles of the parents, Christina Hendricks and Martin Henderson both turn in notable and convincing performances as mother and father of Kinsey and Luke, Cindy and Mike. Their characters feel like the typical caring yet reluctant parents, who don't believe their children's story at first regarding what's happening, then ultimately end up fighting to save them when the situation unfolds. Hendricks and Handerson like their young counterparts, make the most of their parts in trying to craft a flawed yet sympathetic family that the audience ultimately wants to see survive regardless of their faults. As for the films main trio of strangers, Emma Bellomy, Damian Maffei and Lea Enslin all succeed in being both genuinely creepy and effective with their parts. Even though the audience doesn't really get to see their faces with the exception of a few quick moments in the film, they give off a chilling presence that adds much to the mystery of their characters as well as their terrifying presence with their masks. Overall, the cast of The Strangers: Prey At Night work hard to make something of their story and it shows. The performances are about what you expect them to be for this type of horror film, with the audience clearly seeing the energy brought out on the screen to make this a fun ride despite not quite being on the same level as the previous one. Believability is a key part in being able to sell the story to the audience, with both the actors and filmmakers pulling it off for the most part in the acting department.

      The films directing by Johannes Roberts proves to be both serviceable and decent with Roberts being able to create a dark and tense atmosphere, that utilizes the appropriate amount of light, making it hard for the main characters as well as the audience to see what surrounds them on the screen. Both the films soundtrack and score are perfect with them not only adding intensity to the scenes, but giving the film an 80's retro feel to it. Roberts definitely molds the film to act as a homage to 1980's classic slasher flicks with the films cinematography, set design, and soundtrack all strongly giving off that vibe with the film being tightly paced. The pacing of the film feels just right with the beginning portion of the film being properly utilized to give the audience as much character development as the script allows to make them invested in the family. However when the films horror elements kick in, the movie takes off and doesn't give the audience much room to catch their breath as the trio of strangers slowly make their move on each member of the family. The film feels like an old school Friday The 13th slasher flicks meets 80's John Carpenter with the films soundtrack brilliantly utilizing each classic song to properly fit their suspenseful moments. With The Strangers: Prey At Night, Roberts trades the slow yet well-crafted buildup of suspense the first film possessed for larger set pieces though always maintaining a dark and chilling atmosphere. Even though the movie takes place around a large trailer park setting, Roberts manages to give the set a claustrophobic vibe which makes the main characters feel trapped along with feeling like no matter what actions they take, they're always one step behind the trio of strangers slowly planning their demise. One of the true elements of the film that pays direct homage to the slasher flicks of the 80's, is the fact that the killers appear to be not just in one location but feel as if they're everywhere in the trailer park without explanation. As far as the films atmosphere and tone goes, Roberts does reasonably well and proves most effective in creating a new twisted horror story that essentially feels like a love letter to the 1980's era of horror films. There are some genuinely cool moments in the film such as the well-executed pool sequence, that's beautifully shot and effective with both its cinematography and soundtrack, a nightmarish moment involving a stranger driving a truck even after being lit on fire, the main survivor of the story hopping in the back of a truck passing by that stops for assistance, and barely dodging the axe of the killer upon doing so in a vein similar to the climax of Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the truck driving on fire feeling like a homage to the end of Halloween ll with the main villain still pursuing the final girl while being engulfed in flames before finally giving up. It's moments like these that give strength to the film which ultimately making it something more than just a copycat of the first film.

      Co-written by Bryan Bertino who wrote and directed the first film and Ben Ketai, The Strangers: Prey At Night feels very much like a distant sequel to the original and pays homage to it while assembling key components of its plot to make for a proper continuation. What works with the script is the maintaining of the ambiguity of the killers, as well as keeping them faceless for the most part. Some of the films moments that work in regards to adding to the twisted nature of their characters, is the killers standing in front of each member of the family in their separate scenes while appearing rather emotionless. Moments where the killers use their music to strike against their prey includes a scene where one of the masked strangers waits for the right song to start in the truck they're driving before making their move. It's little moments like these that add to the creepiness of their presence without any explanation given as to why they're doing this. The use of the trailer park setting works in the stories favor as it uses the same claustrophobic structure as the previous film, though provides a larger playground for both the main characters as well as the antagonists. Given that the script doesn't leave a significant amount of room for developing the main family, it's also not completely devoid of its efforts in doing so. The character development with the family feels basic without going into too much elaboration. The audience knows just enough about them to get an anchor for each character, along with providing distinctions between each member. The character of Kinsey feels like a typical generic rebellious and troubled teenager, who defies her parents wishes at first then shapens up by the films end with her fighting for her family. The mother is shown to understand her daughter's issues while at the same time throwing in the towel in regards to helping her, leaving it to others to reach her. The father role feels typical and standard with his character being somewhat oblivious as to what's happening within his own family. The beginning portion of the film spends time setting up each member of the family, so the audience gets a feel for their personalities and family relationship as a whole. One of the scripts most interesting plot points is the strengthening of Kinsey and Luke's characters, making the audience go from not caring too much about them in the beginning due to their flaws to them ultimately rooting for their survival (The pool scene is a prime example of one caring for their safety). The film carries themes within it's script that pertain to troubled youth which help to enhance the character of Kinsey, as well as giving audiences a brief glimpse of the relationship between her and her mother whose confident that boarding school will work in changing her daughter much to the fathers uncertainty of it. In addition to the murder and mayhem aspect of the film, elements pertaining to regret, parenting, loss, and families protecting each other are all at play here. As for the families handling of the situation regarding the trio when the terror begins, the results are mixed at best. Those watching this are bound to find frustration with some of the characters actions in the film in regards to not doing enough to ensure their survival or giving the feeling that they're being passive at certain parts when they should either be: A). Planning their escape or B). Fighting harder against the trio terrorizing them. There's even instances where the main characters lose valuable weapons to the antagonists, or feel as if they're literally waiting to be killed off cause they feel like there's no escape. These elements are what harms the film in a sense because they make it fall into a position where it feels as if the film is relying on generic horror movie tropes and cliches to glue the script together. The moments where the script pays homage to the first Strangers such as the main characters being asked by one of the killers: "Is Tamara home?", serves as being fun winks to the fans of the first Strangers while helping to distract from the scripts struggles at being realistic with its scenario. In regards to the realism of both stories, the first The Strangers wins hands down as well as having a better buildup of suspense, tension, and character development. However, the sequel gives those who left the theater pissed at the climax of the previous film some satisfaction here as they're able to witness more damage being directed at the trio this time by the young kids.

      Overall, The Strangers: Prey at Night is a different film than its predecessor and ultimately not as good, but it also doesn't suck as a horror flick. It suffers from the classic case of being all too familiar with what's been previously established and not taking things further out with the story. The villains still remain creepy and exciting with serviceable characters, that will both frustrate the audience as well as hold their attention as the film progresses. There's enough of what made the first Strangers film work so well here with audiences, that's present to make this a satisfactory sequel, though there's no denying that it could've been better. A similar comparison to both Strangers films is Quarantine as well as its sequel, Quarantine 2: Terminal. While the first Quarantine film was effective in giving audiences the terrifying ride that was promised in the films trailers, Terminal acted as a distant sequel to the original with a brand new story despite utilizing the first films main title. Though it wasn't quite as good as the first, Terminal managed to work as being an entertaining sequel on its own merits. The same applies with The Strangers: Prey At Night as it proudly acknowledges its predecessors roots, but opts to go in a different direction with its story while maintaining the spirit of the original. Perhaps that was a wise decision on the filmmakers part for this sequel as the film attempts to inject some new life into the series for a newer generation compared to the one that watched the original a decade prior. It's not as well-constructed nor as creative as the original Strangers, but it packs enough entertainment value and some decent kills to make it worth watching for horror fans as well as those who enjoyed the first film. Just don't expect it to be quite as good.

Final Verdict: For fans of The Strangers and horror fans in general, The Strangers: Prey At Night is a flawed yet entertaining sequel to its predecessor, though lacks the creativity and skillful craftsmanship that made that film a surprise hit with audiences.