The violence starts earlier, there are more redundant jump scares and the expansion of the focus from a couple to a family and a house to a mobile home park makes the tension less precise. Since 2008, horror has become even more profitable, a Friday night staple at the box office, and while the original was allowed patient pacing, the sequel feels tailored to a younger, bloodthirsty audience. But he’s not got a great deal to work with and what the film crucially fails to do is fill us with that same dread that made its predecessor so gut-wrenching. It may sound like faint praise but it’s well-lit, something that can’t be said for so many scary movies, and Roberts tries to stage the film’s key sequences with an artful eye. It’s far from the cheapo sequel one might expect and, if anything, there’s a slicker sheen here than there was to the original. The director, Johannes Roberts, who scored a surprise hit last year with the shark thriller 47 Metres Down, shows a comforting adeptness from the first frame. Unlike franchises overexplained to breaking point, the sequel repeats the no-frills plot of the first outing with no further depth – which means that as a film, it needs to work as an engine, primarily, to scare us into submission. Photograph: Brian DogulasĪnyone who can still remember what happened after that fateful knock in the first film will have a pretty strong idea of what’s to come and whether it’s an experience they’d care to endure again. ![]() They head to a secluded mobile home park and within hours, their peaceful getaway is interrupted by a knock on the door.Ĭhristina Hendricks and Bailee Madison in The Strangers: Prey at Night. Before she’s sent to boarding school, the family, along with their more rule-following son, Luke (Lewis Pullman), decide to take a brief vacation to make the most of their time as a foursome. Kinsey (Bailee Madison), a rebellious teen, has pushed her beleaguered parents, Cindy (Christina Hendricks) and Mike (Martin Henderson), too far and they’re taking drastic action. It’s a retread of sorts, structurally similar, the elements all in place but second time around, there’s something significant missing: the scares. It means that a lucrative younger audience who might be unfamiliar with the original won’t feel intimidated by joining a franchise too late and for genre fans who prefer to keep their villains in the dark, it results in a lack of overwritten backstory. ![]() The Strangers: Prey at Night is gleefully unrelentless and unpredictable in its chaos, never slowing down and leaving us in perpetual fear of what may be lurking behind the next corner - a frightful experience for vintage thrillseekers and series strangers alike.The inevitable development of a Strangers sequel (it made $82m from a $9m budget) has been plagued with setbacks and now, 10 years later, it creeps into cinemas, marketed largely as The Strangers and acting as a standalone film. With strong performances from its cast, the central family feel less like lambs led to slaughter and more, genuine people pushed to their very limits, which is perfectly contrasted by the disturbing auras emitted by Bellamy, Maffei and Enslin behind the masks of The Strangers. Blending John Carpenter’s iconic mastery of horror’s best friend, lighting, with a fun retro ‘80s soundtrack imbues The Strangers: Prey at Night with the spirit of beloved vintage slashers, with spectacular set pieces, like a particular poolside tussle set to Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” sure to become a staple of our nightmares! ![]() Inheriting the series from Bryan Bertini, who assists here as co-writer, director Johannes Roberts and cinematographer Ryan Samul prove a formidable tag team of style. While many consider the 2008 original a genre classic, a stronger focus on its cast, tantalising cinematography and eerily playful soundtrack lets The Strangers: Prey at Night achieve the coveted feat of being a sequel that not only lives up to the expectations set by its predecessor, but exceeds them.
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