The Strangers: Prey at Night - Terror in the trailer park
In 2008, The Strangers descending on theaters. A strong entry in the home-invasion genre, Strangers unleashed three killers on a couple, making their night a living hell. A solid hit at the box office, a sequel seemed a sure thing. Well, it is finally here...just 10 years later. The Strangers: Prey at Night, brings back the three masked psychopaths to stalk a new family. What follows is a fun sequel, with a few flaws that do hold it back.
We are introduced to parents Mike and Cindy, and kids Luke and Kinsey early into the film, and follow them on their nightmare. We are given a good amount of time getting some solid character development with them, and it really helps. We discover that Kinsey has become an out of control teen, and how it has affected the family. It is done in such a way that no one really comes out as the good guys or the villain, and it is nice to get a believable portrayal of a family going through a really rough patch. In particular Christina Hendricks and Martin Henderson stand out as parents trying to live with a tough decision they have had to make.
On there way to take Kinsey to boarding school, they stop at a camping trailer park ran by family members. It is here that the run into the Strangers themselves. It is great to see these psychos again. Just like before, they toy with their victims, leaving signs, stalking from a distance, before going in for the kill. They may honestly be some of the most terrifying villains in film history, because they are doing this just because they can. It is hard not to imagine that people like this exist in the world, which is maybe the scariest thought possible.
The chase between the family and the killers is exciting, and you find yourself rooting for the family to turn the tide and take out the Strangers. There is great tension throughout the hunt, filmed with some great crowd pleasing moments, as well as a beautifully shot violent scene in the pool.
Unfortunately some things just don't work that well. There are some things that stretch the limits of being believable to the max. For instance, when two family members are facing down only one of the killers, carrying only a knife, they decide to make a run for it. Now, I may be wrong, but having the numbers advantage, facing only a single person, I would think the first option would be to attack, and try to overpower the killer. Also, there are numerous scenes where characters show up extremely conveniently. I know that is common in a lot of films, but man does this one stretch, especially in what can only be assumed is a sizable camping grounds.
Another issue is just some strange editing at times. We got scenes where a shot lingers on a mailbox for 20 seconds or so, and it really does nothing. It isn't tension filled or anything, nothing happens at all, it's just a mailbox. There a few shots like this, and it just feels like padding on a film to stretch the run time over 85 minutes. Also, it may have just been the theater we were in, but there are some scenes that are just overtly dark, and made it hard to make out anything for a couple minutes.
Despite these issues, Prey is still a fun time, especially if you enjoyed the first film. It is not as good as the first movie, but is still a worthy sequel, that is a good time, especially in a theater with others. Good, strong characters that you can root for, mixed with great villains, makes for a entertaining quick paced thrill. If there is a sequel to this film, lets just hope it doesn't take 10 more years.
3.5/ 5
