The Strangers: Prey at Night is a sequel to The Strangers, but I am not certain if the events of the movie are immediately after its predecessor or reflect the actual amount of time between the theatrical releases of these movies, ten years later. This fact is irrelevant since both movies feel simultaneously retro and contemporary. It is about a family of four trying to survive the three masked murderers, two women and a man, after Labor Day at a trailer park run by their relative. Unlike the first movie, this installment adheres more to traditional horror movie tropes and is quite satisfying if you’re into that genre, which I am. I chose to watch the Unrated over the Theatrical Version.
Technically I’ve been following this franchise since its inception. Rumor has it that The Strangers was based on Ils, which is French for them. Recently French films have been trying to snatch the crown from J Horror and have been classified by film critics as New French Extremism. Not all these French films are horror films. Some are made by respectable French directors whose works push the graphic envelope by placing its characters in situations of senseless, random physical and psychological torture. Neither the killers nor their victims are notable, just the process of destruction. While Americans initially embraced the randomness in its remake of the foreign film, in the sequel, even the randomness has a certain discernible pattern for viewers. The American version is not as graphic, and the killers have more in common with Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees than their counterparts in Ils, who are unremarkable and indistinguishable from regular people.
In The Strangers, if viewers were unfamiliar with Ils, you didn’t really know what the three masked individuals wanted to do with the couple, but even the simple act of wearing masks distinguished them from their European counterparts. The final lines of that first movie gave insight regarding their modus operandi so in The Strangers: Prey at Night, when the crap hits the fan, and the family is just as clueless as we were the first time around, the satisfaction is seeing how long it will take them to realize the gravity of their circumstances and respond accordingly. Beware of smiley faces and white women knocking at your door.
The Strangers: Prey at Night also has the advantage of making a family that you’re rooting for: the cool, formerly rebellious mom played by Christina Hendricks, the hot dad, the siblings that annoy, but like each other although the actor playing the son looks like he is only slightly younger than his father. They are clearly going through a rough patch, and we never get details of what actually happened to get them to this point. I thought that depending on the transgression, if the sequel wanted to get back to its European roots, it would have been interesting if the problem child had similar proclivities as the killers in Ils. Would the killers have a formidable enemy and/or a new friend? We could have had a demented dance off of who was the real sick bastard. In Ils, random murder is an unspoken trend among children of a certain age. I’m not thinking of a trend to be popular like Scream Queens, but something more unspoken and sinister such as my observation of an increase in bullying by boys of adults since the election of Presidon’t. The sequel never goes there, and maybe my idea is only theoretically interesting, but would induce eye rolls if projected on screen.
I also appreciated that The Strangers: Prey at Night made sure that we knew that no matter how depraved the killers were, the dog was safe. The key to filmmaking is to know your audience, and I’m like a lot of American viewers. Kill all the people, and we won’t bat an eyelash, but if you hurt an animal, it is unacceptable. Visually the sequel is reminiscent of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist or a John Carpenter film, especially the siege mentality of the victims spatial relationship to their tormentors; however the swimming pool sequence seems wholly unique to Johannes Robert because it could have looked goofy or lame, but it worked and brought a certain level of tension to the cheesy grappling for the weapon gag, which person got hurt trope that I’m tired of seeing. It Follows also had an effective swimming pool sequence, but the feel is completely unique in each film. The contrasting music selection is also perfect, but I’m a sucker for 80s music.
If The Strangers: Prey at Night teaches any life lessons, it is never put down your cell phone unless it is to place it in your pocket, and never put the gun down even if you need both hands to do something. As the movie reaches the end, things become a bit ridiculous because we’re at a trailer park, not Crystal Lake. Pin Up Girl had no juice this time around so apparently it wasn’t easier for her the next time. Stop shouting! How did the father manage to do that to himself when he wasn’t even going that quickly?!? Everyone is tough and sullen until there is a murderer, and then you’re all, “Mommy!” Tips for if you, God forbid, end up in a horror movie. Find a wall to put your back against because someone will always be behind you, and you won’t know it. I don’t care if I love you, if the waitress is ready to take your order, and you’re purposely not at the table, I guess that you’re not eating. If you hear a knock at the door, and you’re not expecting someone, do not answer. If the knocker knows you, the knocker will call. If you answer, it is all on you. These were my rules long before this franchise existed. You’re welcome.
The Strangers: Prey at Night may not be a deep and meaningful movie, but it is an entertaining horror movie. While I don’t want it to be a franchise, I would watch another installment on DVD. I’ve never seen any of the entries in the theater. It is good, but not that good.