The Strangers: Prey at Night

stupid movie ever

'THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT': Four Stars (Out of Five) A sequel to the hit 2008 slasher flick 'THE STRANGERS', about three masked killers terrorizing a couple at a remote country home. In this film the same psychopaths torment a new family, as they're supposed to be visiting relatives in an unexpectedly deserted mobile home park. It stars Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison and Lewis Pullman. The movie was directed by Johannes Roberts (who also helmed the 2017 killer shark horror flick '47 METERS DOWN'), and it was scripted by Bryan Bertino and Ben Ketai. The film has received mostly negative reviews from critics, but it is a decent hit at the Box Office though. I think it's a pretty well made and effective slasher flick. Cindy (Hendricks) and Mike (Henderson), and their two teenagers, Kinsey (Madison) and Luke (Pullman), are moving in with some family relatives in a secluded mobile home park. When they arrive at the park, no one is apparently home, and a note is left for them telling them to let themselves into their trailer. After a strange girl comes knocking at the door, multiple times, looking for someone they don't know, Cindy and Mike become suspicious for their family's safety. Their fears turn out to be justified, as they soon find themselves under vicious attack, from three masked strangers looking to terrorize them. The movie is really dark, brutally violent, and disturbing. It's well filmed and acted, and there's some decent character development in the first half. It's basically just a really violent fright-fest, which is fine with me because I enjoy those. I'd say it's about as well made and effective as the original, but just a little less original (not surprisingly). For a sequel it's definitely not bad at all, despite what critics say.

This movie really sucked bad. I can't believe it's rated 4 points higher than Wrinkle either. In 2008 I was rooting for Liv Tyler to somehow survive the horror. But in this one, after 30 minutes of bad acting I was rooting for the Creeps to hurry up and finish off this family so I could leave. But no, they had to drag it out for another hour. What were they doing out there in the dark all that time anyway? At least we find out the family's last name. The Spineless family. And no middle class Cincinnati family would be driving a crappy 25 year old minivan like that.

I lay my cards on the table and admit I'm a huge fan of the original movie and I'm not sure if that makes me the ideal or the worst audience. I was excited to revisit The Strangers universe, if you like, but equally, I was nervous this was going to be a simple cash in job that in truth belongs in the Target DVD section gathering dust. But very quickly my Home Entertainment fears evaporated and were replaced with gripping fear, electric excitement and raw anticipation - a feeling I remember oh so fondly from sitting in a theater watching the original! This is the type of horror that reminds me why making the trip to see it on the big screen is still very much worth it as the audiences reactions, the gasps and squeals, is all part of the fun, key to the experience. I hadn't actually realised the director is the same dude behind 47 Metres Down, a movie I also saw in the theater last year and loved that as well, so I guess I'm a new fan. I'm undoubtedly a fan of Prey At Night, worthy of a second theater viewing me thinks.

The music is the best part of the movie. I loved the 80s themed soundtrack, especially during the pool scene. The movie slowly ramps up tension and when it hits full bore it never stops. Its relenting. The characters do stupid things of course, but that's par for the course for these movies. In the end you do care enough to want them to survive . I admit the film doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but what it does bring it does really well. I'd recommend to fans of the slasher genre and of the original movie.

If so, boy oh boy, you are in for a treat! This movie has it all- predictable plot, one-dimensional characters (the main one didn't have one redeeming characteristic!), and a plot that seemed to want to be good but just couldn't manage to do so. The thing that made the last film great was the mystique of the antagonists, contrasted against the seemingly wholesome protagonists.This film, while it did have some great 80's tunes (thanks, I guess, for the flashback and for reminding me that I am old), did not have any of the elements that made the preceding film so fantastic and memorable.This film was predictable and seemed to subscribe to the basic elements that are required for a film to be categorized in the Horror genre. It was not original, in any way. There were no unpredictable surprises. Long story short, if you feel like wasting movie ticket money, enjoy a predictable plot, and like watching a movie with a bunch of strangers, run -don't walk- to the nearest theater.

"The Strangers: Prey at Night" is another unoriginal and stupid slasher, with a storyline that is on the shelf of any mediocre screenwriter ready to be reprocessed and usually said "based on true events". The most impressive is that even this type of storyline is able to produce good and scary low-budget slashers, such as the French-Romanian "Ils" ("Them" - 2006) or the Austrian "Funny Games" (1997) by Michael Haneke. Both films are tense and make the viewer nervous with the frightening atmospheres. The cruelty in "Funny Games" is impressively cold and therefore horrifying. In "The Strangers: Prey at Night", there is no character development or motive and the situations are stupid with many cliches. The family splits in the beginning, aware that their relatives have been slaughtered, instead of immediately driving to the police station. The father sees what happened to his wife, but does not shoot the killer. The survivors have many chances to leave the camping area and to possess weapon, but are surprised in the most clichés situations. The police officer has his throat cut in another typical clichés, when the good girl believes that is safe. Advice when most needed is least heeded, but do not spend your time watching this movie. There are much better options in the genre. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): "Os Estranhos: Caçada Noturna" ("The Strangers: Prey at Night")

The soundtrack is fun and the pool scene is gold. But the rest of the movie is a total let down. It causes more laughter than creeps. At least, it´s never a total bore fest.

As soon as "the action" starts all the cliche nonsense of the past 100 years in horror making shows up and not a stitch of sense or logic applies to anything that occurs again in this film.