'The Strangers: Prey at Night' is not a sequel in any kind of sense beyond these three lovely people you see above. You could almost consider the film a remake of the 2008 film, but with a lot more emphasis on style, genuine tension, likeable protagonists this time, and overall I think it's a far superior film. Now, let's be realistic: the film didn't take a decade just to perfect the original's many flaws, but when you see 'Prey at Night' you may very well have that feeling. Firstly, the victims (or heroes) are much more likeable this time around. They consist of a family having a crisis with their rebellious teenage daughter (I know but trust me, it gets better). Despite their cliche bickering at the beginning of the film, they quickly become more deep and by the end you are cheering for these poor folks (quite literally at my screening).
Next we come to my favorite thing about this film: it's highly stylish production value. This is one of the best looking horror films I've seen in a while, with lots of cold thick fog all around and even a giant neon lit swimming pool scene that just screams 80's, which I am always for in more movies. The music is also quite good, obviously taking inspiration from John Carpenter mixed with some Bonnie Tyler and other 80's pop music (seriously need to stop talking about the 80's don't I?). Speaking of Carpenter, the director Johannes Roberts clearly has a love for the master of horror, as he takes the good things about Carpenter's films without relying on too many modern horror tropes. Sure, they're are a few jump scares but surprisingly there are very few and little to no gore beyond some blood splats (and a creative use of blood as a visual shot which I won't spoil).
We also get some nice references to the classic horror films 'Christine' and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' that may have flown over the heads of 99% of the younger audience in my theater, but will leave any horror fanatic grinning. I also love that this movie has fun with its premise and doesn't wallow in misery and torture like the previous film did. The mid 00's was over-saturated with torture and gore with no clever twist or tongue in cheek humor thrown in and it really drug that era of modern horror down. With the recent trend of bringing back the retro style films like 'Beyond the Gates' and yes 'Strangers 2' we can have our horror and our bloodshed, but still feel like we're riding a rollercoaster on celluloid.
So did I have any problems with 'Prey at Night'? Well, of course I did as every movie has their little problems. I feel the main problem with the movie is that despite a much more satisfying end product than the original, I feel that too much was still left unexplained. How did the killers know that this family would visit this exact location? Why is this particular stalking feel so much more prepared than the seemingly random attack on the couple in the last movie? The level of detail that the killers go through for this particular family just gives me a nagging feeling that they are specifically targeting this family but without explanation.
I also feel that like the previous movie, everything seems to feel too much like a dark ride. What I mean is, that everybody would have to go to these exact spots at the exact right time in order for this movie to work the way it does. Yes, scripts are structured this way but most films don't feel so mapped out once they are fully filmed and presented. My final little nitpick would be that they doubled the ending. No spoilers here, but they should have ended the movie before they did but instead they add on a last scene scare that doesn't even make sense when you've seen the movie for yourself. Almost as if the studio tacked it on for sequel potential which always annoys me.
'The Strangers: Prey at Night' is a way better film that it deserves to be. A film a decade in the making by a tiny studio based on a film that only had a modest success at the box office should have been an absolute failure. Instead, we get a film that I feel is superior to the original in almost every way and it comes highly recommended from me.
8.5/10
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