Sophia Michaels
Ten years is an extended hole between a film and its sequel, particularly for a horror film. That hole, although, appears as if it was sufficient time for the filmmakers of “The Strangers: Prey at Night” to get it proper.
The 2008 unique, written and directed by Bryan Bertino, by no means fairly had the braveness of its convictions till its bleak-beyond-bleak ending. The drawback, although, was that the ending got here out of nowhere. Here was one other home-invasion film, through which it appeared as if the villains had been merely pranking a pair for an prolonged time period (one of many victims of the invasion was the one one to kill anybody till the climax). When the masked antagonists revealed their true natures within the ultimate minutes, it got here throughout as a shock within the worst potential approach.
In principle, the ending was chilling—the concept this trio of individuals did not have any rational motive, any supernatural traits, or, when the time got here, any scruples in killing their victims. In follow, it felt low-cost—tacking on a hopeless ending simply to make us really feel unhealthy.
Bertino returns, as a co-screenwriter this time, leaving the directorial work to Johannes Roberts, who brings a far surer hand and a extra putting visible aesthetic to the sequel. So a lot of the success of any given horror movie depends on just a few aesthetic parts: its environment, its means to play with mild and the shadow, and, in fact, location (…location, location—as actual property of us would add for impact). From the beginning, a prologue that breaks its predecessor’s unusual sense that the killers may simply be toying with their victims, it is a visually oppressive train in terror. Save for just a few scenes in a brightly sunlit suburb, the movie stays that approach for the extent of its operating time.
Thanks to the unique, we all know by now that the three strangers (performed by Damian Maffei, Emma Bellomy, and Lea Enslin), who put on ironic masks or a hood with painted smiles, imply enterprise. The neat factor about this sequel is that it stands by itself. We needn’t know from the ending of the unique film that these persons are heartless, cold-blooded killers. They get to work nearly instantly on this outing, pulling as much as an occupied trailer residence in an in any other case empty trailer park of their beat-up pickup truck—a peppy pop tune blaring on the radio (Roberts has that music play over the manufacturing logos and a black display screen, however as quickly because the movie correct begins, it cuts out with a jolt, as we take within the dim, streetlight-lit scene). As with the unique, just a few knocks on a door at an ungodly hour of the night time begins off a short, if genuinely creepy, opening.
The remainder of the story follows a likable household of 4: father Mike (Martin Henderson), mom Cindy (Christina Hendricks), daughter Kinsey (Bailee Madison), and son Luke (Lewis Pullman). They’re on their method to that trailer park for a weekend journey, earlier than taking Kinsey to a boarding faculty. There’s stress between the members of the family, naturally. The dad and mom are frightened about their daughter in barely other ways: Mike is a bit out of the loop however is aware of one thing is amiss, and Cindy was in an identical place throughout her personal teenage years. Kinsey resents her dad and mom’ resolution, in addition to her brother’s standing because the “perfect” little one. Luke clearly thinks his youthful sister is a nuisance, however he needs for a return to the times when Kinsey was his little sister.
It’s a bit shocking how nicely Bertino and fellow screenwriter Ben Ketai slot in scenes to assist flesh out these relationships earlier than the fear really begins, and, much more surprisingly, throughout the peak of it. (The peak of the fear, by the way in which, is a close to fixed as soon as it begins). The movie does not cease for these moments. They’re constructed into the rising stress, because the household separates and slowly comes to appreciate that they don’t seem to be alone within the park, and so they increase the affect of what may have been simple sequences of the killers looking down the numerous members of the family, trapping them in enclosed areas, and attending to their bloody work. Two stand out: an intense scene of last-second escape in a cramped toilet and a guardian providing a baby what could be some ultimate phrases. Even extra important to the movie as a thriller, we’ve got a way that, in contrast to the protagonists within the unique, these characters have an precise likelihood towards the killers.
All of this heightens the stress, as a result of we like these characters sufficient in their very own, distinctive methods. They’re adequate that we have not even arrived at Roberts’ approach but. It’s spectacular on a technical degree, with the director and cinematographer Ryan Samul using some prolonged, preternaturally exact zooms (a shot that begins dozens of ft away will get into almost-close-up whereas nonetheless conserving an actor in body).
It’s much more efficient in how nicely Roberts incorporates the seemingly huge expanse of this location for a collection of genuinely scary sequences. The trailers are tight areas, the place any of the killers might be hiding within the shadows or beneath some type of cowl. One will immediately discover the absence of the standard build-up and sting cues on the soundtrack, which means that we’re by no means fairly sure when the scare will arrive. The fields of the park present sufficient sporadic mild and distance that we will barely spot a determine or the headlights of that damned truck standing—after which approaching—from afar. There’s a virtuoso sequence at a pool that opens with a subversion of Roberts and Samul’s often gradual zooms. The sequence simply retains going from there, as one of many characters engages in a life-or-death battle with an ax-wielding maniac on the sting of and within the water.
“The Strangers: Prey at Night” is an sudden anomaly—a sequel that each is best than and fixes the issues of its predecessor. It’s a chilling and genuinely scary horror movie, pushed by some stable performances and Roberts’ command of environment, location, and relentless pacing.
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