Review: Going Full Cliche with 'The Strangers Prey At Night'

This review was originally published for UW Film Club and has since been republished here with the author’s permission.

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In 2008, the original The Strangers brought a tense cat and mouse game to the big screen with its home invasion. Part horror film and part thriller, the story depicted three masked psychopaths tormenting a couple in their isolated home over the course of one night. What made the film so great was how it generated eerily effective scares using hollow killers that derived sadistic satisfaction from ultra violence. It made you feel as the random selection that occurred to the couple in the film could happen to you, making you think twice about answering your own door and check your surroundings when things got too quiet. It didn’t garner positive reviews upon release, but since then it has gained champions (including yours truly) in the form of a cult following.

Ten years later, The Strangers Prey at Night drops and it’s accompanied by a new coat of paint. With the exception of the three lunatics and a few details, the film is essentially a sequel in name only as it breaks with its predecessor and revives itself as an 80’s slasher film. The problem is the film leans too far into these nostalgic elements, and goes well into realm of cliche, forgetting any and all semblance of what made the original so great.

The film follows a family of four (strong-willed dad Mike, perky mom Cindy, jock son Luke, and rebellious daughter Kinsey) as they go on a small vacation before Kinsey is sent away to boarding school. The location of their trip is a secluded trailer park owned by their relatives, but shortly after finding them dead, things start getting weird as three masked individuals torment and try to kill the family.

If that synopsis sounds familiar it’s because it is. You’ve seen this exact same movie play out a hundred times in other movies, and the film does little in the way of differentiating itself. The film is not ashamed of its inspirations as it proudly wears them on it’s sleeve, but the film is riddled with horror cliches that make the movie head scratching to say the least. Shapeless characters splitting up only to be picked off one by one. Check. Loud jump scares that mask the lack of real scares. Check. Dropping your weapon for no reason and leaving your phones behind. Double check. There are dozens of cliched moments throughout the film that will be readily apparent as you frustratingly clench your fist and passively think, “Why the hell are they doing that?!” The film really tries to be an 80s slasher film, but the elements never amount to anything worthy of your time, especially when considering how unique the original film’s proposition and resolve was.

The only moment I can say really worked was a pool sequence set to Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ which not only had a great esthetic to it, but was also rather well directed in terms of its sequencing. It’s the one shinning moment in the film, but other than that, I’d be hard pressed to find something that this film did better than its influences. The majority of the 80’s synth needle drops don’t work. There are WAY too many push in shots. And half the time you’ll be shaking your head at what the characters are doing on screen. It’s simply a bastardization of The Stranger’s name.

The Strangers Prey at Night is a watchable flick, but it is not all that great. As it tries to pay tribute to the horror films that inspired it, it goes too far with its tropes and cliches which ultimately collapse in on themselves.  The film lives well within the shadow of the original and is nothing less then a disappointing sequel.

2.25/5 STARS

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