Movie review: The Strangers: Prey at Night

A FEW jump scares, lots of blood, and creepy masked killers are some of the things to expect from this film that, despite its typical checklist of horrors, would still appeal to fans of the genre.
This 2018 thriller is a sequel to The Strangers, which hit the big screens 10 years ago.
Cindy (Hendricks) and Mike (Martin Henderson) are travelling with their two children, Kinsey (Madison) and Luke (Pullman).
The couple decide to make a stop at their uncle’s trailer park on their way to sending off their teenage daughter to boarding school.
Kinsey puts up a resistance to her parents’ decision, which delays the family’s initial time of arrival at the park.
After they reach the seemingly-deserted destination, Kinsey who is still upset, goes outside alone to clear her head, but Cindy sends Luke after her, hoping some brotherly advice will help.
The siblings come across a house with the door wide open, and out of curiosity, invite themselves inside, only to find the horrific remains of their uncle.
They realise something sinister is happening around them, and rush back to their parents, but the masked perpetrators have already placed a target on their backs.
The thing with The Strangers: Prey at Night, is that, unlike most thrillers that start out with a perfect, happy family, everything about the family featured in the movie feels so regular.
Cindy and Mike are experiencing bumps on the road in their marriage while trying to raise two teenage children, which almost every family can relate to.
What happens to them is a case of simply being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
But then again, the masked killers’ chilling reason of committing brutal attacks can simply mean that to them, it’s always the right place, and always the right time.

When the family frantically plead for their lives and ask why, the doll-face masked girl eerily responds: “Why not?”
The psychological impact is almost as gut-wrenching as the on-screen gore, because the lack of motive lingers in your mind long after the film ends.