'The Strangers: Prey at Night'

I just finished watching The Strangers, starring Liv Tyler, on Netflix. My first and only time watching it was ten years ago. Back then, I had given it kind of low marks and hadn't seen it since. When I re-watched it, I still got the same feeling that it was too much of a classy, adult version of The Charles Manson Family taking over at Camp Crystal Lake on Friday the 13th. I've always been a huge Jason fan and in my opinion, Jason Voorhees and his mom would have run through them and taken the Camp back, of course! The Strangers leaves me with too many unanswered questions, at the end especially. I feel other horror films at least TRY to give clues away! I never got that "AHA" moment, there was no carrot dangling, and no "There's going to be a sequel" when it ended, so finding there was a sequel was a pleasant surprise for me.

If you've never watched it and just in case you're curious, The Strangers was released in 2008. Horror fans had to wait ten years for this next one, The Strangers: Prey at Night. I don't think the writer of both films, Bryan Bertino, could have purposely been trying to get a following for a new Horror franchise, but, you never know, I guess.

I think Liv Tyler pretty much saved the first movie. It's worth watching just for her acting and her screaming alone! Liv Tyler is the daughter of Steve Tyler from Aerosmith. She inherited some good genes and still looks the same as she did when she starred in her father's music videos, Aerosmith's "Cryin'" (1993)and Aerosmith's "Crazy" (1994), both of which also starred Alicia Silverstone and (the very sexy!) Stephen Dorff! Tyler isn't a bad actress, just not one of my favorites. But, her acting successfully supports instilling the fear and spookiness of isolated crime into the viewers sub-conscious for The Strangers quite well. That's what led me to look for who did the screams. I was curious if Tyler is on her way to becoming a scream queen... and my search led me to my discovery.

The Strangers: Prey at Night

Rating: R

Length: 1 hr 25 mins

Genre: Horror

Synopsis:

Just like the first movie, masked psychopaths target a family of four, on an isolated vacation, in a secluded mobile home park. The reviews say the best thing about this movie is the soundtrack of a 1980s song by Tiffany, which I actually liked in the trailer! Yes, I probably am a bit disturbed. What 80s kid isn't?

There was a negative review about it being too predictable, but to be honest, a certain predictability in the horror genre is what really made all the greats like Hellraiser, Evil Dead, Halloween, Friday the 13, The Omen, Pet Sematary, Ghostbusters... so yeah, need I go on? Even so, I totally look forward to watching this! I hope I can give this at least 8 stars out of 10. I have an open mind. Besides, if you've ever watched the Faces of Death from the 1970s and 1980s, you know just like I do, that the scariest horrors are the true stories behind the movies!

I have no idea how I missed the release of The Strangers: Prey at Night! It was released March 9, 2018 and has been available on DVD since at least this past summer... yet somehow I still missed any news suggesting it was in theaters! Well, guess what? It IS available through Netflix's DVD plan and shortly after it arrives at my home (hopefully by this Saturday or next Monday), I will feel much more enlightened!

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