THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (Johannes Roberts). 85 minutes. Opens Friday (March 9). See listing. Rating: NN
The Strangers: Prey At Night is a no-frills throwback to 80s horror filmdom and a nominal sequel to the 2008 home invasion thriller.
Middle-aged couple Cindy (Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks) and Mike (The Ring’s Martin Henderson) are visiting a secluded mobile home park before dropping off rebellious daughter Kinsey (Bailee Madison) at a new school. A bit of backstory and tension between goth Kinsey and her more conformist brother, Luke (Lewis Pullman), help set the stage for one long night in which the family is stalked by a group of nihilistic, mask-wearing killers.
The trailer park setting is suitably spooky, and director Johannes Roberts films one sequence in a neon-lit swimming pool with genuine skill. But there’s nothing original about the film, the performances are merely competent and the overall effect is as numbing and banal as the overuse of pop hits like Total Eclipse Of The Heart on the soundtrack.
