The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

Director: Johannes Roberts

Cast:

Christina Hendricks – Cindy

Bailee Madison – Kinsey

Martin Henderson – Mike

Lewis Pullman – Luke

Summary:

“The Strangers: Prey at Night” is the sequel to “The Strangers.” This film takes place in a mobile home park and follows a family trying to survive the dreaded three masked Strangers. It has been 10 years since “The Strangers” came out and I would say that this movie is an adequate sequel. The writer of the original film returns with a new script and is directed by Johannes Roberts. The movie stars Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Martin Henderson and Lewis Pullman as the family and they boasted a few good performances. The strongest factor of this film is once again the Strangers. The lack of identity to these phantoms makes for intrigue on how they terrorize. An improvement from the last film to this one is the depth to some of the characters but otherwise, the film is dry. The scares are false pretenses and the movie takes a new direction towards the latter half. The film doesn’t hold back from the brutal violence that’s on display. The added touch of our characters being able to fight back was a great element that ultimately becomes upended by a generic finale. “The Strangers: Prey at Night” showed potential for a satisfying slasher, but ends up being another conventional horror film.

Score: 2.9/5

Happy Death Day (2017)

Summary:

“Happy Death Day” is the newest Blumhouse production and this film takes the concept of “Groundhog Day” and adds a slasher twist to it. Jessica Rothe plays Tree, a sorority student who dies and relives the same day over and over again. With each continuous death, Tree begins to uncover her mysterious killer in hope to end her nightmare. Rothe plays her character with such enthusiasm. She is depicted in the beginning as this snobby sorority student but with each death, she begins to show layers of herself that become appealing to the audience. She gave a great performance and her chemistry with Israel Broussard was just as impressive. Their presence on screen was truthful and heartfelt. The film is heavily inspired by “Groundhog Day” and that in turn takes away the horror aspect of the film as it focuses more on the comedic side. Landon utilizes a creative directing style for certain death sequences and it added to the film. “Happy Death Day” is a silly slasher film that takes the concept of “Groundhog Day” and delivers a killing outcome.

Score: 3/5