Masked psychopaths armed with knives and axes threaten a household in The Strangers: Prey at Night. Director Johannes Roberts helms this sequel to 2008’s The Strangers, imbuing it with the swagger of an ’80s John Carpenter movie. It’s too unhealthy that’s all of the film has to supply: It’s all fashion and no substance.

The masked killers who’re bent on mayhem recall to mind photos like The Purge and Happy Death Day, however these movies benefited from (a minimum of considerably) attention-grabbing ideas. In this film, there’s barely something noteworthy or attention-grabbing concerning the idea or plot. The story follows a household of 4. Mother Cindy (Christina Hendricks) and father Mike (Martin Henderson) are having bother elevating their daughter Kinsey (Bailee Madison), so that they’re sending her off to boarding college. Along with their older son Luke (Lewis James Pullman), the household go off to spend a while collectively at their uncle’s trailer park. It takes a whole half-hour to get by the setup earlier than the film even begins to attempt to thrill the viewers. For the subsequent hour, it does intention for some scares, however fails miserably.

That failure largely stems from the skinny plot, which implies there isn’t a lot for the actors to do. When it involves the trio of psychotic killers, they’re unable to convey the chaotic and unchained need for malice that may be actually horrifying and disturbing. You would possibly marvel if possibly they have been going for extra of a Michael Myers-type villain, however not one of the killers pull off the quiet depth and imposing angle wanted to scare anybody. The bodily appearing is uninspired and unsupported by the cinematography. The solely noteworthy appearing comes from Bailee Madison—her uncontrollable sobs and blubbering gasps draw viewers into Kinsey’s utter concern and panic.

Aside from Madison’s efficiency, the one different power this image has is its sense of favor in each the visuals and the audio. In an try to evoke the ’80s, the film includes a soundtrack stuffed with pop hits from that period and a particular synth rating. The result’s an aural panorama that conjures up John Carpenter’s traditional slasher movie Halloween. The title card for the film can be an try to evoke a retro really feel, just like what the Netflix sequence Stranger Things did with its title sequence. Prey at Night is shot in an attention-grabbing method as properly, with what looks like a robust sense of id. For occasion, the movie’s use of broad angles that slowly zoom in for a close-up of the characters will subtly creep out viewers, because it suggests the menace of a predator’s intense focus.

But finally, Prey at Night is a slasher movie that fails to traumatize viewers in the identical method that Kinsey and Luke are. It ought to’ve centered its power on executing the tried-and-true slasher-flick components somewhat than creating the aesthetics. At one level within the film, Kinsey asks one of many killers, “Why are you doing this?” If somebody requested Johannes Roberts this query, it looks like she or he would’ve gotten the identical lazy reply that the killer provides: “Why not?”