How sad is this?

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Watch this in the victims perspective, not an opinionated criticism perspective.

After seeing this movie and reading the reviews, I was totally scared by it. What's even more horrifying is that its based on true events. Yes the acting was somewhat comedic with the family barely having survival skills, not keep their phones on them (granted I think the mom was tired of the lack of family connection and wanted the phones off) and not hiding better. Why the daughter was allowed to run off as she did, I dont know. My butt would have been blistered if I spoke to and acted towards my mom as the daughter did. Those strangers were dang freaky and always popping up, you thought there was more than three. The music was classic. Crazy to die by an air supply or bonnie Tyler sappy song. Sounds like the strangers have relational issues, to say the least. I thought it was great but frustrating. Now leading to a part 3.

In 2008 I went alone into a theater to watch and unknown director's film called The Strangers. I was blown away with how logical the film was, how it got under your skin with it's organic progression and choice of realistic characters (not to mention stellar actors). The atmospheric frights of when you dont see the strangers are even more effective than when you do. The wind chimes, the noises. It reminds you that the woods are a scary place to be at night! Everything about that film reminded me of the potential horror films have. Bryan Bertino won me over and I could not wait to see what he would do next.Word of a sequel to The Strangers continued building steam over the years. Eventually the release date was set and it was announced Bertino would not be directing, but co-wrote the film. I doubt he did much of the co-writing other than offer an idea of the setting. I watched this last night on my friend's Plex server in my theater room. I am so happy i didn't spend a dime to watch this utter pile of trash. All of the majority of other reviewers (who have standards of logic when watching a film) have voiced the same observations I made. It was the opposite of the first Strangers by doing the following: horrible characters, terrible logicial decision making, no sense of giving the audience a reason to give a crap about anyone - including the strangers. The characters who die end up dying laughably. Why does everyone have to scream "Why don't you just leave us alone?!" after a few deaths are witnessed, and why is it necessary to scream people's names at the top of their lungs when they're running around the grounds trying to avoid getting spotted? The characters played perfectly by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman in the first film made you care about them because why? THEY MADE LOGICAL DECISIONS! You cheered them on and when bad things happened, it made YOU feel on edge for them. This movie, however, I spent more time yelling at the screen because these characters annoyed me so much. As for the cinematography - average but it's the only thing that earns the 1 star here. The style and music here, obviously trying to ride the coattails of Stranger Things popularity in today's modern pop culture. Talk about cash grab! No originality - ZILCH! The ending was the worst I've seen in many years.Take it from me and stay far away from this abortion of a film. Even if you have the chance to watch it for free, don't. It's a complete waste of time and a shameful sequel to an otherwise fantastic original.

The Strangers: Prey at Night is a color by numbers Slasher: minimal setup, fast paced Act II, Act III is executed cleanly. It is the horror film equivalent of a new look LA Rams screen pass, Goff to Gurley II, good for 9 yards. Early in the film there's an effective long shot panning slowly into a conversation in a gas station parking lot. Christina Hendricks delivers solid character work. At some point soon, we should begin appreciating the weird, post-Mad Men roles she's taken, and enhanced. There are some new takes on time honored/trodden Slasher tropes, making them just fresh enough to avoid the full ennui of the connoisseur.