Jump scares are a dime a dozen. A horror movie can not live off those alone. Horror is most effective when there is a state of constant tension. This feeling of unease is what should be keeping you at the edge of your seat. The sequel to "the Strangers" succeeds at this. While it is based on true events. It is a compilation of true events as the director of the original film who wrote "Prey At Night" Bryan Bertino claims the Tate Murders and the Caddie Cabin Murders as his inspiration. One of the most important elements the original and the sequel have in common is creating the feeling of isolation. Where the first film felt more like a remake of the French film "Them", this movies stands more on it's own two feet. The masked teen killers are really the only thing the two movies have in common aside from the premise.
This time around Johannes Roberts is directing. With the film set in a trailer park rather than the confines of a single house gives the killers a wider play ground to toy with their victims. The lighting and cinematography in this film is more interesting than the rather straight forward camera angles of the first film. While it is full of the "oh, my god how stupid can you be" style horror movies , with characters running into what you can easily see as dead ends, only one of these is that cut and dry. My only complaints about the film was how it asks how far do you have to pushed before you at at the breaking point and willing to fight back and how Christina Hendricks exits the film so soon. This is not torture porn, as torture leaves more of a motive than the killers in this film. The just because attitude takes away the underlying sexual under current I prefer in these types of movies and wold have made for a more enjoyable casting of Hendricks. This leaves Bailee Madison to carry much of the film's weight. She shows a great deal of potential as a budding scream queen. At 19 she convincingly plays a little girl much younger and it's not until the films third act she really comes into her own and gives her character more shades than the typical rebellious brat.
The use of music and lighting in the story and in the production go hand in hand in giving the film enough of a quirky edge to bring art to what if left to less capable hands. Things like the neon pools lights with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" playing in the background, firmly sets the scene in your mind after you leave the theater. There were enough elements in play this time around to give this movie it's own feet and set it part from both the original film and "Them" which in someways makes it better than the first film. The first film might have benefited from Tyler's performance and a more intense and grim tone, this movie feels fresh in a time when on-screen horror seems to be content with Blum House inspired eye candy.
