31 Days Of Streaming Horror: 'The Strangers: Prey At Night' Is A Slasher Throwback With Some Killer Tunes

Welcome to 31 Days of Streaming Horror. Every day this October, we'll be highlighting a different streaming horror movie to help you get into the Halloween spirit. Today's entry: The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018).

Sub-Genre: Slasher ThrowbackBest Setting to Watch It In: An abandoned trailer parkHow Scary Is It?: Moderate scares, but lots of fun

"A sequel?" you may be saying right now. "What if I haven't seen The Strangers?" Well, first of all, you should rectify that immediately. But even if you've somehow avoided seeing that effective 2008 home invasion flick, you'll still be able to watch The Strangers: Prey at Night unhindered. This sequel stands on its own, and all you need to know is that there are three masked killers who attack people at random. There, you're all caught up.

The Strangers was a slow-burn mood piece, loaded with atmosphere and dread. Prey at Night takes a different approach. It attempts to recapture the glory days of the slasher genre – and does so by loading the film up with an '80s-based soundtrack and a score (by Adrian Johnston) that's so reminiscent of John Carpenter that it might owe him royalties.

In The Strangers: Prey at Night, a family –  played by Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, and Lewis Pullman – head out to a trailer park for a bonding experience that goes terribly wrong. Because a trio of masked killers is on the prowl, looking for fresh victims. Director Johannes Roberts (who also helmed 47 Meters Down, and its not-so-good sequel 47 Meters Down: Uncaged) loads Prey at Night with plenty of stylish flourishes, including a show-stopping stalk-and-attack sequence set around (and eventually in) a neon-lit swimming pool. The kills are brutal, the characters are sympathetic (we feel bad when they get sliced and diced), and the tunes are sick.

Fans of the original Strangers may long for that movie's slow-burn style (that film's writer-director, Bryan Bertino, co-wrote the script for this sequel), and be thrown-off at how different this movie feels. But if you can divorce yourself from that and enjoy Prey at Night for the schlocky slasher showcase that it is, you'll be in for a fun Halloween treat.