Creepy American horror movie The Strangers hit the big screen ten years ago and critics have been saying the sequel conclusively was not worth the wait.
The new movie shares no plot narrative from the first, but the creepy concept, along with the masks, return. Perhaps after The Purge, new watchers of the franchise won’t be as unsettled by the masks as the original fans were ten years ago.
The feature introduces an entirely new set of characters in an entirely new setting. It follows a dysfunctional family in a trailer park in the middle of nowhere whose lives are disrupted by the appearance of three unnerving strangers.
We really don’t get given much more than that in the way of narrative. If you prefer your horror movies to get straight to the action, however, then you’ll enjoy the lack of build up before the jump scares and bloody horror takes over. There is a knock on the door and it all kicks off from there.
The movie was directed by Johannes Roberts whose shark thriller 47 Meters Down was a big hit last year. His direction saw a sequel far slicker than the first, and he uses fog and lighting effectively, but often fails to capture the terror that lingers throughout the original.
That being said, the movie is certainly watchable and has some decent jump scares. It might not live up to The Strangers but Roberts does add his own touch to the unnerving concept, which remains creepy even in this sequel.
