The Strangers: Prey at Night is a 2017 American horror film that was directed by Johannes Roberts and stars Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, and Lewis Pullman. Serving as a direct sequel to the 2008 film The Strangers, it was written by Bryan Bertino (who wrote and directed the first film) and Ben Ketai. Mike and his wife Cindy take their son and daughter on a road trip that becomes their worst nightmare. The family members soon find themselves in a desperate fight for survival when they arrive at a secluded mobile home park that’s been mysteriously deserted – until three masked psychopaths show up to satisfy their thirst for blood.

The film was released in the United States on March 9, 2018, and ended up grossing $27 million worldwide, with some critics considering it more entertaining than the original and appreciating its satire of horror films, while others noted it as inferior and called it cliche.

According to the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds an approval rating of 35% based on the 86 reviews that have been submitted. The overall critical consensus reads that “The Strangers: Prey at Night may appeal to fans of the original who’ve been jonesing for a sequel, but its thin story and ironic embrace of genre tropes add up to a bloody step back.”

The Film Itself (4/5):

Wow!  I absolutely enjoyed The Strangers: Prey at Night  – in fact, I liked this one a lot better than its predecessor.  The story that we’re given with this movie is one that comes full circle as it transitions onward, and it offers a significant amount of jump scares that I wasn’t expecting, and allowed for everything to allow for a good time.  As my wife and I watched onward, we were immediately engulfed with the story where we couldn’t take our eyes away from the television.

Picture Quality (4/5):

Overall, The Strangers: Prey at Night offers a visually clean and clear experience for its viewers.  The environment in which the movie takes place is considerably darker than most films, and while I had a handful of scenes where I was unable to see what was going on, and they required some extra focus to understand, the majority of the sequences that were played out had just enough ambient lighting to make up for the lack of background or natural lighting.  The overall dark environment with this film really did a great job at emphasizing the overall creepiness of what was happening, and helped for everything to be conveyed in a way that grabs your attention and holds it through to the end.

Audio Quality (4/5):

Bundled with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track, The Strangers: Prey at Night tries really hard at placing its viewers in the middle of the action.  While it’s not as immersive as it could have been with the utilization of a 7.1 mix, the track that was used for this release is considerably powerful and does a really nice job at making its presence known through the front and center channels.  Dialogue is presented cleanly, and everything is able to be heard and understood without having to adjust your volume levels as it progresses.

The Packaging (3/5):

The Blu-ray release of The Strangers: Prey at Night comes packaged in your standard two-disc Blu-ray amaray case.  Within that case is the standard Blu-ray copy of the film as well as the standard DVD copy.  Both discs feature no artwork that’s relative to the film outside of the standard release text and considerably generic solid colored background.  There is a digital copy redemption pamphlet that has been included for the various streaming options as well as a slipcover that’s been provided during the original pressing that features the same piece of artwork that’s made available on the case art.

  

Special Features (4/5):

Not only are there two different cuts of the film included with The Strangers: Prey at Night, but there’s a handful of special features included that offer a really nice look at the behind the scenes experiences that the cast and crew had, as well as some slight expansion to the storyline of the movie.  While I would have loved to have seen an audio commentary included on this release, I feel that the content that was included was really well done.  Included with this release is:

• Choose Between The Rated Or Unrated Cut Of The Film
• “Prep For Night” Music Video – Director’s Cut
• A Look Inside The Strangers: Prey at Night
• Family Fights Back
• The Music Of The Strangers: Prey at Night

Technical Specs:

Video

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.38:1

Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Audio

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles

English SDH, Spanish

Runtime

1 Movie, 2 Cuts – 86 Minutes

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I was genuinely pleased with The Strangers: Prey at Night and the story and experience that it provided.  Given that I was not the biggest fan of the first film, this movie was much more of a surprise and better experience than the first, which is a rare thing anymore.  The visual and audio presentation of the Blu-ray release was nicely done, with the exception of a couple of scenes being a little too dark to really see what was happening.  The audio track was extremely powerful, and tries to offer an immersive experience for its viewers.  Special features were really nicely done and offered a fulfilling behind the scenes look at the work that went into the movie.  If you’re considering grabbing this film for your collection, I would absolutely recommend it.  The Strangers: Prey at Night will be available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.

Note: This Blu-ray was sent to us for review. This has not affected our judgement or editorial process in any way. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this process.