As with all of my reviews of films for The Creepercast, I fully recommend that you check each and every one of them out. I am one man and this is my opinion. I've seen plenty of movies that received reviews that were the complete opposite of how I saw the film. These writers, directors, producers and actors all put a lot of time and love into these projects. They deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they are. Everyone has a dream and I fully support the people that take the time to make theirs a reality. With that being said....
When Bryan Bertino's film, 'The Strangers', was first released in 2008 it caused quite a big stir in the horror community. This was a slow burn horror that relied on tension and build up of the characters, before it resorted to the actual acts of violence. The killers were truly faceless and they had no real motive. It was what slasher fanatics had been waiting for, some validity to their beloved genre. Me, being one of those fanatics, immediately fell in love with it. It took the home invasion genre and mixed it with the masked maniacs and put fear back into the mix. For far too long, slasher films relied on a tried and true formula: buff guys, beautiful girls, a masked killer and a lot of blood. That worked for decades, but there wasn't a lot of variation in the mix. It was basically wash, rinse, repeat. Occasionally you'd get something brilliant like Scott Glosserman's 'Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon' or Greg McLean's 'Wolf Creek' or even Marcus Dunstan's 'The Collector'. Films that took something old and made it feel new again. Whether it was by truly doing something innovative or shaking up the formula a bit or just making something so pretty that it felt like an artist was behind the lens. The point being is that 'The Strangers' became somewhat of an instant classic and took everyone by surprise. For the years that followed its release, there was talk of a sequel, but nothing came to fruition. Bryan went on to make the high concept 'Mockingbird' and the simple but effective creature feature 'The Monster', but no sequel. Then, out of nowhere.... it happened. A trailer dropped for 'The Strangers: Prey at Night', but no Bertino behind the camera. He was resigned to being an executive producer and writer of the original screenplay. This didn't bode well for those of us who had been sitting in the nosebleed section, waiting for more. The trailer seemed okay, but the premise seemed bigger than the original. As if the studio wanted to take what was done in the original and ramp things up for a more modern audience. That was the first clue that this might not be what we'd been hoping for. The director, Johannes Roberts, had done some interesting things before, like '47 Meters Down'. A very intriguing take on the 'horror at sea' sub genre. So, it seemed there was hope for something that might hold onto the standards of the original. Granted, I'm the first one in line to try something new and to take a proven commodity and turn it on it's ear. Because of this, I was still hopeful. Well, the time finally came for me to sit down and see if the 10 years of waiting was worth it. What follows is inspired by true events. They actually happened to me.
However, we should get to the plot first. Warning, *SPOILERS* ahead. The film opens with a similar story line of Dollface coming to the door and then, we assume, terrorizing the couple that lives in the home only to kill them in the end. Most of that is left up to your imagination, based on the premise set up in the original. No context, just two basic establishing shots. Jump to a family of four, getting ready to leave for a trip to a trailer park type cabin getaway place on the way to dropping their bad egg of a daughter at a boarding school. Mom, dad, Kinsey and Luke pile into their vehicle and off they go. We get a glimpse into the family dynamic of a son who's the perfect kid and a daughter who's not. Mom and dad have pretty healthy relationship, but the four of them have all grown a bit distant. They arrive at the trailer park, only to find it to be quiet and nobody is around. Thinking it's the 'off season', they grab their key that was left with a note and head to their trailer. While the family is settling in, Dollface shows up looking for Tamara. After leaving, they decide to play cards as a family and Kinsey wants no part of it. Words are said and Kinsey storms out and Luke goes to find her. Mom and dad hang back to wait for their kids to return to pick up where they left off. After Luke finds Kinsey, they begin heading back to their trailer and see that one of the other trailers has the door wide open. They go into investigate, only to find the markings of The Strangers on the window and a couple of dead bodies in the bedroom, which happen to be their aunt and uncle. The two happened to have left their cell phones back with their parents and the phone in the trailer has had its line cut. So, they run back to tell their folks. Meanwhile, mom and dad have had another visit from Dollface, looking for Tamara. At this point, the parents are outside looking for their kids. When Luke and Kinsey coming up to them screaming about the murder, dad goes with Luke back to investigate and mom and Kinsey go back to their trailer and find out that their phones have been smashed. Dollface proceeds to show up, this time with her mask on, and quickly dispatches mom and Kinsey gets away. Dad and Luke realize what's going on, after listening to a voicemail on the machine at the aunt and uncle's and rush back to find mom dead and Kinsey gone. They hop in the car to go and look for them, only to be terrorized and end up crashing into another trailer, pinning dad to the car with a board impaling him. Barely alive, dad tells Luke to go find Kinsey and get her to safety. Leaving him behind, The Man in the Mask shows up and toys with dad for awhile before killing him. Now the hunt is on for the remaining two kids, as The Strangers seem to have the upper hand. That's all you're going to get in terms of plot and I've probably already said too much.
At this point, you're all wondering, was it worth the wait? I'm going to have to say, no. While this film has some interesting things going for it, they could have replaced The Strangers with anyone else and it would have made it better. Actually, I had an even better idea that would have made this movie stellar. (Minus one bit that I'll touch on in a minute.) Have the killers in this one, NOT be the original ones. Have them be some sort of copycat or followers of the original ones. Because these three are much more inept and incompetent, it would have made more sense. They lack any real style and seem to just be color by numbers. If you waited until the last minute of the film and when the daughter thinks she's safe and The Strangers are dead, have the three original ones walk out of the darkness. Even have the original three cast members reprise their roles! The masks are worn from 10 years of murder and mayhem. Their clothes might be a bit more ragged and have them finish what the other three couldn't, thus leaving it open for another film or to end with their reputation still in tact. That would have made this entire film take on a whole different feel and it would have made it kind of awesome, instead of kind of not awesome. But I digress, back to the actual film I watched. It opens with a kind of 80's style logo and intro, borrowing heavily from the 'Stranger Things' template. They also take the little bit of musical influence that Bryan left on the original and over do it. Which to me, seems like somebody in a suit calling the shots. “Hey that music bit really worked in the first one. Let's do that throughout the WHOLE film! Make it like, a 'thing' for The Strangers.” Yeah, it didn't play out well. Using 80's nostalgia songs vs what Mr. Bertino used felt forced and out of place. Again, lending itself well to my concept for the story. * hint hint * Hollywood.
As far as the rest of the film is concerned, it felt less simplistic but even more simplistic. Which I don't know how that's even possible, but somehow they pulled it off and it wasn't a positive thing. In reality there wasn't even a plot to speak of really. It was so incredibly generic and bland that it barely left an impression, other than one of distaste and a desire to talk about it. I'll give this film that much credit, it left me with a ton of rampant thoughts about what was wrong with it. Case in point, why oh why is Dollface unmasked? Seriously, that was the whole point of the first one. You don't know who it was and you don't need to know. It could have been anyone behind the masks. All you needed to understand is that they picked a couple at random, because they were home. They tried to drive that point home again, but it was lost by that point. Once again, lending itself really well to my concept. Finally, back to what I mentioned earlier, the third act. Pinup Girl, according to Bryan Bertino, was the leader. The brawn and the brains of the bunch. In this film, she made two brief appearances, only had about a line of dialogue and was killed really easily. These killers are not idiots with masks on. These killers are calculating and cunning. They may do things for sport and to get their kicks, but they know how to walk away untouched, only to commit their crimes again. The killers in this film are morons. Yeah, I said it. Also, what on God's green earth, prompted somebody to think that The Man in the Mask was Jason Voorhees? In the last showdown with Kinsey, the two girl killers are dead and The Man is the last one standing. So, he tries to finish the job and kill Kinsey. What ensues is a battle royale of punch for punch combat and eventually ends with him trapped in a burning truck CHASING her down the road like Nicolas Cage in 'Ghost Rider'! What in the actual hell? It all ends on a bridge where you think he's done, dead, gone. But no.... he's still kicking and proceeds to chase her down as she's trying to make a getaway with a scared mother and daughter. He was beyond dead, folks, but yet the sheer drive to kill her was a force driving the madman to go past his pain and finish the job. Cut to the final scene, Kinsey is in the hospital with her brother, who is somehow still alive. A knock on the door of the hospital room is heard and the credits roll. So, we're lead to believe that maybe The Strangers aren't dead? Is this the plan all along? Was my plot device going to be used after all? Good lord, I hope so. That would wash the taste of this film out of my mouth and make me want to view it again. At this point, I'm giving this one 2 out of 5 stars. It did nothing to drive the story along any further and if anything, pushed it back about 100 yards. It's left me wondering though, if this was what Bryan intended all along? I mean, if he had full control over it and was in the director's chair, would this have been the film he wanted? Or was this his attempt to kill the beast, since he no longer had control over the characters and story line? I suppose we'll never really know. For now, I'm hoping that I'm right and that these killers weren't the original ones. Until we know for sure, I'll hold on tightly to my Shout Factory Collector's Edition Blu-ray and re-watch it with glee. This version, based on true events? My ass.
If you didn't like this and want to check out much better takes on the sub genre: 'The Strangers' (2008), 'Ils' aka 'Them' (2006) and 'Eden Lake'
No comments:
Post a Comment