Roberts has built a playground of horror homages... It might feel like a hell of a long wait to finally get to the attractions, but once you do, the ride sure is fun.
The cinematography and the production design create the right atmosphere for the scares. But for all its technical finesse, this 85-minute film feels a little too long.
The movie's biggest mistake is indulging conventional horror-movie reality, where characters live or die according to their fortitude and our sense of the world's rightness is conservatively reaffirmed.
There is only so much stalking and killing one person can reasonably be expected to sit through, and even then, it's only natural to want a bit of variety in the manner in which the shrieking victims are murdered.
Though it's as slim and poorly balanced as a cheap knife, "The Strangers: Prey at Night" is a stylish 1980s throwback that packs plenty of terror into its short running time.
A decade later, astonishingly this throwback is preferable to the original. If you're expecting to be blown away, or biting your nails in consistent apprehension, you'll be let down. Compromise, and you'll be entertained.
