The Strangers

After 9 years, the much-anticipated sequel to the horror hit The Strangers is one step closer to the big screen. The teaser trailer for The Strangers: Prey At Night has been released and it looks to be as terrifying as the first film. “Never Underestimate the Kindness of Strangers” is the new film’s tagline which seems fitting with Thanksgiving right around the corner.

The Strangers: Prey At Night

A family’s road trip takes a dangerous turn when they arrive at a secluded mobile home park to stay with some relatives and find it mysteriously deserted. Under the cover of darkness, three masked psychopaths pay them a visit to test the family’s every limit as they struggle to survive.

Bryan Bertino, who directed the first film, wrote the script for this new installment while Johannes Roberts (The Other Side of the Door) directing. Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks leads the cast along with Martin Henderson (The Ring), Bailee Madison (Good Witch), and Lewis Pullman (Battle of the Sexes).

Bertino has credited the book Helter Skelter about the Manson Family murders as the main inspiration for The Strangers films. The timing of the announcement coincides with the recent death of Charles Manson.

This doesn’t look like it’s going to be one of those National Lampoon vacations.

The Strangers 2 Teaser

When does Strangers 2: Prey At Night come out?

The Strangers: Pray At Night is slated to hit theaters March 9, 2018. The film is not yet rated, but we expect an “R” rating similar to the original installment.

The Strangers: Prey At Night Movie Poster

The smiley face logo slightly resembles the American Horror Story: CULT season 7 smiley face.

The production schedule for The Strangers sequel has been as on-again, off-again as Brad and Angelina, but without all the tabloid trash talking.

The sequel to the 2008 horror flick was said to be in production in early 2011, and later announced to be released in 2014. While both of those release dates have come and gone with no trace of the trippy trio of masked intruders, it has now been undeniably confirmed that a sequel is imminent. The script is currently being penned by Bryan Bertino, who both wrote and directed the 2008 film.

The Strangers, which grossed over $82 million internationally, starred Liv Tyler as Kristen McKay, and Scott Speedman as James Hoyt, and was not well-received by critics, despite being a major box office success. The film currently holds a 45% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Matt Mueller of Total Film gave the slasher 3 out of 5 stars calling it “Lean, mean and razor-edged, this nasty little home-invasion thriller drags you by your white knuckles on a horror chill-ride while flicking its middle finger at Funny Games. Prepare to be scared something rotten.”

“Why are you doing this to us?”

The sequel plans to take viewers on a road trip gone wrong, following a family who finds themselves holed up inside an abandoned trailer in a roadside RV park.

Immediately our minds conjure up a Hills Have Eyes scenario and we imagine a landscape plagued by grotesque, disfigured hill-people, but writer Bertino has plans for a more familiar cast of characters. The masked invaders who terrorized Kristen and James in the original will once again don their death masks and stare eerily through the shadows at unsuspecting strangers.

“Because you were home”

Critics and fans agree that there is nothing creepier than the masked psychopath staring in at Tyler through the kitchen window. If The Strangers 2 lives up to the hype, it will leave us all double-checking the locks when it finally hits theaters, hopefully sometime in 2017.

Filming in 2017

Liv Tyler has confirmed that she will return for the sequel, however, her role is expected to be minor. Filming is set to begin this summer.