2008's The Strangers was a simple story of a random home invasion that resonated with
audiences worldwide.
While its box office performance warranted a sequel, no one thought it would take nearly
ten years to happen.
But now the Strangers have returned, and though they may be in a new setting with a new cast,
the threat the invaders present remains the same.
The Strangers: Prey at Night follows a family of four: parents Cindy and Mike, their son
Luke, and their daughter Kinsey.
When they set off to visit relatives in a countryside trailer park, their vacation turns
to terror when a trio of masked invaders descends on the family with murder on their minds.
Now that we're all safe at home, let's break down the ending of The Strangers: Prey at
Night.
Spoilers ahead.
The pool is closed The climax of the movie kicks into high gear
once the parents are out of the picture, as Kinsey and Luke set off to flee the trailer
park.
But after a nasty encounter with Dollface, Luke tells Kinsey to lay in hiding while he
sprints for help alone.
He doesn't get very far.
When he makes it to the trailer park's pool, he comes face-to-face with the axe-wielding
Man in the Mask.
Luke puts up a struggle, taking the fight into the water, but he's overpowered, cut
up, and left to drown.
It seems like things are over until two hands burst into the water and pull him up — it's
Kinsey, back on her feet, there to save her brother in the nick of time.
With his wounds much more severe than hers, the siblings switch places, as Luke hides
away while Kinsey makes a break for it, stumbling into the street to a passing police officer,
who shows up so out of nowhere that Kinsey can barely believe her eyes.
As Kinsey falls into the arms of the officer, neither of them notices the killer Dollface
approaching from behind.
By the time that Kinsey sees her, it's too late to do anything but watch the officer
get murdered.
One shot, one kill
In one of the movie's most harrowing moments, Kinsey tries to commandeer the police car
while Dollface overpowers her, pushing her into the passenger seat as she stabs at her
over and over.
But just when you think it's all over, Kinsey gets tactical.
Where is she?
A police car, and this one has a shotgun.
The movie's most hopeless scene pivots to its most triumphant moment as Kinsey grabs
the shotgun and executes Dollface with one brutal blast to the head.
I think we're alone now
After surviving another scrape, Kinsey tries to start up the police car, while a truck
pulls up alongside Kinsey — it's the Man in the Mask, of course.
Both Strangers movies are notable for showcasing the playful sadism of the killers.
Often, they get a chance to execute their victims and just don't, preferring to terrify
and taunt their prey.
"There's no reason why that's what's so horrible about it."
"They found people that are awake, and they thought it would be a fun thing to do.
To torment them."
In the sequel, it's a tactic that works against them, allowing their victims just enough chances
to get lucky, get away, or get revenge.
This time, the Man in the Mask's taunt of choice involves cranking the volume on Tiffany's
"I Think We're Alone Now".
It's an on-the-nose choice.
"The music is great because you're screaming you're crying and you've got this beautiful
music that like my mom grew up with and used to be happy and pool parties and like summer
vacations playing over and over it."
Twisted metal
The Man in the Mask backs up and smashes into Kinsey's car until both vehicles explode into
flames.
Here, the ultimate stranger begins to appear to be unkillable, surviving the explosion
to chase down Kinsey in his flaming truck while she flees on foot.
By then, the fire has burned off the man's mask, but it's also burned away the flesh
of his face, with the killer remaining anonymous right down to the bone.
This moment, as well as an earlier instance where Kinsey declines an opportunity to remove
Dollface's mask, is sort of the whole point of both films: They're monster movies that
don't have any monsters in them.
The killers aren't Freddy Krueger — they're just people, and they could be anybody.
In the original, the killers removed their masks off camera, making the point that their
true identities don't matter.
That's what makes them all so scary.
If you survived an encounter like this, how could you ever trust a stranger again?
"The thing that I love is I don't know who the strangers are and I think they have absolutely
no reason to do it and that's what's scary."
The hitchhiker
Kinsey sticks to the road as she runs, pursued on foot by the Man in the Mask, as a pickup
truck approaches.
Just as you start to think the encounter is only going to up the killer's body count,
luck turns Kinsey's way again.
She leaps into the back of the truck, screaming as the burnt-up axeman grabs and swings at
her.
The truck builds up speed, the killer loses his grip… and Kinsey escapes.
The ending is highly reminiscent of the conclusion of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and just as
open-ended.
While Texas Chainsaw cuts to credits at that point, The Strangers: Prey at Night continues
— and that's when things get ambiguous.
The bittersweet end
The movie ends on the reveal that Kinsey's escape led to Luke's rescue, with the newly-orphaned
siblings reunited and alive in a dark hospital room.
Save for the machines, the room is silent — until there's a knock at the door.
Kinsey doesn't panic, but she's paralyzed.
Someone's outside the door — a stranger.
But is it really a killer?
"You lock him out?"
"Mm-mmm."
The truth doesn't really matter.
The ending is a metaphor for trauma, and the lasting effects that a horrifying experience
can have on a person's psyche.
What did her family do to deserve this torment?
Nothing — and nothing they could have done would have prevented it.
"Why are you doing this to us?"
"Because you were home" The fate of her family was tied to the whims
of three strangers — and at least one of them could still be out there.
The knock at the door is probably a nurse, a doctor, a family friend.
But after this experience, no matter what, Kinsey can never put her trust in the kindness
of strangers again.
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