Masked mayhem gets predictable
BRUCE DEMARA Humour is a vital component of any horror film. It helps relieve the tension.
So kudos to the makers of this film for this opening quip: “Based on true events.”
Yeah, it’s possible — though far from certain — that once upon a time, somewhere, three thrill killers with a penchant for wearing masks decided to jump in the pickup truck and go on a slaughter spree.
It may even have happened in a remote location such as a trai- ler park that’s more or less deserted post-Labour Day.
But the purpose of “based on true events” is to make what happens on screen seem even scarier. As in, “Ohmigod, this might have happened!”
Frankly, it could use a few more frights because it’s predictable from stem to stern, right down to the manufactured scares, to the hapless victims making disastrous choices — e.g. leaving cellphones where they can easily be destroyed, not holding on tightly to a handgun that could have been very useful — to the killer who’s so devilishly difficult to kill.
So anyway, young Kinsey’s family is taking her off to boarding school (really? boarding school?) because she’s been a bad teenager; they plan to spend a night at Uncle Marv’s on the way because it’s a long drive. However, three strangers have already paid a visit and, with time to kill, decide to lie in wait for new victims.
Kinsey (Bailee Madison) is very sad to be going to boarding school so is very sullen and cries a lot. At one point later on, when she realizes what’s going on, Kinsey blames herself. Her family wouldn’t be in this mess if they hadn’t had to drive her to boarding school, she reasons — and she’s right. Let that be a lesson to all teenagers who might be inclined to smoke or skip class.
It would have helped immensely to have actors who could make us care about the awful things happening, but one really can’t blame any of them. They’re all sort of so-so, including Kinsey (Bailee Madison), largely because the script doesn’t give them anything much to do but look scared and make foolish decisions.
The film is actually a sequel in a way that doesn’t matter in the least. The earlier film, The Strangers (2008), which featured better acting, also had three killers wearing silly masks.
The motivation for making this film can be summed up in the words of one of the killers when asked by Kinsey why they were killing her family: “Why not?”
Filmgoers should strongly consider having a better reason than that for going to see this insipid, derivative mess that probably isn’t based on true events.