“Hey, have you seen this movie? What did you think about THAT SCENE?!” We have all used that phrase at one point during our discussions of movies with the other person’s eyebrows raising, “Oh yea, THAT SCENE!” You go on to pick that memorable scene apart by listing what you loved or didn’t like, how it made you feel and the impression it left on you.
In this series, we will do just that. We will take a scene from a movie and discuss its impact on us. Some of these scenes may be frightening, weird, iconic, controversial, hilarious, and everything in between. Let us know your impression of the scene and the impact it left on you the first time you watched it down below in the comments. Enjoy!
*Warning: May Contain Spoilers*
Movie: The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)
Scene: The Pool Scene
THE PLAYERS
Director: Johannes Roberts
Characters: Luke (Lewis Pullman), Pinup (Lea Enslin), Man in the Mask (Damian Maffei)
THE SETUP
Ten years after the events of the first film, in a secluded trailer park in Kalida, Ohio, the three masked strangers, Dollface, Pin-Up Girl, and The Man in the Mask, arrive in a truck at night to a couple’s trailer. Dollface wakes a sleeping female occupant by knocking at the front door. When she investigates, she sees Dollface already in the house, who kills her offscreen and then lies down in bed next to the woman’s sleeping husband.
Sometime later, Mike and his wife Cindy take a trip with their children, Luke and Kinsey, to their aunt and uncle’s (the couple killed in the opening scene) trailer park to spend time together before Kinsey leaves for boarding school. After arriving, an unmasked Dollface knocks at their front door and asks for Tamara, but is turned away by Cindy. Kinsey and Luke go for a walk and stumble upon a trailer with the door open. Inside, they find their aunt and uncle’s dead bodies.
Through all the chaos, Luke ends up running to the general store to see if he can find a phone but quickly learns he isn’t alone as he wonders out toward the community pool. This brings us to our scene.
THAT SCENE
THE EXECUTION
This sequel isn’t any good. It is simply a rehash and more generic version of the original but this scene is simply fantastic and worth the watch alone. In an era full of 80s nostalgia, this one combines that neon-soaked feeling with an 80s classic in Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in an incredible horror set-piece. We see Luke finally get the upper hand on one of the killers by taking out Pinup but then having to fight for his life against the ax-wielding Man in the Mask. This sequence is too good for this movie. Roberts uses the song to perfection as he has it drop in and out from time to time to help highlight the tension of this fight. It helps the scene fell unpredictable until the very end. There is a good balance of the candy-colored pop nature of the 80s above water with the brutal nature of this world Roberts has created during the struggle below water.
It’s a scene that pulls you into the struggle with that final menacing stalk by the Man in the Mask as Luke tries to escape the pool. Most average horror films never get close to this kind of greatness and it’s sad that this scene is surrounded by generic filler. A decent film along with this scene would rival a number of good horror sequels.
What do you think of this 80s throwback scene?
