In the thrilling sequel THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT, Bailee Madison and Martin Henderson play Kinsey and Mark, two members of a family that tries to survive a group of sadistic killers during a hellish night.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with both of them about the new entry in the horror franchise, directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Other Side of the Door).

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT

Why do you think that the first film became like a cult classic?

Martin Henderson: I really came late to the party. I saw it after I got this part. What jumped at me was the somber tone that the filmmakers set from the beginning, and that they were able to make it last until the last frame, culminating in these bizarre moments. The thing that I found most effective was the indiscriminate nature of it. That line “Why are you doing this to us? Because you were home.” The idea that it could happen to anybody, for no reason. The same thing happens to our characters in this movie, they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being so weirdly random, it’s what makes it so scary.

Bailee Madison: You have a sense of dread from the start. In our movie, you also feel that something isn’t right. It isn’t the cliche of everyone being happy, and hoping on the car to go on a road trip. I think that makes it different from other films in the horror landscape.

How did you guys were able to keep up the energy during this intense and demanding shoot?

Bailee: We were so fortunate to have Johannes Roberts as our director. He was very thrilled to be there because he really believed in the project and in his actors. To have an energetic presence during those long nights was a real booster. I was so grateful to be there that, even when I felt exhausted and drained, I was having a blast. I love the script and everything else, so every time that they kept going and shouted “Action!” we tried to leave everything on the floor. Lewis [Pullman] and me kept watching Christina and Martin giving 100% in every take, so we knew what we had to keep doing.

Were you ever able to stay comfortable during a scene, when your fellow masked actors?

Bailee: I talked to them closer to the end of the shoot, but I tried to stay away at the beginning.

Martin: Particularly, that scene between me and “Baghead”… I didn’t want to have a relationship with the actor, that could be in the way of what is supposed to feel like. I actually stayed away from all of them, because I wanted them to remain an unknown quantity. I was deliberately antisocial.

Bailee: Emma [Bellomy] is great playing “Dollface,” and I had a lot of scenes with her. But I always saw her either as Emma or Dollface. Every time that she had to take her mask off, I would close my eyes or look away to keep them apart. With the mask on, she wasn’t human anymore.

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT is now playing in theaters nationwide.

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.