I’ll be honest with you, I’m not a big fan of the horror genre. I will watch some films, but its just not my cup of tea. However, something make me interested to see You’re Next. It got good buzz out of the Toronto International Film Festival way back in 2011, and has gained a decent word of mouth since. When I do watch my horror films, the real films that get into my head are the more realistic ones. You know, murderous physcos, or the like, that do very much exist in this world of ours. Director Adam Wingard’s You’re Next looks at what happens when a group of men in creepy animal masks invade a families isolated vacation house with nothing on their mind but slaughter. Sold.
Paul (Rob Moran) and Aubrey (Barbara Crampton) are celebrating their 35th anniversary together, and invite all of their children to join the celebration at a large vacation house that is perfect for the event, and perfect at displaying their wealth. The rest of the family includes their son Crispian (A.J. Bowen) who is a struggling professor, his former student turned girlfriend Erin (Sharni Vinson), Drake (Drinking Buddies director Joe Swanberg), his equally pushy girlfriend Kelly (Margaret Laney), Aimee (director Amy Seimetz), who brings along her filmmaker boyfriend Tariq (director Ti West) and then there’s the oddball of the family, Felix (Nicholas Tucci) and his equally odd girlfriend, Zee (Wendy Glenn).
You’re Next wastes no time establishing most, if not all of these characters, as annoying people, which allows their impending doom to be that much more watchable. We see the film through the eyes of Crispian and Erin, and see how awful the rest of the family rub off on you during their dinner. It’s alright because soon enough, they begin to drop like flies.
Out of nowhere men with creepy animal masks begin shooting at the house with arrows, starting a night of terror that becomes equally surprising for both sides. You see, it turns out that Erin knows a thing about fighting back, almost too well. She is able to not only defend herself, but she has a dark side that no one knew about that gives the baddies a run for their money. Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett do a good job of aligning us with Erin. She’s a bad ass, and you’re cheering with every smart move or bold act of violence she commits. Sharni Vinson, best known for her work on Step Up 3D, really does step up for this role and is as exciting of a heroin as a horror film could ask for. She’s smart, brave, and most importantly, badass.
Watching it all unfold becomes a lot more enjoyable because it isn’t your typical run of the mill, jump-scare horror film. What You’re Next has going for it is plenty of gloriously bloody gore and carnage and just enough self-aware campiness and comedy to make it a enjoyable ride. It’s almost a horror version of Home Alone, The Strangers, and Scream mixed into one exciting little film.
This is all I can really say without giving away the fun, and the twist and turns that build up along the way. You’re Next isn’t pulling any tricks or stunts that haven’t been done before, but they do what they do well, and it’s a good bit of fun for what it is. It delivers everything that you could hope for in a film like this, and then some. As someone who doesn’t really care all that much for the horror genre, I will have to say that You’re Next is pretty enjoyable and worth a watch if your looking to see some bloody action.
Join the conversation