You’re Next Review

Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg

Halloween is almost upon us and it’s now time to take a look at one of the best home invasion movies made for a while.

What makes a horror film truly scary? All horror films, first and foremost, are utterly ridiculous, and a scary flick which embraces that idea and runs with it for 90 minutes or so, is already going in the right direction. Laughing and screaming in terror are very closely related, and a good horror movie is able to make you do both. You’re Next delivers in both camps. It will simultaneously make you laugh and scream, yet you will also wince at some of the levels of gore depicted onscreen.

You’re Next follows the story of the Davison family, whose little wedding anniversary celebration get-together, becomes a living nightmare when they comes under attack by a gang of mysterious masked killers. However, these killers soon come across some unexpected hiccups, when one of the invited guest turns out to harbour a secret talent for fighting back.

Many have described Adam Wingard’s film as Home Alone for grown ups, with added blood, guts and gore, yet it is more than that. You’re Next definitely has that Home Alone vibe to it; there are many homemade weapons in this movie [who doesn’t like to see people going all MacGruber on people’s asses], yet it’s clever, more focused and a heck of a lot more fun than any of Macauley Culkin’s antics put together. It’s a home invasion movie which is not afraid to pack a serious punch!

Wingard manages to effectively keep the atmosphere creepy, eerie and jumpy with the use of good cinematography and a synthy score, not unlike a John Carpenter film. The setting is perfect, a big mansion in the middle of nowhere (yes it’s a bit clichéd, but it just works) was the right place to set this film. It’s also terrifically carried by Sharni Vinson who plays Erin; a girl who finds herself in an unprecedented position, but has all the skills and brains to give the bad guys the good-old-hiding they fully deserve.

The use of masks, something we have seen a lot of in recent horror films [Saw, The Purge, The Purge: Anarchy], is another feature in You’re Next which is not out of place. It dehumanises the villains, and I’m always partial a good animal mask in a horror film – say what you will, it’s just creepy.

Ultimately, You’re Next is a funny, clever, thrilling and sometimes chilling horror flick which really deserves a watch this Halloween! So grab your candy, curl up on the sofa, turn on your VCR (they always seem to have VCR players in horror movies for some reason), and enjoy You’re Next, because who knows, you might just be next!