You're Next review

         There’s a moment in every slasher flick that everyone loves. A moment, no matter how dark or disturbing the film, that is designed to be crowd pleasing. It’s when the victim manages to outwit his/her attacker and for a moment is able to balance the bloody playing field. These instances are rare and are often usually only included as a way to add some ebb and flow to the movie’s cat and mouse pursuit. “You’re Next”, a classically-minded home invader flick, is a film that capitalizes on this very notion, while at the same time embracing it’s gore potential and it’s minimal budget.
         The story is seemingly simple: four contentious siblings drive out to a cottage mansion in the woods to visit their well-to-do parents. Brother Crispian (AJ Bowen), there with his Aussie fiancée Erin (Sharni Vinson) is in between jobs and he worries about suffering judgment from his capitalistic family. Middle brother Felix (Nicholas Tucci) brings his Joan-Jett-lookalike girlfriend Zee (Wendy Glenn) that everyone silently disapproves of. And the oldest brother Drake (Joe Swanberg) seems to have it all figured out, and doesn’t mind letting everyone else know. Their goody-goody sister Amiee (Amy Seimetz) decides to bring along her artsy filmmaker boyfriend Tarique (Ty West).
        By the time dinner rolls around, the rising tension between this dysfunctional unit begin to brew, just before a swarm of arrows fly through their kitchen window, thinning the herd. What they don't realize is that amidst their petty squabbles their family is being hunted by a pack of calculated murderers dressed in black-ops gear, and lifeless, plastic animal masks—a bear, a sheep, and a wolf—looking like a cross between bank robbers, SWAT team, and cult members from “The Wicker Man”.
           As the plot progresses we learn more and more about these killers and the family they are out to slay. All the while, the movie revels in its gleeful surprises, horror homages’, and magnificently viscous pay-offs. It’s refreshing, vibrant pop-corn horror--albeit one with a wobbly path, on the way to finding its tricky tone.
         With a cast of mostly unknown indie actors—and in the case of Ty West and Joe Swanberg, indie directors as well—shot for relatively nothing, B-filmmaker Adam Wingard challenges himself and works hard to create something fresh and unique within a well-worn thriller tradition. And most of the time him and his mumble-gore movie-buddies achieve this, though not without the occasion misstep.
         Though it didn't take me long to get on board, I spent much of the initial dinner scenes wondering if this film was supposed to be bad or if it was genuinely poorly made. The acting seemed a little forced, the characterizations were a tad obvious, and the group chemistry felt community-theater-esq. The missing ingredient, apparently, was murder and gallons of fake blood, because once machetes’ sliced and heads rolled, these problems quickly dissolve. However, in some of the earlier scenes of mayhem, much of the digital camera work tended towards an overused shake-rattle-and-roll style, that only muddled the violent intensity it’s was trying to imply.
         What not only saves, but elevates “You’re Next” is its youthful sense of energy, its blackly comedic bite and its subversive, post-modern, genre playfulness. What results can perhaps be described as “Home Alone” for gore-hounds. “Step-Up 3D” actress Sharni Vinson is one of the best and most capable female heroes since Sigourney Weaver in James Cameron’s “Aliens” and (for the most part) the film manages to stay a few steps ahead of the audience’s guessing game.
          You might feel a little sick at yourself for enjoying this movie, but by the time the closing credits roll, it’s pretty hard to deny the cathartic fun you had.

Grade: B -

Originally published for the Idaho State Journal/ Sep-2013