A dysfunctional upper class family consisting of mom and dad, their four adult children, and their children’s significant others get together for the first time in quite a while in You’re Next. As if that weren’t terrifying enough, what follows is them being trapped in the well-worn clichés of a home invasion horror flick. The central premise of Adam Wingard’s picture is that the gory bloodshed is only slightly scarier than the character’s personality flaws and sibling rivalries.
Caught in the middle of all the family drama is Erin (Sharni Vinson), who’s accompanying her boyfriend (A.J. Bowen) to his parents (Rob Moran and Barbara Crampton) vacation home for the weekend. It turns out Erin will be our film’s strong heroine presence and that she knows a lot more about how to deal with the unwelcome guests than anyone on else on site. Those invaders come in the form of murderers with cool looking animal masks who’ve thought out their crime well (piano wire is put to good use).
You’re Next follows in the tradition of Scream and The Cabin in the Woods in that it satirizes the genre while celebrating its conventions. Director Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett have a lot of fun playing with those conventions. It may not reach the ironic heights of the aforementioned pictures, but it often comes darn close. The central twists aren’t particularly surprising and there are times when Next becomes a little repetitive.
Yet it’s bloody heart is in the right place. The 80s sounding soundtrack is a trip. The pic surprisingly works more as a gore infested comedy than traditional horror flick. You’re Next‘s family argument starts at the dinner table and doesn’t stop just because a group of bow and arrow shooting, knife wielding terrorizers decide the crash the occasion. For enthusiasts of the genre, there’s a lot to admire here and there’s fun to be had.
*** (out of four)
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