Family Values

You’re Next

We all know that some movie studios like to distribute films like they were handing out paper flyers for a frat party. About half of those same movies never really make it into a movie theatre and are the direct-to-video bargain bin fodder that lines the $5 shelves at Wal-Mart. Then there are some films that get lost in that shuffle and sit somewhere in a studio just waiting to be released somehow. This is what happened to a 2011 (filmed) horror film that was purchased by Lionsgate at the Toronto Film Festival that same year, but wasn’t released in theatres until August of 2013. That film…You’re Next.

Erin (Sharni Vinson) has decided to accompany her reluctant college professor boyfriend, Crispin (A. J. Bowen), to his parent’s 35^th wedding anniversary weekend celebration at their vacation mansion in a remote part of Missouri.  Among the other guests to the festivity are Crispin’s two brothers , Drake (Joe Swanberg) and Felix (Nicholas Tucci), their respective significant others, and Crispin’s sister Aimee (Amy Seimetz) and her boyfriend. With emotions on high already, Crispin and Drake begin arguing during dinner but are rudely interrupted when Aimee’s boyfriend is shot through the head with an arrow. Now with the family under attack by strangers, Erin is the one who takes charge and instinctively decides to protect her new family from the threat coming from outside and inside of the house.

Advertised as a regular home invasion/slasher film, You’re Next is actually a little more than that. When you think of the heroine of a slasher film, most would think of a damsel in distress lucky to be alive by the end of the movie. The twist in this film is that our protagonist knows how to take care of herself and decides to really fight back. I loved that about this film because I was kind of sick of watching some random girl run around screaming and surviving the film by pure dumb luck.

I also enjoyed the direction of the film as well. Director Adam Wingard (V/H/S) does a good job setting up the suspense of the film. This isn’t a scary movie, but Wingard does keep the audience on the edge. I don’t think that the film was ever supposed to be a ‘horror’ film per se because of how Wingard works the camera. You can tell he tries to use some of the old tricks like a person opening a door to check inside a closet and you can’t see what’s on the other side of the door, but most of the other time Wingard sticks to quick cuts and upbeat pacing to keep the suspense high.

I will warn you that once the actual plot reveals itself, the film become extremely unoriginal and the regular annoyances with the characters of a horror film come about in this film. However, I found myself liking it for some unexplained reason. Maybe because of Erin kicking butt and taking names or maybe my very low expectations…I’m going to go with the former.

The Verdict: Check Out on Netflix (That’s where I watched it)