You're Next DVD Review

Genre:
Horror, thriller
Rating:
18
Distributor:
Lionsgate Films UK
DVD/BD Release Date:
13th January 2014 (UK)
Director:
Adam Wingard
Cast:
Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Ti West
Buy You're Next: DVD or Blu-ray [Amazon]
Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett are making quite a name for themselves as contenders in modern horror. If you check out 2010’s A Horrible Way to Die, then the two VHS films that have appeared since then, you will see a curve of improvement that should garner some keen interest. The pair’s latest offering is their best to date; a home invasion thriller married with horror imagery, family drama, and a sharp black humour.

You’re Next’s premise is simple: a family celebration interrupted by brutal masked mercenaries, who are surprised to find one of their victims has a knack for violence and survival. After a seductive yet brutal prologue, the heat turns down to allow us entry to its characters proving Wingard and Barrett are wise to the pitfalls of the modern horror film: lack of character = lack of shits given when they get dispatched. And make no mistake they get brutally dispatched. Giving us at least half the film to understand the politics of the Davison family could seem a bit overboard in a film of this ilk, but it’s exactly why You’re Next stands out amidst last year’s slashers and terror trips. That, and a blender.

Sharni Vinson’s turn as Erin is one of the strongest points in the feature, remoulding the classic slasher girl into a merciless home-defence guru come brutal combatant. Vinson’s sharp delivery and no-bullshit attitude will have you cheering in an era still too reliant on the utter stupidity of not just its murder-fodder (steroid huffing jocks and fraternity bitches) but its lead roles too. Gushing about the cast doesn’t stop there, Joe Swanberg flaunts perfect comic timing as Crispian’s asshole brother, House of the Devil director Ti West pops up in a minor role, whilst Stuart Gordon regular Barbara Crampton makes a most welcome return to the screen as the Davison children’s mother.

You’re Next flaunts an appreciation for classic horror but doesn’t actively engage, its not taking up the postmodern element but it does feel like a retrospective of late-70’s slasher tropes. Rather than being a rip-off, Wingard and Barrett have recycled some images and tones that bolster their feature as an impressively constructed thriller with moments of horror that actually have the power to intimidate. On a bum note, as the tension winds and the blood splashes, the soundtrack switches to a weird hark-back synth sound, which dangerously compromises the intensity of the film at points. The almost playful scoring highlights why You’re Next works so well: because it doesn’t desperately try to emulate everything that’s gone before.

Genre hybridity does not equal “Game-Changer” however, as many reviews seem to think , and anyone going into the film expecting The Cabin in the Woods will be sorely disappointed. Instead of changing the face of the genre, You’re Next stands its ground as an enjoyable venture by surprising the audience with well executed plot, scares, practical effects, fleshed out characters, and a keen sense of humour. You probably won’t laugh out loud, but there are plenty of moments to remind the audience that Barrett and Wingard are in complete control of their project.

You’re Next is a concise, rip-roaring sort of ride the likes of which only come around every once in a blue moon.  Expertly put together, at points chilling, at points hilarious, always entertaining, here is horror cinema at its most enjoyable from bloody beginning to outrageous ending without forsaking any intensity what so ever.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

FF2013 Review - You're Next

Rating:
18
Distributor:
Lionsgate Films UK
Release Date:
22nd August 2013 (Frightfest) 27th August (UK Cinema)
Director:
Adam Wingard
Cast:
Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen
Having had a fairly hectic day at work, I was very much looking forward to attending the screening of You’re Next recently. Few things can loosen the brain up like a good old fashioned slasher movie and I was relishing the thought of ninety-six minutes of thrills and kills. Directed by Adam Wingard (VHS, A Horrible Way to Die) and set during a family reunion in a remote part of the countryside in the US, You’re Next sees the moneyed Davison family besieged by lunatic killers in creepy animal masks. Fortunately, it turns out that Erin, the girlfriend of one of the eldest brother is something of a total badass herself and is soon rallying the family around to fight back with makeshift weaponry and traps. Thus begins a small scale war with their attackers. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Despite my initial excitement, I was actually fairly nonplussed by You’re Next at first. It seemed fairly stolid, with broadly drawn characters and an uninventive set up. If I had to pin point where my attitude towards it changed, it would probably be where at the height of a ludicrously petty argument around the dinner table (listen out for some of the exchanges here), one member of the extended Davison clan (played by horror director Ti West) is suddenly shot through the head by a crossbow bolt. At first, this goes unnoticed, heightening the ridiculousness of the situation, but before long the Davisons are shrieking and being punctured and the film retains this level of excitement throughout. I realised that what I was watching was in fact a comedy so black, it was bordering on farce.

Instead of the stodgy, unremarkable horror I thought I had been watching, You’re Next displayed genre smarts and a level of self-awareness that is all too lacking in most horror films. The film plays delightfully with the concept of Chekhov’s gun and leaves the audience on tenterhooks for much of its running time, embracing and ridiculing conventions equally. The cast, which includes cult heroes Joe Swanberg and Barbara Crampton, seemed to be having riotously good fun and played their roles with relish.

Much of the goodwill I have for the film should also be accredited to its heroine, as played by Sharni Vinson, previously best known for her work on gritty horrors Home and Away and Step Up 3D. Her portrayal of Erin as the plucky and likable though simultaneously borderline psychotic protagonist is measured and deft; by the time the film reaches its climax and Erin is striking iconic, axe-wielding final girl poses, the audience and I were pretty much cheering her every move and you got the feeling a potential cult-horror hero had been born. The deaths she deals are by turns imaginative, amusing and thoroughly gruesome.

It should also be said that whilst the film completely embraces its trashy fittings, the cinematography is a class above what you might typically expect (credit due to Andrew Palmero). Mads Heldtberg’s doomy and inventive music is also very commendable.

To nit-pick, you could argue that the film’s twist is utterly predictable and if you’re watching it without acknowledging the tongue it has placed in its cheek, you may find it a bit run of the mill. However, everyone loves a good home invasion movie (heck, even James Bond got in on the act in his last outing) and it would be very difficult to harbour any ill-will towards one as fun and shrewd as this one would be particularly rude. Seek it out and get ready to cheer on the kick-arse Vinson as she delivers sublimely violent justice.

You’re Next is released in the UK on August 30th.

★★★★☆

Review by Jack Kirby from Nerdly.co.uk

The Animals Will Hunt You, Watch You're Next Traier

It's a long time coming but now You're Next is finally getting a cinematic release giving a new twist on the Home invasion and the first trailer has arrived!

After a long run on the festival circuit a span that goes back to Toronto Film Festival 2011 when the film premièred 2 years later Lionsgate Films have finally let the film mature slightly as they know they have struck gold with this beauty.The film promises to take Home Invasion films to another level and on evidence of this trailer as well as reading about the films festival appearances (most recent been SXSW) the film looks to deliver the goods. This isn't really a spoiler but the trailer highlight the energy, brutality the terrifying  presence these masked men have over the family reunion they rudely interrupted. At no point do we find who they are, why this family keeping the mystery to the actually film but the thing is are you ready for the animals that will haunt your dreams?

Directed by a face very familiar to UK horror fans especially if your a Frightfester Adam Wingard (V/H/S, ABCs Of Death) who has got onboard a few other familiar faces from indie horror Ti West, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen who are joined by Rob Moran, Barbara Crampton, Wendy Glenn,Sharni Vinson, Amy Seimetz and Nicholas Tucci star. You're Next  thankfully has a UK&Irish release date which happens to be same date as USA which is 23rd August.

Synopsis 

One of the smartest and most terrifying films in years, YOU'RE NEXT reinvents the genre by putting a fresh twist on home-invasion horror. When a gang of masked, ax-wielding murderers descend upon the Davison family reunion, the hapless victims seem trapped...until an unlikely guest of the family proves to be the most talented killer of all.