The Facts:
Synopsis: When the Davison family comes under attack during their wedding anniversary getaway, the gang of mysterious killers soon learns that one of victims harbors a secret talent for fighting back.
Stars: Sharni Vinson, AJ Bowen, Nick Tucci, Wendy Glenn, Joe Swanberg, Rob Moran, Barbara Crampton, Maragaret Laney, Amy Seimetz, Ti West, Larry Fessenden, Lane Hughes, L.C. Holt, Simon Barrett, Calvin Reeder
Director: Adam Wingard
Rated: R
Running Length: 96 minutes
Trailer Review: Here
TMMM Score: (6.5/10)
Review: Oh I really wanted to like this movie a lot more. Believe me. We all know how the ever-lovin’ hype-machine can set the bar so high that not even an Olympic long jump champion could fly over it. Unfortunately that’s what happened with my viewing of You’re Next, a film I probably would have rated higher had I not gone into it having read so many articles claiming it’s the Next Big Thing in horror.
Completed in 2011 but getting its debut now, you’d think that the movie had some sort of black mark with its overly long time on the shelf. Well, it turns out that it was actually a smart move to hold the film back until now because back in 2011 audiences were still saturated with slasher films of decreasing quality and increasing stupidity. Really starting with 2012’s Cabin in the Woods, the horror genre has undergone a slight maturity because viewers are demanding something a little bit more than just gobs of blood and guts.
Though the 2013 remake of Evil Dead and May’s The Purge did respectable business there wasn’t anything spectacular on the horror front until July’s The Conjuring. Arguably one of the best horror films of the last decade, the haunted house fright flick laid its claim to scariest film of the year and no matter how good You’re Next was it was always going to have to settle for at least second place.
Yet You’re Next and The Conjuring couldn’t be more different in their methods. Where The Conjuring earned its R rating without any blood, foul language, or nudity, You’re Next gleefully bathes in the sinewy awfulness of its R by serving up death at its most painful. Stabbings, bashings, and more throat slashing than I could stomach (slit throats have always spooked me), and one truly original death by household appliance are all on display…You’re Next doesn’t let anyone die easily.
All this would be an hour and a half of twisted terror…had it not been for the fact that the movie is nearly equal parts black comedy as it is gory horror. Comedy isn’t anywhere in the preview for the film and I have to say I was disappointed in how much the movie struggled with its teeter-totter balancing act between laughs and screams. That’s not to say the movie can’t have its cake and chop it to bits too…but the comedy element was treated in the marketing materials like a dirty secret. Had the movie marketed its winking aspirations to be a next level Scream, I think I would have been more prepared for the final product.
As it is, you never really know if director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett are really accomplishing what they set out to do. Are we supposed to be siding with the various members of an average family as they battle vicious masked killers that come a-callin’ just as they are sitting down for an anniversary dinner? Or are we meant to root for the killers to snuff out several family members with personalities no one will miss. Though the bitter comedy bits do land successfully, they feel out of place with the rest of the slicing and dicing.
Also out of place is a lumpy stew of actors cast in roles that they don’t seem to fully be right for. Though 80’s scream queen Barbara Crampton looks great for her age, I never once bought that she was the mother of these adult kids…but it’s not like Crampton goes to great acting lengths to do her character any favors either. It’s fun to see various members of the next wave of horror directors pop up in bit parts with The Innkeepers director Ti West getting right to the, um, point of his cameo.
It’s the one outsider (of the family and the creative collective that sit in front of and behind the camera) that makes the most impact. Australian Sharni Vinson (Bait) bides her time on the sidelines until she’s called up to the plate as a survivalist that gives the killers a taste of their own medicine. Though the film creaks as it winds down with several interesting twists that surround a Home Alone-type booby trap ending, Vinson is an appealing presence throughout.
I think I’d like You’re Next more on a second viewing and if I’m being honest I liked the film more as I let it sink in. Maybe it’s not the movie I wanted it to be but there’s more than a dose of cleverness going on here and at least it’s not another endless sequel made as a quick cash grab for its studio. It’s probably more effective to be seen in the security of your own home…though you’ll probably check that the doors and windows are locked one extra time before you turn out the light.