You’re Next (Movie Review)

You’re Next was released in 2011, this American Slasher film didn’t take long to get snatched up for a Theatrical release. Sadly, I didn’t see it until much later due to a friend swearing to me that I’d enjoy it. Naturally, this film wasn’t a worldwide success, that seems to be my niche when it comes to Horror. I like to think I have great taste in movies. I’m a fan of the campier style of Horror – specifically when it comes to Modern Horror. Everything seems to have been done to death; half-hearted remakes, torture-porn & gore-fests all in the name of Horror?! No thanks, I’ll pass. I’m often criticized for these thoughts, but I can’t help it, just because it’s packed with gore and terror doesn’t mean I’m going to like it. I want something to laugh at and something I find unique and special to remember later – that’s what keeps me knee-deep in love with Horror! Much to my wife’s dismay, You’re Next is a Home Invasion movie – she hates those! She’s not a fan of the Horror as is, but stuff like this is way outside of her realm of acceptance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZKQU0YYkNw

While Home Invasion movies have become popular the past few years, this one offers a different take in that the intruders are already in the house and have been camping out waiting for the family to come home. Here we have an estranged family that’s returning to their vacation home to meet up with their adult children and their significant others to celebrate the parents Anniversary and to hopefully mend some fences. It doesn’t take long before the terror begins, and people start getting murdered. The assailants dawn white animal masks – sheep, fox and I believe a tiger mask. The killers are non-vocal which makes the terror of them crawling from underneath the bed or coming out of the closet even more fun – you look up and there they are with machete in hand. As with most Horror movies the bulk of the victims are completely out of their minds and make getting killed easy. Speaking of killing, the kills in this film are packed with gore, but not too over the top for me, I thought them unique – Crossbows, machetes, axes are the weapons of choice but there are some moments where screw drivers, knives and even a blender makes an appearance!Sadly, the film doesn’t have much of a plot without giving away the twist and the meat of the story. Let’s just say these assailants are going after the family with no rhyme or reason as to who gets killed first, so the killing is abundant. But if you pay attention, you’ll see some of the characters are being left out on purpose or acting like nonchalant about what’s happening. There’s a great deal of running, hiding and trying to figure out what to do, but only one of the family members seems keen on fighting back and it’s one of the siblings significant other – apparently, she was raised by doomsday survivalists, so she’s prepared to fight and turn anything into a weapon! 2×4’s with nails sticking up sitting next to the windows, butcher knives and meat cleavers…. You get the idea – grisly scenes and some uncomfortable moments by the pound! The movie is almost 2 hours long of non-stop terror and KILLING – some of the most unique kills I’ve been treated to in awhile and I wasn’t grossed out or turned off by any of it.

Visually, You’re Next lacks as the bulk of the movie is shot in the dark, so there’s not a lot of really good visualization and often times you have to imagine what’s happening in some of the scenes. Thankfully, you don’t really miss too much. If I had to compare the coloring and overall feel to another recent film, it would be The Strangers, which I didn’t like, the characters were lifeless, and the story was weak. Sound-wise the movie suffers a good bit for me, often the killing, screaming and thuds are much louder than the talking. Of course I’m hard of hearing, so that could just be me! The movie doesn’t feature top-tier actors; however, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Barbara Crampton is in it. Crampton while not a household name is well known for her legendary performances in Reanimator, From Beyond and Chopping Mall among horror aficionados. The visual and sound issues aside, I find myself wanting to watch this movie repeatedly strictly based on the kills and the plot twist. This is a solid winner when it comes to B-movies that probably should’ve never got a theatrical release. I did own the DVD and then I picked up the blu-ray at the Goodwill – the blu-ray is a much higher quality of course and a lot more fun to watch! If you see this one out and about for cheap or it pops up on some of your favorite streaming spots, do yourself a favor and watch it, but make sure you eat your popcorn first! And watch out for the blender action…..

~Black Angel