My Review Of “You’re Next”

Adam Wingard directed “You’re Next” is a modern visceral horror the delivers both the nod to classic genre filmmaking and contemporary storytelling. The film stars Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, Margaret Laney, Ti West, Amy Seimetz, Rob Moran, Barbara Crampton, L.C. Holt, Simon Barrett and Lane Hughes.  Yeah I know I named pretty much every one in the film but they all really do deserve a nod because there wasn’t a weak character in the film. Plus the characters gave such good death that I have to acknowledge them all. “You’re Next” stays with a pretty simple scheme of home invasion/violent attack that has become common over the past decade of horror films of this nature. The big difference between this film and a lot of the others is the brilliant blend of 70’s/80’s nostalgia with a truly 21st century spin.

“You’re Next” is about a wealthy family that gathers at a weekend home in the country on the parent’s 35th wedding anniversary. Upon the big night when everyone has arrived and sat down to dinner they are attacked by masked assailants with extreme brutality. The story is tight and unwinds smoothly allowing for an intense thrill ride. At first I thought it was going to be one of those slow building horror film’s that ends in one twisted, violent displays of violence but “You’re Next” keeps a pretty chilling, steady pace of non-stop suspense that had me on edge. I have never enjoyed cursing at the people on the screen as I did with this film. I never really noticed any moments where the story became stagnant. Even after the mid-film reveal as to the plot I still found the remaining section of “You’re Next” just as thrilling as the first half. 

As for the special effects and soundtrack of “You’re Next”, I found them equally entertaining and quite strong for an indie horror film. The gore and violent action scenes were strong and bloody. I cringed at how the kill sequence would play out and yet I couldn’t wait to see it happen. The violence wasn’t over-the-top or gratuitous-at least not for my taste. The film actually gave me the same level of pleasure I get from the classic horror films like “The Burning” and the original “I Spit On Your Grave”. The soundtrack plays out with perfect resonance to the films almost somber atmosphere and violent nature. The sound effects created a wonderful homage to the VHS horror days that helped frame “You’re Next” as a truly nightmarish and modern urban apologue. “You’re Next” is a real present-day standard in horror.