You’re Next
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Written by: Simon Barrett
Starring: Barbara Crampton, Rob Moran, AJ Bowen, Ti West, Amy Seimetz, Simon Barrett, Nicholas Tucci, Joe Swanberg and Lane Hughes.

Two years ago I was covering Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas and I was clutching a horror fan’s equivalent of a golden ticket – a pass to a screening of Adam Wingard’s You’re Next.  After its first screening, You’re Next was the talk of the festival, and getting your hands on a pass for the second screening was near impossible. Mere moments before my screening began, we were informed that the film had been acquired by Lionsgate Studio, and they had canceled the remaining screening.  Rubbing salt in the wound was the fact that the film cleaned up at the festival awards, winning Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Film. The reason I’m prefacing my review with this story is to emphasize the fact that I have placed impossibly high expectations on this film over the last two years. And you know what? It still delivered.

The less said about this film, the better. At first glance, it seems like a typical home invasion movie. Aubrey (Barbara Crampton) and Paul (Rob Moran) are delighted that their four children (along with their respective partners) have gathered at their palatial country home for their anniversary.  When the buttoned-up clan sits down for dinner it doesn’t take long for polite banter to devolve into full-on family dysfunction. In the midst of their bickering, it takes a moment for them to realize that someone has been shot with an arrow, and the family is under attack.  From that moment on, all hell breaks loose as the family is disposed of, one by one, in gruesome fashion. What sets You’re Next apart from the standard genre fare are some unexpected twists and turns you won’t see coming. I won’t do you the disservice of saying much more.

Wingard infuses the film with a surprising amount of dark humor and irony. A jaunty tune by The Dwight Twilley Band (“Looking for the Magic”, 1977) serves as a backdrop for several of the slaughter scenes, as well as the closing credits. The killers brandish crossbows and machetes with panache, but hide behind innocuous animal masks.  The masks work well in the context of the movie, because it renders the killers nameless, faceless and more menacing. When you think about our classic horror icons (Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers) it’s always those damn masks that give you nightmares.

The film boasts a cast that horror buffs will recognize and appreciate. In addition to Crampton (From Beyond, Re-Animator), AJ Bowen (Hatchet 2, The House of the Devil), and Ti West (director; House of the Devil, The Innkeepers), Wingard reassembles several of the actors from his previous effort A Horrible Way to Die, including Amy Seimetz, Simon Barret, Joe Swanberg and Lane Hughes. The real standout is Aussie actress Sharni Vinson, who stars as one of the more resourceful house inhabitants.

You’re Next relies on a few jump scares, but plenty of genuinely horrific moments easily offset them, and an effectively creepy score ratchets up the suspense. It’s a gratifying, fun watch, and the last scene is, shall we say, killer. – Shannon

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