Mini-Review: You’re Next (2011) Shows Great Promise for “Mumble-gore”, Filmmaker Adam Wingard and His Buddies
Crispian (A. J. Bowen) and his girlfriend Erin (Sharni Vinson) are on their way to a family reunion. As they arrive at Crispian’s parents vacation home, they find that there might be an intruder. However Crispian and his dad Paul (Rob Moran) search the house and find no one. Aubrey, Crispian’s mom (Barbara Crampton), is still scared. The next day, Crispian’s two brothers and his sister and their respective partners arrive. Also, some uninvited folks with white animal masks and crossbows. Lucky for the Davisons, Erin is a skilled and badass surviver, ready to strike back.
It’s fun to see how director Adam Wingard and his mumble-core and mumble-gore friends, keep it fresh with every new film they make. You’re Next is a smarter than average horror/comedy with characters that are actually grounded in real life and are kind of relatable (certainly more than the walking clichés we get in American slashers these days). What also sets it apart from standard genre fare is that the characters make less stupid decisions than usual. If you’ve seen a couple Slashers, you know right away that Erin will be the “final girl”. Still, she is so cool that you don’t care.
I always liked movies about women kicking ass. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good one. Actually, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a good horror film. You’re Next definitely delivers, even if it does feel a bit amateurish at times. Given the low budget of the film however, that is excusable. As always I liked Joe Swanberg. I am a fan of his acting, because he always seems to be having so much fun doing these films. I’ve heard this film being called a horror version of Home Alone, but I would say it’s more of a horror version of Festen (The Celebration), minus the handheld camera.
All in all a solid genre film, that makes me look forward to anything Wingard and his buddies do in the future. It’s also good to see an original horror film doing moderately well at the box office. Hopefully, that will spawn some new opportunities for indie filmmakers.
7.5 out of 10
black is white 
Looks cool!
It is, but I thought you didn’t like Horror films? 🙂
I don’t, but some of them still LOOK cool! I’ll just never get to find out because I’m too scared to watch it!
🙂 oh, I see what you mean!
I don’t really watch horror films very often (usually I don’t find them very entertaining) but I will keep this one in mind next time I’m in the mood!
Great! Yeah, give it a shot 🙂 I think it has some interesting ideas. Hope you like it.