You’re Next (2013)
Posted: by Sean Gonzalez
You’re Next (2011): Directed By Adam Wingard
In One Sentence: A sexy model wields an axe and murders people in self-defense after her family is attacked.
Why You Should Watch: Actually, this one felt a bit like The Strangers to me at first. A family reunion is taking place in a pretty large house. One could disregard the first 30 minutes of the film before getting to the good parts. Bickering is happening at Dinner over someone’s independent Documentaries and the validity of them in the scheme of life (this is actually important later). As one of the in-laws steps away from the table, he notices something outside and stares like a deer in the headlights and then all of a sudden BAM, dead. Crossbow arrow to the face.
The family, in their panic, decide to try and escape the dining room by using chairs as shields to cross the sight of the window. What the hell is this good for? They clearly can crawl underneath the window without the shooter even noticing. The group collectively decides to send one of the daughters out for help but NOPE! Every time you think someone might just escape, they’re dead meat.
At this point in the movie I was not really that involved. As more people die Erin (Sharni Vinson) takes matters into her own hands and begins fighting back. She begins her assault out of self defense by beating someone’s head in with a meat tenderizer. This is a perfect way to begin talking about the effects and kills. Every single one of them were directed in a way that made you go “Oooh, that would be an awful way to die.” The kills were inventive but not over the top. They were also extremely rational.
For a lower budgeted Horror flick, this one has well shot scenes, including a perfect scene where Erin is in the basement with all the lights out waiting for someone to come after her. She makes use of a camera’s constant flash to show her exactly where her assailant is, and the scene itself is beautifully directed. It showcases an equally smart movie not afraid to use cheaper tricks to come at the same conclusion (death and blood).
There are a few shots in the movie that work as perfect still shots, like the time Mrs. Badass is standing in the window with an axe, a bloody axe! Her noteworthy role in this film gives the movie a unique character. Instead of being a bloody murder spree, we have a bloody murder spree involving a smart protagonist. It’s a sigh of relief in the wake of the rest of horror films, where we usually just yell at the characters for their bad choices. Well, here I was rooting for Erin to seek out her revenge, and even found myself jumping for joy as she murders someone with a blender, a fucking blender! Talk about one for survival.
The rest of the acting was equally great. The more mainstay characters fit their identities and roles well. If someone needed to be a sneaky, methodical planner, they were. If someone was to be tender and affectionate lover, they were. More often than not Horror Films are flabby actors who are just told to scream and die when needed, which was where the film started, but I think the actual terror of a well plotted assault on a family would force that to happen to anyone. But again, applaud to Sharni Vinson’s crafty attitude and stellar appeal.
Favorite Line: Flesh Squelch (watch this on Netflix with subtitles enabled and you will totally understand what I mean).
