B-
You're Next
2013, 94mins, 18
Director: Adam Wingard
Writer: Simon Barrett
Cast includes: Sharni Vinson, AJ Bowen, Wendy Glenn, Joe Swanberg, Nicholas Tucci
UK Release date: 28th August 2013
Originally premiered back in 2011 and promptly snapped up by
LionsGate, “You’re Next” has been the source of substantial pop cultural buzz
for a period approaching two years. Fans, bloggers and critics have more or
less unanimously rallied around the product, touting it as a modern touchstone
in the home invasion niche, and in some more hyperbolic cases, even a future
classic of the horror genre. The film is a solidly crafted endeavour with some
nifty surprises, but the fact people are proclaiming it as anything more
suggests that audiences have too long been starved of respectable scary fare;
or indeed that the journalistic contingent of the industry will overstate
opinions amidst a qualitative drought. It debatably happened earlier this year
with “The Conjuring”, but “You’re Next” evidences the phenomenon at new highs; a
capable feature held up as some sort of entertainment deity. It might sound
like I’m being harsh on an otherwise credible picture, that’s not my intention,
but perhaps after the rapturous praise it’s been receiving a touch of
level-headed assessment might be just the antidote required.
Erin (Sharni Vinson) is about to meet her boyfriend Crispian’s
(AJ Bowen) extended for the first time, invited for a weekend at their stately
rural abode, where Crispian promises relations might get a little fraught. It
doesn’t take long for his prediction to come good, sibling relations seem tense
and Crispian’s mother (Barbara Crampton) isn’t in perfect health. During their
initial dinner, the family are subjected to a brutal siege from external
invaders; cloaked in black, adorned with eerie animal masks and a dangerous
arsenal of weaponry. It doesn’t take long for the casualties to start mounting,
the attackers indicating continued bloodshed as their chief intent, unexpectedly
unleashing a dormant survivalist skill-set within Erin. Creating DIY weapons
and defensive strategies, it quickly falls upon Erin to keep her privileged hosts
alive.
Australian Sharni Vinson hasn’t done much notable work in
the past, but her contribution here fits quite wonderfully into the ballsy “final-girl”
model. She’s the only true thespian presence in “You’re Next”, complimenting
the picture’s viscera with a strong, physical and steely turn. Director Adam Wingard
and writer Simon Barrett do an accomplished job of establishing Erin as the
film’s sole active protagonist, the only character who seems likely to see the
nightmarish charade to its end. This does at times come at the expense of
weaker supporting figures (although Joe Swanberg is amusing as Crispian’s cocky
brother Drake), but then “You’re Next” can essentially be boiled down to a formula;
Intruders advance, Erin responds, instance of jeopardy, resolution. A plethora
of additional humanity isn’t strictly necessary. However if it weren’t for the
courageously gory mutilations depicted or Vinson’s convincing bad-assery, then “You’re
Next” would quickly devolve into tedium. Well at least the first two thirds
would.
I’m the first to suggest the feature has been given an easy
pass by critics, but admittedly the movie does pack at least one terrific shift
of gear, channelling the carnage in a different and more intriguing direction.
It opens a few extra characters up (slightly) and provides for some blackly
giddy moments (a woman trying to seduce her lover beside a corpse is a
tasteless highlight), and ensures that the familiarity of the opening 50
minutes doesn't over-burden proceedings. There’s probably a little too much
exposure eventually handed to the villains, their motives eking away some
suspense, but what separates “You’re Next” from say, 2008’s comparable “The
Strangers”, is the deliberately shaky footing placed beneath its heroine’s
feet.
The bad guys aren't ever as scary as they might have been, chiefly
because throughout the movie they do some pretty stupid things. When stalking victims
they frequently suffer from delayed reactions and clumsy personal gestures,
lazily providing Wingard with the opportunity to close pivotal splurges of
violence on predictable boo moments. The musical score has a quirky nostalgic tweak
to it, but at times Wingard’s framing and understanding of classical horror
situations lets him down, very few of the films attempted shocks raised my
pulse. Characters arrive into spacious vistas Wingard unsubtly provides them
with and the music, despite its outdated charm, does aid obviously structured
beats thanks to its synth infused rhythms. “You’re Next” is much more satisfactory
when it flips into a relentless and visibly graphic mode of chaos. When left to
try and cultivate quieter, unforeseen frights the film-makers are generally
unable to supply anything enlightening or even semi-innovative.
I can respect that the hardcore horror nuts needed “You’re
Next”; it is after all in its most basic form a low-rent crowd-pleaser. Wingard
shows lashings of potential, but would also need to sharpen his directorial
machete for the next gig, a refusal to so slavishly worship slasher tradition
would definitely be to his artistic future’s benefit. In Sharni Vinson the
movie has a workable lead and the screenplay resuscitates some duff moments
thanks to an expertly applied twist, but is that enough to make “You’re Next”
any sort of modern landmark? I’d argue no.
A Review by Daniel Kelly, 2013
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