By Brett Blake The home invasion genre is, relatively speaking, an old one. Straw Dogs, Funny Games, The Strangers, even elements of Night of the Living Dead and Signs (heck, Home Alone is basically a home invasion story) all bear the hallmarks of the genre: a group of people - usually in an isolated place - are besieged by external forces, be they serial killers, aliens, or zombies. Some of these movies (the above-mentioned ones, for example) are good, but most are, frankly, bad. You’re Next falls squarely into the “good, even great” category. It’s an energetic, funny, creepy genre exercise that - while it doesn’t reinvent any wheels - feels fresh and exciting in an age of standard (read: BORING!) horror movies. Directed by Adam Wingard from a screenplay by Simon Barrett, You’re Next tells the story of brothers and sisters (and their significant others) returning home to celebrate their parents’ anniversary at the family’s secluded mansion. They soon discover that they’re being stalked by a group of dangerous killers, then death and bloodshed ensue. There’s a bit more to it than that, but part of the pleasure of the film is watching how certain elements of the plot unfold, so I’m not really going to say anything more about the nuts and bolts. That’s not to give the impression that the movie is hiding some big, left-field twist, because it isn’t (well, not really, anyway...), but I’d still say the less you know about the story going in, the better the viewing experience will be. On a technical level, Wingard does a tremendous job of orchestrating the mayhem that transpires. The isolated family home is well-realized and even better utilized; there’s enough of a sense of geography to the location to aid in building the tension and suspense, and the creepy, unsettling feeling of being alone with no help nearby is a key element of the movie’s effectiveness. This is complimented by some moody cinematography, and forceful, detailed sound and music design, which seem to build off each other in a neat way. All of the tech specs are first-rate, even despite the relative low budget of the production. What really sets the movie apart from most stories in this genre is its sense of humor, which is considerable. There are sequences in this film that are masterful blends of horror and humor, being both frightening/shocking and incredibly funny. It’s a tough balancing act that most “horror-movies-that-are-trying-to-be-funny” never really pull off; go too far in either direction (fear or humor), and neither will be effective. You’re Next does pull this off, and it’s kind of amazing that, in the middle of scenes of true suspense, the script will throw out a fully laugh-out-loud line of dialogue that manages to not take away from the effectiveness of the scares. In a similar vein, the characters we are presented with are legitimately interesting and fun; the family dynamics at play provide some great fodder for both humor and conflict, and there are no broad caricatures in sight (well, maybe save for one, but there’s an incredible pay-off to that, so I’ll let it slide). The actors all do a great job with their roles, but none leave as strong an impression as Sharni Vinson, who plays Erin, our de facto lead character. Without getting too specific, she’s awesome; a strong, textured heroine that puts most female horror characters to shame. She’s the most compelling female lead this genre’s seen since… well, I don’t know when, exactly. Maybe we’d have to go all the way back to Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley from Alien. Also, from a purely visceral standpoint, the violence is well-handled. At times it feels very realistic, while at other times it feels quite over-the-top, and these styles are utilized to punctuate either moments of humor or moments of fright. And as a horror fan, I’ve gotta say: there are some pretty memorable kills in here, and I think fans of the genre will be more than satisfied with the carnage. There are some nitpicks, of course, and most of these relate to the ultimate revelation of what, exactly, is going on with the invaders doing the killing; the movie provides pretty explicit motivations where a sense of mystery might have been scarier. There’s a “fear of the unknown” element that disappears from the story at a certain point that, in my opinion, could have been sustained a little while longer with some minor re-arranging of scenes at the scripting stage. All things told, however, I can’t overstate just how much of a fun experience the film is. So many horror movies feel the need to be morose or overbearingly intense (like they're compelled to prove how frightening or EXTREME! they are, or something), and while there’s certainly a place for that, we don’t get very many “fun” horror movies anymore, so You’re Next is very welcome in that regard.
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