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My You're Next review is up! I hope you all like it 
This film had an amazing marketing campaign. I can’t remember exactly where it was, but I feel like they targeted L.A. and New York? Basically, they placed animal masks (like the ones seen in the film) over famous monuments all over the cities. They also placed shadowy silhouettes of the masked killers in the background of posters of other films that were displayed in bus stops, to create the illusion that they were standing behind whoever was viewing it (like the ones below). I’m sure plenty of other films have done similarly creative campaigns, but I vividly remember this one, so I just had to check out the film.
You’re Next is, essentially, a home invasion film. It follows an Australian woman named Erin (Sharni Vinson) who is travelling to visit the in-laws with her partner Crispian (AJ Bowen) in order to celebrate his parents’ 35th wedding anniversary where all of his siblings will be present. However, having seen a killer disguised by an animal mask murder a couple prior to their arrival, and with the mother, Aubrey (Barbara Crampton), hearing noises around their gigantic house, it’s immediately made apparent that the family have been targeted. So when the remainder of the Davison family eventually arrive with their partners, and they sit down for dinner, (for lack of a better phrase) **** basically just hits the fan, as the family are ambushed. Eventually calming themselves, they discuss what to do and Aimee (Amy Seimetz) runs out of the house to try and get help, but instead runs into a piano cord which slits her throat. Subsequently (after many more deaths), it is revealed that the whole attack has been orchestrated by Felix (Nicholas Tucci) and his girlfriend Zee (Wendy Glenn) who were inspired by financial motivations (they wanted the inheritance left by the parents imminently without having to share it) who then command the remaining killers to immediately locate and kill Erin. This fails, and Erin kills them all, where, in the finale, it is revealed that Erin’s own partner, Crispian, was also involved in the attack, Erin therefore kills him, but it shot by an onlooking police officer. Who, in turn, is presumably killed by a trap that Erin earlier created.
This is probably my worst summary of a film, and I really don’t do it much justice I think, but that’s because a great deal of events happen in very quick succession in this film, but I’ll attempt to cover these as best I can!
Positives
Unlike many horror films that contain one or two eruptive scenes but then can’t retain this consistency for the remainder of their duration, as soon as You’re Next transitions into its action sequences, the pace never drops, it’s turbulent, chaotic, and you’re barely able to keep up with what is happening in front of you, and in this aspect, director Adam Wingard is successful in conveying the chaotic and terrifying nature of home invasions.
However, the writing is also pretty good, and although it may not be the most original horror film of modern times, it’s perhaps one of the more intriguing and inventive ones. Silly tropes such as expecting assailants to perish after one whack to the head or teenage girls turning into experienced killing experts despite having never attended a single self-defence class in their lives are completely defied in this film, and they are done so by the leading protagonist, Erin. I appreciated the way they developed Erin too, she’s empowered, but she feels authentic, and her background isn’t too far fetched at all (she was raised in numerous military compounds for her father was heavily involved with the Australian military, resulting in Erin learning martial arts and survival skills throughout her childhood). Simultaneously, her isolated childhood does enable viewers to pity Erin as well, so Simon Barrett achieves multiple effects with minimal details, something I feel that not a great deal of writers would be able to accomplish. Additionally, Erin is devoid of any sexual connotations, another trope/common criticism of the genre. For example, whenever Erin is attacked, she grunts or wails in an aggravated way, she never ever releases a scream that could be mistaken as orgasmic pleasure, which is quite common within this genre, which again, Barrett is partly responsible for. So the writing is successful in approaching the genre in a new and fresh perspective, which I think is why this film generated so much publicity.
Sharni Vinson is quite good in her role too, however, I feel as though the writing heavily contributed to my liking of her character, because when I watched this film a second time (after being blown away by her performance the first time) I actually found that Ms.Vinson doesn’t display a great range of emotions and is a little bit distant when delivering some of her lines. Her facial expressions are usually accurate in conveying what Erin is feeling though. So overall, she’s okay in her performance, which is only elevated by the great writing that Barrett dedicated to her character.
The direction of the death scenes was pretty magnificent. The characters all stood a chance against their killers, so instantly we get a little tense and a little excited to see who will overcome who. Additionally, it features a pretty amazing two onto one fight that features women going at each other with everything they’ve got, instead of them just pulling at each other’s hair or slapping one another. Within this very scene, the black humour that the film tries to implement actually works. I never laughed out loud though, but it was pretty humorous nonetheless, which is how I feel comedy should be delivered in horror films (I don’t particularly feel horror-comedies work at all).
The soundtrack was actually pretty great too, and I wasn’t expecting this at all considering the small budget that the film was created with. It always manages to enhance the effects Wingard attempts to create within several key moments layered throughout the film, and the “looking for the magic” song was a peculiar juxtaposition to the bleak nature of the film.
Negatives
The acting. Oh my, it’s pretty grim. Not even horror veterans like Barbara Crampton deliver remotely decent performances. The majority of them overact and go completely over the top (Margaret Laney/Kelly and Wendy Glenn/Zee), or they deliver their lines in an immature and childish way (Amy Seimetz/Aimee, Nicholas Tucci/Felix and AJ Bowen/Crispian) and it was quite a major put off for me at times. The remainder of the cast are only slight improvements as well, and are amateurish at best. Strangely, however, every cast member’s best moment has to be their death scenes, which is when the film is at it’s darkest and most frightening, and since the death scenes come thick and fast, the acting is tolerable overall; just.
This ultimately resulted in a cast of characters who I did not care for one bit. Their deaths are brutally violent, so inevitable you pity them somewhat, but other than that, I didn’t feel anything for any one of them (except for Erin, who is by far the most excellently crafted character in the film). So, in the end, the film didn’t have the emotional impact on me that it had the potential to do, which was quite disappointing.
Conclusion
The strong writing and proficient directing create many tense moments in this film, and with an inventive plot and a brilliant female lead, there was a lot of positive elements in this film. There aren’t loads of flaws, yet the ones that are there are very significant and do limit the overall quality of this film. So, I’ll give this film
This film had an amazing marketing campaign. I can’t remember exactly where it was, but I feel like they targeted L.A. and New York? Basically, they placed animal masks (like the ones seen in the film) over famous monuments all over the cities. They also placed shadowy silhouettes of the masked killers in the background of posters of other films that were displayed in bus stops, to create the illusion that they were standing behind whoever was viewing it (like the ones below). I’m sure plenty of other films have done similarly creative campaigns, but I vividly remember this one, so I just had to check out the film.
You’re Next is, essentially, a home invasion film. It follows an Australian woman named Erin (Sharni Vinson) who is travelling to visit the in-laws with her partner Crispian (AJ Bowen) in order to celebrate his parents’ 35th wedding anniversary where all of his siblings will be present. However, having seen a killer disguised by an animal mask murder a couple prior to their arrival, and with the mother, Aubrey (Barbara Crampton), hearing noises around their gigantic house, it’s immediately made apparent that the family have been targeted. So when the remainder of the Davison family eventually arrive with their partners, and they sit down for dinner, (for lack of a better phrase) **** basically just hits the fan, as the family are ambushed. Eventually calming themselves, they discuss what to do and Aimee (Amy Seimetz) runs out of the house to try and get help, but instead runs into a piano cord which slits her throat. Subsequently (after many more deaths), it is revealed that the whole attack has been orchestrated by Felix (Nicholas Tucci) and his girlfriend Zee (Wendy Glenn) who were inspired by financial motivations (they wanted the inheritance left by the parents imminently without having to share it) who then command the remaining killers to immediately locate and kill Erin. This fails, and Erin kills them all, where, in the finale, it is revealed that Erin’s own partner, Crispian, was also involved in the attack, Erin therefore kills him, but it shot by an onlooking police officer. Who, in turn, is presumably killed by a trap that Erin earlier created.
This is probably my worst summary of a film, and I really don’t do it much justice I think, but that’s because a great deal of events happen in very quick succession in this film, but I’ll attempt to cover these as best I can!
Positives
Unlike many horror films that contain one or two eruptive scenes but then can’t retain this consistency for the remainder of their duration, as soon as You’re Next transitions into its action sequences, the pace never drops, it’s turbulent, chaotic, and you’re barely able to keep up with what is happening in front of you, and in this aspect, director Adam Wingard is successful in conveying the chaotic and terrifying nature of home invasions.
However, the writing is also pretty good, and although it may not be the most original horror film of modern times, it’s perhaps one of the more intriguing and inventive ones. Silly tropes such as expecting assailants to perish after one whack to the head or teenage girls turning into experienced killing experts despite having never attended a single self-defence class in their lives are completely defied in this film, and they are done so by the leading protagonist, Erin. I appreciated the way they developed Erin too, she’s empowered, but she feels authentic, and her background isn’t too far fetched at all (she was raised in numerous military compounds for her father was heavily involved with the Australian military, resulting in Erin learning martial arts and survival skills throughout her childhood). Simultaneously, her isolated childhood does enable viewers to pity Erin as well, so Simon Barrett achieves multiple effects with minimal details, something I feel that not a great deal of writers would be able to accomplish. Additionally, Erin is devoid of any sexual connotations, another trope/common criticism of the genre. For example, whenever Erin is attacked, she grunts or wails in an aggravated way, she never ever releases a scream that could be mistaken as orgasmic pleasure, which is quite common within this genre, which again, Barrett is partly responsible for. So the writing is successful in approaching the genre in a new and fresh perspective, which I think is why this film generated so much publicity.
Sharni Vinson is quite good in her role too, however, I feel as though the writing heavily contributed to my liking of her character, because when I watched this film a second time (after being blown away by her performance the first time) I actually found that Ms.Vinson doesn’t display a great range of emotions and is a little bit distant when delivering some of her lines. Her facial expressions are usually accurate in conveying what Erin is feeling though. So overall, she’s okay in her performance, which is only elevated by the great writing that Barrett dedicated to her character.
The direction of the death scenes was pretty magnificent. The characters all stood a chance against their killers, so instantly we get a little tense and a little excited to see who will overcome who. Additionally, it features a pretty amazing two onto one fight that features women going at each other with everything they’ve got, instead of them just pulling at each other’s hair or slapping one another. Within this very scene, the black humour that the film tries to implement actually works. I never laughed out loud though, but it was pretty humorous nonetheless, which is how I feel comedy should be delivered in horror films (I don’t particularly feel horror-comedies work at all).
The soundtrack was actually pretty great too, and I wasn’t expecting this at all considering the small budget that the film was created with. It always manages to enhance the effects Wingard attempts to create within several key moments layered throughout the film, and the “looking for the magic” song was a peculiar juxtaposition to the bleak nature of the film.
Negatives
The acting. Oh my, it’s pretty grim. Not even horror veterans like Barbara Crampton deliver remotely decent performances. The majority of them overact and go completely over the top (Margaret Laney/Kelly and Wendy Glenn/Zee), or they deliver their lines in an immature and childish way (Amy Seimetz/Aimee, Nicholas Tucci/Felix and AJ Bowen/Crispian) and it was quite a major put off for me at times. The remainder of the cast are only slight improvements as well, and are amateurish at best. Strangely, however, every cast member’s best moment has to be their death scenes, which is when the film is at it’s darkest and most frightening, and since the death scenes come thick and fast, the acting is tolerable overall; just.
This ultimately resulted in a cast of characters who I did not care for one bit. Their deaths are brutally violent, so inevitable you pity them somewhat, but other than that, I didn’t feel anything for any one of them (except for Erin, who is by far the most excellently crafted character in the film). So, in the end, the film didn’t have the emotional impact on me that it had the potential to do, which was quite disappointing.
Conclusion
The strong writing and proficient directing create many tense moments in this film, and with an inventive plot and a brilliant female lead, there was a lot of positive elements in this film. There aren’t loads of flaws, yet the ones that are there are very significant and do limit the overall quality of this film. So, I’ll give this film