Alex Moss EditorBefore he was wrangling Godzilla and Kong, Adam Windgard made his name making horrors with a bit of nostalgia and a bit of a wry smile at the tropes of the genre. The Guest was a brilliant throwback to the films of John Carpenter that skewed the invincible killer into a charming protagonist while his other was You’re Next. On paper You’re Next is a standard home invasion thriller, and for many that’s all they’ll need it to be but it is a film that loves to reveal a little more each time you watch it.
The Davison family are gathering for parents Paul (Rob Moran) and Aubrey’s (Barbara Crampton) anniversary. With sibling rivalry charging the atmosphere things feel tense leaving Erin (Sharni Vinson), girlfriend of son Crispian (AJ Bowen) feeling more than a bit alienated. But over a heated family debate during dinner the family are attacked by masked aggressors forcing the family to try and come together to survive.
It is around the midpoint of You’re Next where you begin to realise that Wingard and writer Simon Barrett are having more fun than is obvious at first. It is a film that has a wonderful sense of awareness of the horror genre. It’s not that it’s a pastiche or even an homage to classics of the genre but rather a film that wants to occasionally skewer the tropes of horror. Imagine if Scream and Norman Bates got together and had a lovechild, the result would be You’re Next.
During one of the interviews on this Second Sight 4K release Wingard comments that Barret called it a slapstick horror and that is a bullseye of a description. Because while it opens fairly routinely what becomes apparent is there is a sense of chaos and something laughable about some of the set pieces. This is only heightened as the film develops into the third act which turns into Home Alone for adults, complete with traps and mad deaths.
In Sharni Vinson’s Erin you also have a final girl who is akin to Rambo without the PTSD. This demur outsider of the family turns quiet leader while the bickering family do their best to get in her way of their survival. It’s often in little throwaway moments through Erin that Wingard and Barrett are having their most fun. Giving winks and smiles to the concept of a ‘final girl’ and how that would look in a real-world situation.
And for those worrying that this might mean the horror element is missing, rest assured, You’re Next has plenty of scares, a reassuring amount of gore and violence that is both grimacing while never being nauseatingly gore-porn. There are some really clever moments of inventive scares and others of slow-build tension that when the ‘reveal’ comes you’re left nodding with approval and laughing at the sheer audacity of it all.
A horror film with a difference while treading familiar territory, You’re Next feels like a breath of fresh air amid a cliched genre.
You’re Next Limited Edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray Box Set & Standard Edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray arrive 19 August 2024
Pre-order now.
