Crispian (AJ Bowen), along with his girlfriend Erin (Sharni Vinson), sister, brothers and their respective partners, celebrate his parents’ wedding anniversary out in the sticks at their new, swanky house. However, it’s not long before the celebrations are cut short by a brutal home invasion by masked attackers.
Some people are more freaked out by supernatural horror (me), whilst others find themselves gripping their seat with slasher-esque movies. If you fall into the latter category then You’re Next will likely have you double checking the locks when you get home.
The film has a distinctly b-movie feel to it, which is by no means a bad thing, and doesn’t hold back with its violence. There are even a couple of particularly grisly deaths that verge on video nasty territory. It’s well filmed with plenty of close up shots to give you that claustrophobic feel and restrict your on-screen peripheral vision. The use of shaky cam, however, does get a little tiresome after a while.
Whilst the film is tight and well constructed, it’s also a little shallow and you may well find yourself with little empathy for the main characters. Indeed, the attackers have more personality than most of the protagonists even though they’re masked up.
You’re Next is a pretty blatant attack on the middle class, but it does so with its tongue firmly lodged in its cheek. It recalls Scream at various instances, almost riffing on the home invasion sub-genre at times. It’s at no point cerebral but is a succinctly packaged piece of good gruesome fun.
Terry Malloy's Pigeon Coop 
I had heard so many bad things about this, Chris, but a four pigeon rating is enough to grab my interest. I just might give it a chance.
It’s a good bit of fun Mark. It’s most definitely got its flaws but I had fun with it. It’s worth a rental I’d say, you wouldn’t lose too much not seeing it at the cinema. I didn’t go in expecting much though, so maybe that helped me enjoy it a bit more.
Mark – this is one of my favorite movies so far this year…
High praise indeed sir! I’ll give it a go!
This is also one of my favourites so far this year. Whoever provided you with negative opinions regarding this film is wrong…dead wrong…;).
I’ve been wanting to watch this Chris, i heard both bad and good things about this one. And i’m actually freaked out by slasher films more i guess. I hope i’d be able to catch this before the run ended in my local cinema.
Yeah there are some very mixed reviews with this one but I thought it was good fun. Don’t go in expecting a masterpiece or anything and you should have a good time with it. It’s not the scariest but is pretty jumpy in places.
EXCELLENT! I don’t understand why some people are dogging on this movie – it’s good fun – and funny at parts! Nice work!
Cheers dude. I thought it was pretty funny at times too, there’s definitely some dark humour in there, hence the Scream comparison. I think people were expecting a proper serious slasher but that wasn’t what it was supposed to be in my opinion.
I completely agree with you.
Good review. So much fun, despite it not being the least bit scary. However, i don’t think it was meant to either, just to allow us to have a great time watching all of these people get hacked-away by whatever a person can find. Blenders included.
Thanks Dan. Yeah it’s not scary at all. There are a few jumpy bits but that’s just because of big bangs, etc. I just saw it as a bit of fun and I liked it and that blender scene is crazy, that’s proper video nasty stuff right there.
I really loved this flick. It’s funny, gory, violent, and not too cliched. Great write-up!
Cheers mate. Yep, it’s all those things, just a great bit of fun. Never takes itself too seriously, which is where I think some people feels it doesn’t work too well.
Excellent work Chris. I’d heard good things about this and your review has made me wanna see this even more 🙂
Cheers Mark. It;s not for everyone it seems but if you go in not expecting a masterpiece then you should have some fun with it. It’s not a game changer but I enjoyed it.
Nice to see you back reviewing again Chris! Well you know this isn’t for me even just by reading this “There are even a couple of particularly grisly deaths that verge on video nasty territory.” I’m also not fond of the use of shaky cam, makes me dizzy!
Thanks Ruth, thought i’d have a little break after the blogathon but I’m back now and looking forward to posting up some new stuff 🙂 Yeah I can’t see this being your cup of tea and if you don’t like shaky cam then this might give you motion sickness, it gets very shaky at times!
Hmmm, another believer in this film… I really should get to checking it out. Awesome quickie!
Thank you! It’s definitely worth a watch in my opinion, even though some really haven’t liked it.
Nice review! I found it to be a wasted opportunity and fails to bring anything noteworthy to the used-up home invasion story. However, it does feature some impressive scenes, kills and gore and is entertaining for the most part.
Thanks! I can;t argue that it doesn’t really bring much new to the table. But I think it does have its tongue in its cheek which does separate it a little from a lot of other similar films.
Great work, I’ve heard mixed things about this but I may check it out.
Cheers man. Yeah it has had some mixed reviews but I enjoyed it quite a bit, it was good fun.
Great write up! I see so much promotion for this film but I have little idea what it’s actually about. I like horror films so I’m definitely going to check this one on DVD.
Thank you! It’s had some very varied responses, this one, so don’t go expecting anything amazing but it’s a fun watch if you don’t take it too seriously.
Good review and I think you actually liked this slightly more than I did based on your rating. I felt the need to see this and get a review out there as SO many bloggers were giving it crazily good reviews! It was pretty good for a slasher/home invasion movie. Just not very “me”. I definitely prefer supernatural horror & much preferred The Conjuring. And I’m a wuss with gore. (But the blender bit was good…) 😉
Thanks 🙂 I was torn between a 4 and a 3.5 rating but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. See I have no problem with gore whatsoever, just as long as it’s not just for the sake of it, and I liked the level of it here. Some people have really taken to it, some not so much; seems like one of those kinds of films!
I did appreciate that this had more of a brain to it than most modern gory horrors. 🙂
Well, I wasn’t that interested in this one, mainly because I didn’t like A Horrible Way to Die by the same director. But a gruesome scene with a blender, you say? Sounds great! 😀
Ah yes the blender scene is pretty cool, definitely a highlight and one of the instances of very black humour.
I did not like this one. Much at all. Though I did like Sharni Vinson. But so many people did like it that I have a bunch of reviews, and you have finally explained the big key I just didn’t experience. The black humor. The tongue I’m cheek.
These things didn’t work for me – they fell flat. Now I understand that they did work for the folks who enjoyed the film more than I did. Almost makes me want to see it a second time to see if I would enjoy it more when approaching it with a different mindset.
Thanks for the great review!
Thanks! I can definitely see this not working for everyone but I was just in the right mood for it. Might be worth giving it another go if you get time though, you might have a different view on it!