You’re Next (2011)

Abbi from Where The Wild Things Are is next up in the ‘Recommended By’ blogathon. Read on for her thoughts on You’re Next, and then of course go and check out her fantastic site.

You’re Next (2011) – Reviewed by Abbi from Where The Wild Things Are

I am not normally a great watcher of horror movies. I’ll be really honest and admit that I scare pretty easily and the fact that I have a vivid imagination tends to leave me with horrible mental pictures that haunt my dreams. However when Tyson Carter of Head In A Vice decided to celebrate his return from a baby related hiatus (no he did not give birth Junior style but he has been taking of a little Carter) with a blogathon all about watching the movies we put on our recommendations list and never get around to, I decided to push the boat out.

I can’t remember how many people have reviewed You’re Next and suggested that it was a bit of a standout but my most recent recommendation came from garylee828, whose blog has mysteriously disappeared, so I am going to credit him.

[WARNING MILD SPOILERS THROUGHOUT]

We start off with Erin (Sharni Vinson) in the car with her boyfriend, Crispian (AJ Bowen) driving to his parents’ house for their wedding anniversary party where she will meet them and his siblings and their partners for the first time. I have to admit that my first question was how a beardy dork like Crispian nabbed a young hottie like Erin. I thought it might be his money or amazing intellect or bravery but he doesn’t have any of those qualities either so the question never really got resolved in my mind.

Anyway, Crispian has three siblings, golden girl Aimee (Amy Seimetz) who is dating Tariq (Ti West), stuffy older brother, Drake (Joe Swanberg) who is married to even more stuffy, Kelly (Margaret Laney) and Felix (Nicholas Tucci) who is accompanied by his enigmatic girlfriend, Zee (Wendy Glenn). Dinner with mom (Barbara Crampton) and Dad (Rob Moran) in their opulent home starts well but it’s not long before old resentments come to the surface and a raging argument breaks out – one that is stopped in its tracks when mysterious attackers invade the home.

As a group of intruders in weird animal masks slowly picks off the panicking family members one by one it becomes clear that Erin is a lot more capable when it comes to survival than anyone expected and a violent cat and mouse game between her and the intruders ensues. But just exactly do the intruders want and why have they chosen this particular family?

“Erin wasn’t letting anyone get between her and her KFC bucket”

This is actually the first home invasion movie I have ever seen so I think a lot of the in-jokes might have been lost on me and I can’t comment on how inventive or not it was but I found the overall concept quite fascinating even though the twist was relatively predictable, well part of it anyway. I really liked Vinson as Erin and I thought it was great that she was tough but not invincible although her back story explaining why she was such a tough nut was a bit weak. Tucci was suitably slimy as Felix and he and Zee were immediately suspicious. I am thinking of one particular scene where Zee wants to get, er, freaky at the most inappropriate moment that is probably the most disturbing part of the whole film.. There’s a fair amount of blood for those who like that kind of thing along with some pretty unusual kills. I will never look at a blender the same way again.

I wouldn’t call You’re Next scary. It’s more suspenseful and thrilling than anything else while managing to keep its tongue firmly in its cheek. As with most slashers the characters often behave in absolutely idiotic ways, which is a bit painful along with how convoluted the whole premise is but if you can put that aside it’s a pretty good watch even if it’s not really my thing.

Was it a good recommendation?

On the balance of things I would say yes. From beginning to end I wanted to know what was going to happen and I was rooting for Erin all the way to the end when she was faced with a pretty challenging decision. Good work, garylee828! 3/5

What do I recommend in exchange?

Well I still want everyone to check out Everything is Illuminated.

Posted by Tysoncarter182 on September 1, 2014

https://headinavice.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/youre-next-2011/