Review: You're Next (2011)

Review by the Disgruntled Monkey

Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg and AJ Bowen
Writer: Simon Barrett

When it comes to horror movies, the notion of the 'last girl,'  is a rather prominent one. Basically a slasher comes along, creates terror a kills a group down to one female who then fights back. Survival is a 50/50 sort of proposition. However You're Next takes the 'last girl' idea and puts a spin on it.

The real joy of the movie is Sharni Vision in the role of Erin. She would certainly be the 'final girl' but instead she rally's the Davison family against the vicious intruders. Erin is not only a smart woman but is likable as she tries to ensure everyone survives.

Having such a strong lead propels You're Next as there is always this constant tension. It's also refreshing to have a character play things so smartly. But being such a strong character means that the others kind of fade into the background. They are far from ineffective, but this is truly Erin's show.

There are also some twists at the end that kind of put some life into tired horror conventions. It's far from original but I haven't seen it too much. Unfortunately I can't get into it as it would be spoilers, but needless to say I appreciated what it was doing. The final shot of the movie is a little bit of a f you, but it wasn't that distracting.

Overall You're Next is a bloody good movie that takes the home invasion genre of horror movies and gives it something interesting to do. The story is really well paced and Sharni Vision is awesome as Erin. For lovers of horror movies this is certainly worth your time.

Category	Rating	Reason
Entertainment	1 machete out of 1	Great tension, great entertainment.
Script	1 machete out of 1	This is actually smarter than you would think.
Acting	1 machete out of 1	Sharni Vision is awesome as Erin and a really strong female lead.
Directing	0.5 machetes out of 1	There is some talent here.
Technical	0.5 machetes out of 1	Good gore.
Overall	4 machetes out of 5	This is a pretty damn great movie and worth the time to watch.