Review by Fred Topel on http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/film/5100/review
*Editor's Note: In the interest of full disclosure, the co-founders of Bloody Disgusting are working on a new project with the writer and director. Brad Miska also associate produced their previous A Horrible Way to Die.
You're Next is totally F'ing awesome. It's like the finale of Straw Dogs as an entire movie. The siege lasts the entire movie and the heroes have brilliant ways to fight back.
It's a good old fashioned trapped in a house with creative implements of murder movie. A dysfunctional family gets assaulted at their remote mansion and defend themselves while aggravating their issues. They make the A-hole suffer the most, because we love torturing douchebags.
This is violent horror by guys who know what they love and dreamed up everything they ever imagined. What they love about horror is exploring all the possibilities of a contained situation, then getting creative in every possible way to exploit those limitations.
There are really some kills I've never seen before. The dining room attack itself is simply inventive. The killers are viciously creative but the heroes' kills make you cheer. There's one killer you want to fall for a certain trap so badly, yet the filmmakers came up with an even better payoff.
The characters are smart and strategic so it hurts more when they still get killed. It makes you cheer for the hero. Sharni Vinson is truly badass. I would say female Bruce Campbell but she doesn't even take the beating Ash does. Female John McClane, that's what she is. A compassionate character in real life, but she's the one you want protecting you in a violent situation. I want to team her up with Molly Dunsworth for a buddy action movie.
I do wish director Adam Wingard would lay off the shaky cam because he doesn't need it. All the chaos and tension are already inherent in the situation he and screenwriter Simon Barrett crafted. The still moments and slow motion scenes are so effective, they don't need to telegraph it. It's more deliberate than A Horrible Way to Die certainly, totally watchable. They haven't gone all Paul Greengrass.
You really don't know when or where something's going to happen, and the filmmakers love to surprise you or tease you. Another good comparison would be original Texas Chainsaw Massacre but more fun in spirit. It's got all the visceral thrills of the classics but doesn't get dark about it. Bravo to Wingard and Barrett. The boys done good.
Score: 9 / 10
