Review of You're Next (2013) by Tim G — 24 Sep 2015

You're Next, that horror indie film released in 2013, is a great example of having an impactful climax but not necessarily a strong beginning. The setup is nothing too original-a group of people head to an isolated house and gets picked off one by one by some mysterious murderer (or murderers!)-and with a lot of awkward buildup and thin characterization, it ends up dragging and brings up a lot of questions (for example, why do people under threat split up?).

If this is "pitch black comedy" then I'm missing the joke. It comes off like writer Simon Barrett had to make a feature length script off of an idea that was originally a short. That said, director Adam Wingard makes the most out of a reported $1million dollar production budget as You're Next is one good looking picture.

It just takes a lot of time to get there, but when it does, the film excels. The last 30 minutes of You're Next honestly saves the experience as homages to past works (Carpenter, Raimi...Home Alone?) bring a much needed sense of personality and excitement to the film.

You're Next isn't perfect but when it gets going it is a scary, pleasant surprise.