An Average Slasher with a few bright spots.

When entering a slasher flick you have to expect there will be genre clichés. You’re Next had most of them present, but played them off with a sense of dark twisted humour while still maintaining the disgusting gore.

After what was supposed to be a family reunion to celebrate their parent’s anniversary, The Davison family soon finds out they are in for a night full of bloodshed and terror.

You’re Next doesn’t exactly provide anything new to the home invasion story within the first half hour of the film and generally takes a long while to build the thrill at the Davison home. For the first few scenes, the family seem very immature and childish until a dinner scene results in an arrow to the knee, Oops I mean face. After that of course like many horror films the family decides to start making horrible irrational decisions like sending one of their own out into the darkness by themselves. Except the killers are one step ahead of them and have planted a trap waiting at the door. This was actually one of the more shocking moments because it was unexpected and brutal.

Still You’re Next only really gets going when we learn that protagonist Erin has a natural instinct for fighting back against these low-level thugs. She grew up learning survival skills and begins to start making these intruders look like imbeciles. It is only at this stage does You’re Next actually begin to show signs of having life as its own creative film. Sharni Vinson proves to be a force as Erin, creating a badass horror chick who takes it upon herself to change the course of the night.

After Erin begins her dominance over these killers and you start to have a character to root for, yet the fear of these intruders is thrown out the window. They begin to make mistakes, and become bumbling fools who are in way over their heads. It is a bit of a refreshing take on the genre seeing one of the good guys actually gain some leverage, but it ultimately falls short of because of predictable slasher cop-outs and not so shocking reveals.

You’re Next may not be the greatest film to ever be shot for the big screen, some of it may be cheesy and unnecessary, but You’re Next has a level of black humour that is rarely executed well in horror films. You are a fan of these types of films, You’re Next may be just the horror film you are looking for.




7/10