YOU’RE NEXT (Adam Wingard). 96 minutes. Opens Friday (August 23). For venues and times, see Movies, page 69. Rating: NNNN Rating: NNNN
While not exactly groundbreaking, Adam Wingard’s You’re Next is an expertly crafted work of home-invasion horror that delivers the goods efficiently and effectively.
After a quick kill opening prologue, the script settles into a tale of dysfunctional family values in which a wealthy couple (Rob Moran and Re-Animator scream queen Barbara Crampton) gather their children for an anniversary party at the type of isolated rural mansion where only bad things can happen.
Adult siblings childishly bicker through a hilarious dinner scene before a gang of masked murderers appear and hunt down each family member. Screenwriter Simon Barrett has created compelling assholes whom the talented cast have fun with even as they get picked off.
The two wisest genre gear-shifts are a final girl (Sharni Vinson) with survivalist training who can put up a fight, and a clever mystery plot. Wingard skilfully builds tension throughout, delivering giggle- and gag-worthy murder set pieces without sacrificing characterization.
Despite his tiresome reliance on shaky-cam realism, Wingard (A Horrible Way To Die and the V/H/S series) is maturing into one of the finest horror craftsmen working today. Regardless of how it performs at the box office, the film feels destined for cult appreciation among those who like a good shriek in the dark.
