You’re Next 
Starring: Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, AJ Bowen, Wendy Glenn, Joe Swanberg, Margaret Laney, Amy Seimetz, Ti West, Rob Moran, Barbara Crampton, L.C. Holt, Simon Barrett, Lane Hughes
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Rated: R
Run Time: 96 mins
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Opens August 23rd
By Lisa Minzey of The Reel Critic.com
Hey Phoenix Horror Film Fans! Opening this week is the award winning horror film at such festivals as Austin Fantastic Fest, Toronto International Film Fest and the Gerardmer Film Festival, “You’re Next”. Although this film was made a few years back, will horror fans still embrace with with enthusiasm like the have with “The Purge” from earlier this year?
When Crispian (AJ Bowen) brings his new girlfriend Erin (Sharni Vinson) home to meet his parents and siblings, neither one could imagine their weekend going the way it did. The new couple was traveling to Crispian’s parents Paul (Rob Moran) and Aubrey’s (Barbara Crampton) 35th wedding anniversary, and it would be the first time in years that all the siblings would be under one roof. There is the older brother Drake (Joe Swanberg) and wife Kelly (Margaret Laney), younger sister Aimee (Amy Seimetz) and filmmaker boyfriend Tariq (Ti West) and youngest sibling Felix (Nicholas Tucci) and girlfriend Zee (Wendy Glenn).
The relationship between older siblings Crispian and Drake has always been a little rocky but everything changes the following night at dinner when a group of mercenary killers descends upon the family, taking them out one by one. Who will survive? Who are these killers and why target the family?
Over the past few months, there has been a solid representation of horror/ thriller films such as “The Conjuring” and the remake of “Evil Dead”. What this film tries to embody with the whole home invasion plot, greatly improves on what they tried to accomplish in “The Purge” but lack of unique characters and situations drag the pacing of the film down. Full of cliche attributes from characterization, plot points and direction, the only strong point in the film is that the female lead is strong and intelligent to navigate the way through the chaos. The gore and suspense factors are mediocre, but a vast improvement over “The Purge”. You be the judge when “You’re Next” opens in theaters starting Friday August 23, 2013.
