Film Trailer Review: You’re Next (2013)

You’re Next is a new horror film directed by Adam Wingard who is perhaps best known for also directing two horror segments for the V/H/S movies. The story is very basic and concerns an American family called the Davisons who travel to a remote woodland holiday home for a family reunion. The house is huge and the whole extended family has turned up for the event. Unfortunately the celebrations are soon interrupted when a bunch of crazy killers with a penchant for weird face masks decide to gatecrash the party. The family then have to defend themselves from the killers and use their knowledge of the familiar surroundings to their advantage.

Ti West appears in the film as one of the house guests and horror fans may remember him as the director of The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers. He also directed a segment in the first V/H/S movie which is possibly where he first met Adam Wingard the director of this film. You’re Next also stars AJ Bowen who was also in The House of the Devil and Joe Swanberg who was one of the main characters in the horror segment Ti West directed for V/H/S. Veteran eighties horror movie actress Barbara Crampton plays the Davison matriarch in the film and it’s always cool to see her in new horror flicks.

Home invasion horror films are fairly uncommon which is surprising, few are made these days as supernatural horror seems to be more popular with movie fans right now. The Paranormal Activity films put ghosts and demons back in the spotlight and they make a lot of money for the studios that produce them. It’s nice to see a film like You’re Next is on the way as it focuses on a kind of horror that is realistic and not beyond the realm of possibility. Such films add a bit of variety to the box office and they provide a threat that is more tangible which gives the protagonists a chance to fight back. When the killers invade the house they discover that some of their victims are willing to fight and this makes the situation much more interesting.

Faceless killers in creepy masks are a well worn trope in horror movies but they are often creepy and menacing. The masks take away some of their humanity and make them appear more sinister and alien to the viewer. One of the killers in You’re Next wears what appears to be a tiger mask which re-affirms his status as a hunter. There are three killers in total and the other two wear a fox and lamb mask which is unusual, it’s unclear if the masks are intended to be symbolic or just an effective tool for scaring people and allowing the killers to conceal their identities.

The main protagonists appear to be rather sympathetic in the trailer so the audience will hopefully root for them. Perfect Day by Lou Reed is used as the soundtrack for the trailer which is a nice touch, at the start of the trailer one of the family members puts a CD of the song into a player, hits the play button and then the soundtrack begins. Horror fans should enjoy the trailer as it is action packed and also contains a few shocks, the killers seem to appear at random out of nowhere and the surviving family members try to lay booby traps for them. It’s a good trailer and it does enough to generate excitement for the feature film. The only downside is that like a lot of modern trailers You’re Next reveals a bit too much which may spoil some of the twists and turns in the plot. A film like this works best when the viewer does not know who will live and who will die, giving away some of that information in a trailer spoils things.

You’re Next may reveal a bit too much of its story in the trailer but it still has the potential to be thrilling and entertaining.
The film has a nice cast, a decent director and a derivative yet still intriguing plot. Fans can see the movie when it is released on August 28th.

Check out the trailer and share your thoughts.