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The Daily Tar Heel
Diversions

Movie Review: You're Next

4 stars

Not afraid of the big bad wolf? “You’re Next” says you should be. With phenomenal cinematography, sufficient acting and a jarring score, director Adam Wingard composes a surprisingly excellent horror film seeped in tension and violence.

While at a wedding anniversary getaway, the Davison family comes under attack by mysterious animal-masked murders. Little do the killers know, Erin (Sharni Vinson), girlfriend of son Crispian (AJ Bowmen), has a talent for kicking assassin butt.

Despite the occasional awkward camera angle, Wingard’s courage to deviate from the traditional slasher style pays off. Using handheld cameras and close ups, he establishes a tense intimacy between the audience and characters that is soon stabbed, chopped and blended away.

Looking at the storyline alone, the movie is nothing new. But because of its poignant delivery and meticulously constructed tension, the recycled plot can be easily overlooked.

By far, the film’s greatest accomplishment is its score. By combining new techniques with music reminiscent of classic horror films such as Jaws, the filmmakers create scenes that are filled with both gripping suspense and subtle comedy.

Probably one of the best horror films to come out in the past year, “You’re Next” will have you up at night wondering if you remembered to lock your door. Not that it matters; animals don’t use doors.

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