You’re Next Review: The Hunting Games

You’re Next received very positive reviews after being screened in 2011, but the movie was shelved for two years. At the LA Film Festival and with a full house I was finally able to experience it. And an “experience” it is: people clapped, laughed and scream at the screen.

Despite its low budget and the video having a “photo camera” look, you can relate with the characters and being engaged by the story. Instead of having a couple (like in The Strangers) or a small family of four (this year’s worst The Purge) being victims of a home invasion, this features a big family reunion. The awkward kind most of us have to endure at least once a year.

Its originality resides also in adding the right amount of black humor and plot twists, ingredients that are usually either absent or overused in Indie horror. But what really makes You’re Next stand out is that, after the home invasion it evolves into a revenge thriller with great pace. There is always something happening to keep you entertained.

Far from a voluptuous “scream queen”, the main female character (a solid Sharni Vinson) is a lethal action hero. Part ‘The Bride’ from Kill Bill, part the ingenious kid in Home Alone, ‘Erin’ fights the masked killers with both strength and brains. While horror movies like The Conjuring are all about building tension, You’re Next allows the catharsis of rooting for the hunted against the hunters.

The fun is diluted when the confrontations get repetitive and therefore predictable. You’re Next is not a “game changer” for the genre, like the Lionsgate marketing campaign claims. But -specially if you are surrounded by a good crow- this small and effective flick can be more satisfying than some mega blockbusters.