You're Next

A Slasher Saturday with an atypical home invasion story.

Another one I had high hopes for after reading some rave reviews. The majority of the acting was poor, and the plot was pretty predictable. I guess I've seen so much that not a lot surprises me or freaks me out anymore, but I always have hope that I will find that one that blows me away. Half way through this film I wasn't exactly blown away, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Home invasion horror movies seem to have had a resurgence in the last five or so years. Most are scary because it is one of those terrors that is all too real. Many people have home security systems and guns to protect themselves and their families based on some of those fears. In this film, a family gathers at a vacation home to celebrate the anniversary of their parents. A seemingly peaceful and happy occasion quickly turned to horror when the family is attacked by unknown, masked assailants both outside and inside the house. Then the revelers are picked off one by one. Basically your straight up home invasion type of flick, there is even one character that shines under pressure and fights back; our Australian heroine, Erin (Sharni Vinson). She was really the only decent actress in the whole thing. I literally cringed early in the film when the mother was saying that she heard someone upstairs and was imploring her husband to leave. It was just so unbelievable, but then Sharni carried the whole cast through a twisted and darkly humorous and gory romp.

Erin wielding an ax

When Erin is attacked by the man in the lion mask, she defends herself and makes quick work of him pretty gruesomely. This is about the time I started enjoying the movie more. Erin describes that she lived in a survival camp with her father in the Australian outback as she is hammering nails into boards. Later she lays those boards out beneath the window, a la a horror version of Home Alone. Not to mention the trap, an ax weighted with a brick, at the front door. The scene that really sealed the deal for me is when she dispatches one of the killers with a blender. That's right. She jams the blade with the base on the killer's head, plugs it in and turns it on. I couldn't help but think of Blendtec's "Will it Blend?" videos. "Will it blend? That is the question."

I imagine his voice in my head saying, "Killer's brain goop, don't drink this."

So even though half of the movie was kind of lame, it gets 4 skulls for impressing me with some good moments especially those that made me laugh out loud.