Before hitting pay dirt with the Godzilla v Kong blockbusting spectacles director Adam Winyard had been steadily honing his craft from 2004 starting a with a series of short films before moving into features and had been doing so at a rate of about one a year when he released You’re Next! in 2011
The film centred on the Davidsons, a wealthy family, whose fortune can’t mend their fractured relationships. In a bid to reconnect, parents Aubrey played by horror favourite Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, Creepshow) and Paul (Rob Moran – There’s Something About Mary) gather their four children and their partners for a luxurious weekend at their holiday estate. The couples – Crispian (AJ Bowen – The Sacrament) and Erin (Sharni Vinson – Step Up 3D), Drake (Joe Swanberg – V/H/S) and Kelly (Margaret Laney – Spider-Man 3), Felix (Nicholas Tucci – Father of Flies) and Zee (Wendy Glenn – Girl in the Video), and Aimee (Amy Seimetz – Sweet Tooth) and Tariq (Ti West – Pearl, X) – arrive for what should be a peaceful reunion. But their relaxing retreat soon turns into a nightmarish battleground. A crossbow bolt through the window shatters dinner and it’s not long before a group of terrifying masked intruders have invaded the estate. The fractured family must band together to survive, but the vicious assailants are in for a shock – one of the guests can be just as ruthless as they are…
It was the latest in a series of home invasion thrillers that had been released after the quite brilliant The Strangers in 2008 but whereas The Strangers built suspense ‘You’re Next!’ was a brutal and bloody horror with the cast meeting an often gruesome demise either by crossbow or knife though death by food blender was the one everyone remembered most. It was one of three films that Wingard released in 2011 and was by far the best. Written by his frequent collaborator Simon Barrett ( who also has a role as one of the masked intruders the films spin was that girlfriend and family outsider Erin (Sharni Vinson) took the lead in protecting the family with an explanation into her survival skills being somewhat risible. For Vinson it was a move away from her Aussie roots on daytime soap opera ‘Home & Away’ and she moved to the US where she had made an impression with her dance moves in ‘Step Up 3D’. Also appearing in the cast was fellow horror director Ti West (who himself has found great success with Mia Goth and his X trilogy). Wingard had also landed scream queen Barbara Crampton who had taken a step back from her career to raise her children but her appearance spurred directors and producers into casting her again and after 2011 she has been appearing in several films a year ever since,
Shot in just over three weeks the film was picked up for distribution when it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival and went on to earn $26m worldwide off its small budget and he has since gone on to make two summer blockbusters that have earned over $1b for Warners. It is well worth a revisit of this earlier film which is now released as a Limited Edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray box set & standard edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray too
Coming from Second Sight this release has been treated with their customary reverence and showered with respect and with a pristine 4K transfer and a whole load of extra features that includes:
- New 4K restoration and HDR Dolby Vision grade approved by Director Adam Wingard
- Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs
- New audio commentary with Director Adam Wingard and Writer Simon Barrett
- Audio commentary with Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, Sharni Vinson and Barbara Crampton
- Children of the 80s: A new interview with Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett
- The Most of Us: A new interview with Producers Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder
- Script as a Blueprint: A new interview with Actor AJ Bowen • Down in the Basement: A new interview with Actor Joe Swanberg
- Be Funny and Die: A new interview with Actor Amy Seimetz
- Falling into Place: A new interview with Production Designer Tom Hammock
- Slashers Don’t Die: Tim Coleman on You’re Next
- Who’s Next? The Making of Your Next • Animated Storyboards Limited Edition Contents
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Nick Charge
- 120-page book with new essays by Martyn Conterio, Andrew Graves, Kurt Halfyard, Alexandra Heller, Nicholas, Shelagh Rowan-Legg and Heather Wixson
- Six collectors’ art cards
There’s a mixture of archive and new but the commentary is well worth a listen and Adam Wingard’s small goatee beard in those archive interviews has now bloomed to a full on ZZ Top tribute act compete with wrap round shades in the new interview he does alongside Simon Barrett.
Whilst it’s a very different approach to the home invasion movie that The Strangers took, the gore quota here is high and is well worth a look in a film that will appeal to horror fans.
related feature : Scream Queen Barbara Crampton talks to us about being a vampire in, ‘Jakob’s Wife’
related feature : director Ti West introduces his film, ‘MaXXXine’ starring Mia Goth
Here’s the You’re Next trailer…..
