You’re Definitely Next

Once upon a time, a little movie called Scream asked What if the victims in the slasher knew the formula of the movie they were in? It started a revolution, a renaissance, one that finally made room for a Leslie Vernon to look at things from the slasher’s point-of-view, one that left room for Tucker & Dale to see what happens if the bad guys were the victims this time around. One that opened the door for Cabin in the Woods, which posed the question What if all these cliché conventions are part of something real, something vital for us all? Horror reshapes itself with questions, I’m saying. It’s always turning back on itself, trying to poke holes in the givens, see what its own gory insides might look like. Which brings us to You’re Next. A bit ago, I was saying The Conjuring was far and away the best wide-release horror of the year so far. And I feel like I was right, for then. This is a month later, though. And, while I don’t want to dethrone The Conjuring — still excellent, a clean span above the rest — man, You’re Next. Slashers are what I live for. Especially ones that are smart, that cut the genre off at the knees only to graft its stumps to stilts. The question You’re Next is doing that with is something a lot like: What if Nancy from Nightmare on Elm Street had been her third-act self from the opening frames on? It changes everything. So much for  . . . → → →