Horror is a versatile genre. Horror films can possess a wide range of experiences and emotions in a single movie. It's part of the reason why I love the genre as much as I do. That, and the fact that I love monsters and usually horror is the central genre to find monsters. This movie doesn't have monsters in it (save for human monsters) but it is a wonderful example of the range inherent in the horror genre.
READY OR NOT is a purely delightful experience. It'll warm your heart with love and romance. It'll make you laugh. And it'll make you scream, squirm, and shout, "Oh $#!+! Did they just do that?!" It might make you nauseous too if you're faint of heart or have a sensitive stomach. Like I said, this movie is delightful!
I loved Ready Or Not.
THE PLOT
Grace is about to marry into the gaming tycoon family, Le Domas. The night of the wedding at midnight she learns of a strange tradition within the family: every time a new person marries into the family they must play a game. The game to be played is decided by a mysterious antique box which spits out a card with the name of the game printed on it. No one knows what game will be played until the box reveals the card. Grace pulls the card reading Hide & Seek. Whilst hidden, Grace learns this is no ordinary game of Hide & Seek. Her life depends on her staying hidden until dawn.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
Ready Or Not is pure entertainment. In the style of Evil Dead II, Return of the Living Dead, Re-Animator, Feast, and Piranha 3D, albeit not as zany as these, Ready Or Not is a rollercoaster ride of laughs and thrills. These kinds of films either hit this delicate balance or miss the mark entirely. Ready Or Not sticks the landing brilliantly.
Samara Weaving is central to this film's success. We experience most of the film through her eyes and as a result we experience most of the many emotions through her. The actress pulls off an incredible range of emotions by the film's end and we feel it too. She knocks it out of the park. I also thought the majority of the cast nailed it too. Many of these actors are surprisingly funny and dementedly entertaining.
There's some great gore effects and blood splatter too. And the violence and blood is executed tastefully at first but as the movie ramps up so too do we see a judicious escalation in blood and gore. The execution of the film as a whole I felt was very well done. The only real letdown for me was the final reveal of Mr. LeBail (the Devil). As cheeky as this movie is they don't embrace their own tone in the character design of LeBail, but instead opt for a rather underwhelming normal looking dude lacking even the remotest of devilish grins whatsoever. I could've used a little more of LeBail's presence throughout the film too, but I understand part of the delivery of this film was us wondering if the Le Domas family was telling the truth about LeBail or if they're just insane. Meh, not a big deal overall.
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10
I should have more to say about this movie, but beyond its black humor and blood and guts what more is there to talk about. This movie isn't for the squeamish. It's intense, demented, and above all wildly entertaining. Definitely an addition to the collection upon its dvd/bluray release.
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