Review #1268: Ready or Not.
Cast:
Samara Weaving (Grace Le Domas), Adam Brody (Daniel Le Domas), Mark O'Brien (Alex Le Domas), Henry Czerny (Tony Le Domas), Andie MacDowell (Becky Le Domas), Nicky Guadagni (Helene Le Domas), Melanie Scrofano (Emilie Le Domas), Elyse Levesque (Charity Le Domas), Kristian Bruun (Fitch Bradley), and John Ralston (Stevens) Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
Review:
It can be fun to see what a group can do with a black comedy horror film. After all, this is a film of duos, having two directors (both part of a film collective called Radio Silence, which directed films such as V/H/S in 2012) while being written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy. With a budget of just $6 million, the film has already proven a fair success with audiences, and it really isn't hard to see why. It proves itself fairly adept at giving some laughs along with thrills, a crowd-pleaser for one who wants to see a bunch of wealthy people tear each other apart with blood and giggles. The premise is simple enough: hide from your new in-laws until dawn because they are compelled to hunt you down in a big old house. With various weapons and a whole bunch of hiding places, it is nice to have a film where you aren't besieged by an idiot plot or overt mugging of the camera (weak spots for either horror or comedy), where the 95 minutes pass by just fine. The cast is certainly game enough to go along with things, headlined by a resilient Weaving, who does a tremendous job with her surroundings that make her a worthy one to follow from the get-go. The members of the on-screen family do pretty well with generating moments that make for a mix of unsettling and biting fun, where they could fit into a family comedy, but they just happen to be tasked with hunting their new in-law down without a thought of not following tradition (well, almost no thought...). Scrofano comes out on top with delivering a dark laugh, but others like Czerny and Guadagni do come out to play just as well. There really isn't a weak spot when it comes to making some actual scares or laughs, and it doesn't skimp out on the intensity when it comes to gore. On the one hand you might see someone get into an accident with a dumbwaiter, on the other you might see a kid shoot at someone and hit. The climax is a fine one, even if it is a bit eccentric with delivering a satisfying conclusion, which might be felt to be a bit silly. To me, it worked itself out fine, in the sense that one won't have their whole experience ruined, as would be the case with a weaker horror film. In any case, this is an amusing scare that will please the curious and satisfy the appetite of those who seek some dark moments and capable production at hand to go along with it.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
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