Ready or Not (2019)

Samara Weaving, in my opinion, deserves to be a huge star. I say this mainly because thus far, I’ve enjoyed watching her in films more than I’ve enjoyed the actual films. She is incredibly charistmatic, gorgeous, goofy and just flat-out funny. I have recently had the pleasure of seeing her in Mayhem, The Babysitter and could even see her potential in just a small yet memorable role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Some of you may have also seen her in TV’s Ash Vs. Evil Dead, SMILF and recent release Guns Akimbo. Now, again, she was great in Ready or Not, but I think her greater roles are still ahead of her.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who have made several shorts, with a couple of those appearing on the anthologies Southbound and V/H/S, as well as the 2014 feature Devil’s Due, do a decent enough job with this one to keep it well paced and entertaining. It has the right balance of horror and comedy, though could have done better on the suspense and character development.

The film features Weaving (yes, she is related to Hugo, being his niece) in the leading role, with a nice ensemble of supporting cast the likes of Mark O’Brien (Arrival, The Darkest Minds, Bad Times at the El Royal), Adam Brody (Jennifer’s Body, Scream 4, Isabelle, Shazam!), Henry Czerny (Mission: Impossible, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Curse of Buckout Road, TV’s Quantico, Sharp Objects), Andie McDowell (Groundhog Day, Four Weddings & A Funeral, The Last Laugh), Melanie Scrofano (Saw VI, Citizen Gangster, Nurse 3D), Kristian Bruun (Deep Space, Red Rover, Tammy’s Always Dying, TV’s Orphan Black), Nicky Guadagni (Crash [1996], Cube, Silent Hill), Elyse Levesque (Slumber Party Slaughter, TV’s The Originals, Orphan Black) and John Ralston (Kaw, The Curse of Buckout Road, Stockholm, Our House, TV’s The Lizzie Borden Chronicles). Aside for Weaving, it was Adam Brody and Henry Czerny who held their roles best and were a pleasure to watch in every scene they appeared in. I also liked Elyse Levesque‘s and John Ralston‘s performances and was disappointed not to see the writers do more with their characters.

Technically the film is sound enough. The set design is awesome and that manor must have been a great place to shoot in. The lighting was great at times and a little dark and unflattering in others, but good overall, same with the cinematography. I think the script would have been better and sharper with a couple of additional re-writes, but it wasn’t as bas as some that are “gracing” cinema screens these days.

I couldn’t help but feel that the story of a new bride from a poor ubringing (apparently going through the foster home system) coming into a rich family, thus creating a little dissention and unease only to lead to the family being revealed as a bunch of psychopaths, a little too similar to a recent Blumhouse release… Just replace the poor white bride coming into a rich family with a young black man going into a rich white family and you have Get Out. Sure, the details are somewhat different as are the gimmicks, but I couldn’t help seeing the similarity of the “fish out of water” and the underdog trying to fight for their lives against the evil of the rich and/or racist. A little too cliche and too ‘on the nose’ for my liking.

Having said all that, Ready or Not is still mostly, if not wholly, entertaining. It does what it is meant to do, give a fun, thrilling ride for 95 minutes, peppered with some good laughs, action, gore and a cool heroine to follow. Overall, there is much more good than bad here and I’d still recommend it to people who enjoy a good horror-comedy-thriller, they are highly unlikely to be disappointed here.

Does the job and a little more. 6.5/10.