Ready Or Not

Rated: MA15+Ready Or Not

Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Written by: Guy Busick & R. Christopher Murphy

Produced by: Tripp Vinson, James Vanderbilt, William Sherak and Bradley J. Fischer

Executive Producers: Chad Villella, Tara Farney, Tracey Nyberg and Daniel Bekerman

Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, with Henry Czerny and Andie MacDowell.

The family known as Le Domas has been playing Le Bail’s Gambit since Great Grandfather Le Domas made a pact with Le Bail himself.

Marrying Alex (Mark O’Brien) and into the ‘dominion’ that is the Le Domas family (that fittingly made their fortune out of board games), the pact demands that initiate Grace (Samara Weaving) (and any new addition to the family) must play a game at midnight on the night of her wedding.

She loves Alex despite his weirdo, super-rich family.

So playing along with strange traditions to get along?  Pft!  Sure, why not?!

But when she draws that, ‘Hide and Seek’, card; and that playful, ‘Hide and Seek’ record starts spinning, the weirdo family hunting the new bride through the gothic rooms and corridors of the house, to capture her as a sacrifice, takes issues with the in-laws to a whole new level with each armed and at the, well, ready:

Mother to Alex and kinda sweet, Becky (Andie MacDowell): Bow & Arrow

Rich and crazy dad, Tony (Henry Czerny): Winchester Rifle

Tormented and alcoholic brother, Daniel (Adam Brody): Rifle

Ops, I did it again, sister-in-law, Emilie (Melanie Scrofano): Pistol

How does this work again? Fitch (Kristian Bruun): Crossbow

I was born evil, Charity – there’s the irony (Elyse Levesque): Spear Gun

The adage that people look like their pets but here I look like my weapon, Aunt Helene (Nicky Guadagni): Battle Axe.

If you’ve read this blog before you’ll know I like a good bloody horror with a dry sense of humour.

I can say there’s certainly some bloody moments here, tending to the visceral.

And the humour, although slightly over-done, had me smirking with a few snorts (not unlike Grace herself who isn’t against a snorting laugh when called for): brother in-law, Fitch Googling, ‘getting to know your crossbow’ before his attempt to murder his new sister in-law.  And then there’s death-stare Aunt Helene giving the salutation to niece, Emilie (Melanie Scrofano), ‘You continue to exist’.

Perhaps not a laugh-out-loud tickle (more WTF is going on but I guess I’ll just have to roll with it), there’s a lot of fun here, played with wide-eyed and cool appreciation from Samara Weaving as the fighting-for-her-life and screaming-when-necessary, Grace.

And there’s a decent storyline that edges towards some twists but really more about the beautiful and self-deprecating, Grace.  You want her to get out alive, which is the kinda the point of the movie.

GoMovieReviews
Natalie Teasdale

I want to share with other movie fans those amazing films that get under your skin and stay with you for days: the scary ones, the funny ones; the ones that get you thinking. With a background in creative writing, photography, psychology and neuroscience, I’ll be focusing on dialogue, what makes a great story, if the film has beautiful creative cinematography, the soundtrack and any movie that successfully scratches the surface of our existence. My aim is to always be searching for that ultimate movie, to share what I’ve found to be interesting (whether it be a great soundtrack, a great director or links to other information of interest) and to give an honest review without too much fluff. BAppSci in Psychology/Psychophysiology; Grad Dip Creative Arts and Post Grad Dip in Creative Writing. Founder of GoMovieReviews.

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Ready Or Not
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Author: Natalie Teasdale

I want to share with other movie fans those amazing films that get under your skin and stay with you for days: the scary ones, the funny ones; the ones that get you thinking. With a background in creative writing, photography, psychology and neuroscience, I’ll be focusing on dialogue, what makes a great story, if the film has beautiful creative cinematography, the soundtrack and any movie that successfully scratches the surface of our existence. My aim is to always be searching for that ultimate movie, to share what I’ve found to be interesting (whether it be a great soundtrack, a great director or links to other information of interest) and to give an honest review without too much fluff. BAppSci in Psychology/Psychophysiology; Grad Dip Creative Arts and Post Grad Dip in Creative Writing. Founder of GoMovieReviews.

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