Our Deputy Editor recently told us that before he was married he was incomplete but when he got married he realized he was finished. Hardly surprising when his wife turned out be so dim that she believed that ‘Wet Paint’ signs were instructions. Happily the bride in Ready or Not is a different matter.
Grace (Samara Weaving) is marrying into the wealthy Le Domas family (although it sounds like some of the cast are pronouncing it Dumb-ass) and its her husband Daniel (Adam Brady) who grows increasingly apprehensive , not because of the impending nuptials but more to do with an old family custom of playing a game with the rest of the family after the wedding. Perhaps it’s a tradition stemming from the family having made their fortune from board games and all seems innocuous enough to Grace as she sits round a table with the rest of the family as she chooses the game, ‘Ready or Not’. It’s the one game that Daniel certainly doesn’t want chosen because unlike the other board games this involves Grace hiding from the family in a sort of Hide & Seek. It’s only when Grace quickly realizes that they her new in-laws are hunting her down in order to bump her off using any one of a number of antiquated weapons that each of them are brandishing. Frankly it’s the sort of innovation that should have been introduced into the latter series of Big Brother.
As one of the characters says, ‘The rich are different’ – a theme that was brilliantly illustrated in the 80’s horror film, ‘Society’ and here the psychotically murderous rich also believe this game is the norm as they hunt her down with even a pair of boys taking part. Rated with an 18 certificate this doesn’t seem to initially warrant it but the as the film goes on inevitably Grace manages to out manouevre them with the body count starting to increase with some brutal dispatching and a spectacularly gory climax. However getting there is not quite what it could be. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have made several films and shorts previously and the cat and mouse aspect has a lot of potential for suspense which it never really capitalizes on. Equally there are some decent roles here with Nicky Giadagni as a hatchet faced harridan of an Aunt only too keen to kill Grace. Equally Melanie Scrofano as a coke addled relative eager to be the one to see off Grace had a lot of potential but once established they are thrown into the melee of all desperate to hunt down the bride before the sun rises lest something awful befalls them all if they fail.
Ready or Not is another reworking of the 1932 classic The Most Dangerous Game and is one of two films out this year (the other being The Hunt which has been controversially shelved indefinitely). This plays very much like a B-movie with Samara Weaving (looking like Margot Robbie’s younger sister) going through ever more grim ordeals with some wince inducing moments. This doesn’t hang around before it dives into the action in what is an enjoyably gruesome ride.
Watch the film being introduced at the premiere here:
Here’s the Ready or Not trailer ……..
