Sequels are a very common thing in the world of horror in face in the eighties it was all that seemed to get. Well we are now about a day or two before we get another horror sequel with the film promising to be as much as fun as what the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today was as you all just know that I had to produce a tie in review for this film and what better film for that tie in to be then it's original film and so then join me as I review the film that makes playing hide and seek a deadly game with the film in question being called simply just "Ready Or Not" enjoy.
The plot of this film is the newly married Grace agrees to play a game of hide and seek with her new in laws however when the game turns deadly Grace finds herself in for the fight of her life. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The films plot is one that is oddly refreshing as it's a story that really hasn't been told before now with this being something that the Radio Silence team do do with alot of there films outside of course of there two Scream movies with it being something that does help this film out quite as alot as outside of the premise of the film you have no idea where the film is going story wise which does mean that when the film does give you a plot twist it is something that does land as it's something that not only makes sense in the context of the film but it's also something that we the audience generally didn't see coming. While yes granted this films plot isn't the strongest plot out there which again is common thread with alot of the Radio Silence films in this case it really doesn't matter all that much as the premise is more then strong enough on it's own to support an entire film and with the film being as fun as it is you really don't notice the fact that it's plot isn't as strong as it perhaps could have been and while yes it would have helped the film out quite alot if it's plot was alot more stronger this is the kind of film that doesn't need to have a strong plot in it with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Samara Weaving as Grace ,Adam Brody as Daniel and Mark O'Brien as Alex. Also starring in this film is Henry Czerny as Tony , Andie MacDowell as Becky , Melanie Scrofano as Emilie , Kristian Bruun as Fitch , Elyse Levesque as Charity , Nicky Guadagni as Helene , John Ralston as Stevens , Liam McDonald as Georgie , Ethan Tavares as Gabe , Hanneke Talbot as Clara , Celine Tsai as Tina , Daniela Barbosa as Dora and Nat Faxon as the voice of Justin.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With alot of this films actors turning in some really good performances in this film which is something that's not all that surprising due to the fact that alot of this films actors are a bunch of really good actors in there own. Something which is made quite clear early on in the film is the fact that alot of this films actors are just having a blast making this film and it's that kind of energy that does allow them to turn in these really fun performances with this being no doubt due to the fact that this films directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett always try to have a more fun and relaxed set which does make it seem like that there making a movie with there friends with this kind of relaxed take to making a movie being something that does make the performances in this film all the more fun to watch. With the best actor in this film being Samara Weaving as Grace as even tho she really hasn't done that many horror films the ones that she has done has proven that Samara is a good horror actor and the fact that she's been able to branch out and turn in good performances in other none horror films does show you that she's a good actor in general with making Grace someone who could have been seen as being this very note character seem flawed and be a more fun character then what she very easily could have been. With the acting that's in this film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Much like with the films acting and it's plot the films characters are also a bunch of really well done characters in there own right. As the films characters are not only really original characters but are also characters that are really well written on top of that as it would have been very easy for the makers of this film to just straight copy and pasts several characters from other horror movies and add nothing to them to make them feel unique and new again but the fact that they went that extra mile to make alot of the characters that your meant to hate not only oddly likable but also quite funny is something that does show you that the makers of this film know how to make good and entertaining characters. With a good example of this being the main family members themselves as it would have been very easy for them to make characters like Daniel and Charity by these really unlikable people and have them remain that way for the rest of the film yet they don't do that as instead they give them scenes where they are allowed to explore other sides of there personality with the same thing even true for the character of Emilie who at first is someone that we are meant to be believe is nothing more then this goofy character who makes alot of mistakes which is something that does make her entertaining but then she has a scene in the film where she says that she's only doing this game so that her children who are innocent can live which does show of the fact that she has mothering side to her that wants to protect her kids at all costs. Grace on the flip side of that is something that at first appears to be this fun loving person that is madly in love with Daniel and wants to be accepted by his family at all costs yet we see that she is a fighter who is willing to fight for what she wants which is something that does make her a strong character because of it.
The game that the characters play in the film is hide and seek which on paper might seem like an easy game to play. Yet this is also where the film does somewhat fall apart as the film doesn't take the time to explain why playing this one particular game is seen as being a bad thing with it seeming like that the family just wanted to kill someone and Grace was the first person that they thought of and yet if they did take the time to explain the rules of this game and why playing this one game in particular is meant to be a bad things for Grace as don't forget we don't know if the alot of the other games involve killing someone then it would have made the rest of the film be all the more tense as now we the audience are fully aware of the rules of the game much like Grace herself is. The film also doesn't take the time to explain why it has to be the bride that gets killed as that does seem like a pointless add on to the games rules as surely any passing person would have worked just fine and heck it might have worked even better if it was a random passing person as then the family could use there power and influence to make sure that the police arrest someone else for there crimes and yet if the film did take the time to tell us why it had to be Grace herself that dies be it something that's tied to there curse or not then it would have made the game be just that little bit more clearer as while it is still fairly easy to understand the game and why the family are playing it it's the small things that do take you out of it and remind you that your just watching a film when if the film did take to explain a few things about the game a bit more better then it i something that would have helped the film out all the more better. As they do explain why the ritual has to be completed before dawn as it would mean that they would die but that's really the only thing outside why the family is cursed to play these games in the first place that truly gets explained.
This is a film that very easily could have bee so bad due to the fact that at that time Radio Silence wasn't as well known as they are now. As they had only done short films at that point in time and therefor no one would have known what they could have done with a feature length running time and yet they manages to give us something that is a really entertaining film and while yes this film could have been alot more better in other places that is something that's also true for other films and the fact that they've managed to make alot of really good films after this film and gather quite the passionate fan base because of it is something that does go to show you that horror does need new faces and voices for it to thrive. As unlike Slanted which was just a redo of The Substance this film at least tried to say something new by commenting on how the rich and powerful belittle those beneath them as the family in this film do kill there own staff and yet they just dispose of them as if they were in the way of them having fun rather then treating them like normal human beings and not playing these types of games at all with the film going further into how badly the rich do generally treat poor people as the film has a rich person see that Grace is in danger but then willing ignore her pleads for help for no good reason. Whilst this is something that would get over done today here it's done to the point where that becomes the joke as it's done to that level of extreme where as if this film was made today I feel like the joke would be lost on people and it would be therefore played straight and they would treat as something to get made about on X.
Much like Slanted was a horror comedy this films is also a horror comedy however unlike Slanted this film not only has some actually funny jokes in it but it also has a good balance of horror and comedy with neither one overshadowing the over. Infact it very well could be argued that all of the films deaths are jokes in there own right right as all of the films main villains do get killed off in these really over the top and gory ways which again is done so far to the extreme that they become cartoonish and you can't help but to laugh at them with the best example of this being the character of Emilie as the film does give her somewhat of a running joke in the film as she always kills the wrong person thinking that's Grace which is a darkly funny joke with the film being filled to the brim with jokes like and heck it could be argued that how the whole family the kids included get killed of at the end is a funny joke as after failing to kill Grace the family start to think that there curse was nothing but a lie only for them to all be killed off exploding into thin air with blood going over where. With the film being filled to the brim with other darkly funny jokes that work well because of the fact that the film gives us this perfect balance between doing something that's funny and doing something that's scary with even the final line of the film being something is funny as well and yet if the film leaned to far into either horror or comedy then the film would have risked upsetting those that love the other genre and not being as good as it could have been as the film wouldn't be able to commit to being a comedy due to it having thee heavy horror elements in it and the film wouldn't be able to be scary due to the fact that it's telling a joke every few minuets.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty five minuets and twenty two seconds. With this being pretty much the perfect running time for this film to have as the film doesn't need to have a long running time in order to tell it's story in a time that does it justice with the film having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time as well. The film does also use it's running time wisely as the film does have a fully thought out and developed plot with the film giving us all of the plot information that we need early on in the film and then just letting the film run loose and be this fun film whilst also reminding us of the fact that the family have this very tight deadline in order to kill Grace before which was something that the makers of this films really didn't have do as this is the type of the film that would have gotten by on just being a fun film and yet as they took the tie to time to make this films plot appear more well thought out by giving the plot some backstory which yes is a small thing but it's a small thing that helps to make this films plot feel more well thought out. The same thing is also true for the films characters as all of the films characters are deeply flawed characters and while the characters don't have any flaws that they have to overcome what makes this films characters more developed then alot of other horror film characters is the fact that they all get the chance to display more then one side to there character be it Alex's love for his family or the fact that Grace is someone who knows how to defend herself all of this films characters are more developed then what they really should have been but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a horror film that really does mean that I gave to actually talk about the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. As while the film doesn't have a verity of kills as they all do boil down to one persona shooting the over it's the lead up to those kills that make them work so well and while yes it would have been nice if this film did have more of a verity of kills like for example one of the family members could have been killed with the crossbow with another being stabbed to death in this case it really doesn't matter as the kills that we do get in this film are fun kills to watch in the first place. With the best kill in the whole entire film being when all of the family gets killed of at the end as that gives us an idea of just how creative that the makers of this film could be as that kill is so over the top and is so fun to watch that it does become almost comical again with the fact that Grace says to Alex during that scene that she wants a divorce being something that is the cherry on top of the really bloody cake as it's the perfect way for a bunch of characters like this to be killed off as these villains are a bunch of over the top people and therefor having them all be killed in this over the top way is something that is oddly fitting for this film and when you take into account that the film takes a moment before unleashing the madness by having all of the characters believe that there curse is faked is something that does make that kill even better with the film having alot of other really good and fun kills in it as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this film was so much more fun then what I remember it being as the film knows exactly what it is and isn't afraid of being nothing more then a dumb fun filled horror comedy and if the second film is anywhere near as good as this film is then we are in for a good ride with that film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in his very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.



































