My History With the Film:
The truth is, I saw the trailer for Ready or Not and I thought it looked like I trash. I hate movies about people hunting people and with the added humor it made me want to see it even less. Then it came out and made good money and the reviews were solid. Then the filmmakers were signed to create the next installment of Scream and I had to see what all the fuss was about. Being a huge Scream fan, I wanted to know what type of tone I might expect from Scream. So, I rented Ready or Not and was blown away by the final product.
What The Film Is About (Non-Spoiler):
A young bride on the night of her wedding is forced to play a family game.
What I Liked About It:
-Ready or Not does not work with Samara Weaving. She is truly a gem and she absolutely kills it in this film. Her character, her emotions, humor, energy, etc is on point! Its worth watching this film just to see her performance.
-The casting of this film is fantastic. I never imagined Andie McDowell in a horror role, but she is wonderful. The family is memorable and different enough that even a few days later, I can recall each and every character.
-There is some great gore and suspense. That’s not to say this is a scary film, but there is one particularly moment you’ll cringe and the movie doesn’t shy away from blood and guts.
-I have to commend this film on being brave. The filmmakers have the balls to “go there” when they need to and it made this movie watching experience wonderful.
-The fashion choices in the film are great, particularly Samara Weaving’s wedding dress. The costume designer deserves major props for pulling off such a fun and memorable costume.
What I Didn’t Like About It:
-Honestly, nothing. This is one of the best horror films I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not scary per say, but its a fantastic piece of horror-comedy.
Additional Notes:
-The house used for Le Domas Estate is the same house used in Billy Madison.
-Seventeen different dresses were created for Grace (Samara Weaving) so different levels of destruction and changes as her attitude changes.
-Emilie’s gun is the same gun from the board game Clue.
-Grace’s Chuck Taylors were painted, since Converse doesn’t make yellow Chuck Taylors anymore.
-The movie made 57 million on a 6 million dollar budget.
Rating:
I loved Ready or Not. It’s one of my favorite horror films that I’ve seen in the last couple of years, and I thought just about everything was perfect. The casting was excellent, the atmosphere was fun, the set was beautiful, and the gore was great. The movie walked that line of horror-comedy masterfully and that makes me love it even more. I recommend going in without watching any trailers or looking up anything further about the movie. Just allow it to unravel in front of you, you’ll have a great time.
I know that the Scream franchise is in good hands and my biggest hope is Samara Weaving will be part of it. I rate Ready or Not a rare five out of five and say its a must own.