Movie Review - Ready or Not

Ready or Not **½ (out of 5) (R) While panning 2018's abysmal stab at a horror thriller Truth or Dare, I warned that any box-office success might spawn other flicks based on games of childhood past. The bad news is that I was prophetic; the good news is that at least the first two have been much better. Tag was arguably an outlier, since it was a comedy based on a true story of a handful of dudes with arrested development (the trait, not the TV series) at the core of their lasting bond.

Now comes a splatterfest with a fair dose of humor that comes closer to Jordan Peele’s excellent Get Out in its setup, with a far messier execution. Samara Weaving, lovely niece of Hugo, that much-replicated villain fighting Neo in the Matrix franchise, is a poor lass we find on the day she’s marrying into one of the country’s richest families, and meeting all but her intended for the first time. Though she truly loves scion Alex (Mark O’Brien), something seems amiss from the get-go. He’s stayed away from the clan for years, and all the kinfolk are either warning her not to go through with the ceremony, or otherwise boding something wicked this way to come. Their type and level of dysfunction transcends all the caution signs she’s given, or anyone else’s Thanksgiving gathering.

The family lives by a set of traditional rules and rituals that get stranger as the story progresses throughout the massive mansion that is their ancestral home. What seems like a twisty horror tale grows more comedic as it hurtles to the end. And that’s the best part of the production. Most of the cast ranges from over-the-top to campy in suitable discharging their duties. The more you’re tuned in for the funny elements (including some of the background music), the more you’ll enjoy the package.

Despite these upgrades from the first one, here are my specific dreaded possibilities from 18 months ago, that I still hope won’t be made: Hokey Pokey Horror - Put your left foot in... or LOSE IT!; maybe Red Rover, Red Rover - Send Satan right over! That sets the stage for the likes of Musical Electric Chairs and Wring Around the Rosie. (8/21/19)