Comedy-horror ‘Ready or Not’ relies on blood more than laughs: Review “Ready or Not” will inspire a new chapter in wedding etiquette books: What to do if your new in-laws try to kill you.
That’s the problem faced by Grace (Samara Weaving), a new bride who just wants to stay alive long enough to open her wedding presents, in the gory horror-comedy “Ready or Not.”
Grace is understandably nervous about marrying into the rich and pampered Le Domas family, despite reassurance from her fiancé Alex (Mark O’Brien, “Halt and Catch Fire”).
After an elegant wedding ceremony at the family estate, Grace learns just how weird her new in-laws really are. The Le Domas family believes their wealth is the result of a generations-old supernatural bargain that requires ritual sacrifice. Grace, as the newest member of the family, must take part in a game of hide and seek, with Grace as It. If she’s caught, she’ll be killed.
Thus begins a wild scramble as the family takes up antique weapons to stalk Grace throughout the spooky mansion. The seekers include Alex’s parents, played by Andie MacDowell and Henry Czerny; Alex’s alcoholic brother Daniel (Adam Brody, “StartUp”), a scary-looking aunt and other assorted relatives.
Kristian Bruun, who was memorable as Donnie in the television show “Orphan Black,” stands out here as an endearingly clueless in-law. I loved how he calls up a YouTube video to learn how to use a crossbow.
Weaving makes the most of her role as plucky and resourceful Grace, who trades her heels for a pair of Converse sneakers so she can do anything necessary to stay alive. But the movie struggles to build suspense, mainly because the Le Domas crew are so ineffectual and because the tone keeps shifting from black humor to flat-out horror.
Since the jokes never rise about the level of a grin, the movie relies on blood and gore to jolt the audience awake. Those who are offended or grossed out by copious amounts of blood have hereby been warned away from “Ready or Not.”
The “Surprise! Your new family is nuts” idea is intriguing and worth exploring — whether for laughs or as a serious action thriller — in a movie that can commit to one path or the other.
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