Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Duration: 95 minutes
Ready or Not (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
A movie based around the children’s game Hide and Seek might not sound that interesting at first, but when it turns into a game of predator meets prey and weapons are brought to kill the one hiding, things take a violent turn and add a lot of excitement to the formula. The movie Ready or Not had a reasonable amount of commercials running on air when it first appeared in the theatres, but it’s one of those movies that didn’t get that much time in the limelight. Nonetheless, we were intrigued by the movie’s offset and we’re happy to be able to present you with our opinion of the home release, which released this month.
Ready or Not starts off with a joyous occasion, namely Grace (Samara Weaving) and Alex (Mark O’Brian) are to be wed. Grace has been in foster care for nearly all her life, and she’s excited, and above all, happy, to be joining an actual family. While her brother-in-law states she could still run away from everything, she goes through with the wedding. While a wedding night is supposed to be a great cause for fireworks in the bedroom, Alex explains that to truly be a part of his family, she’ll have to play a game at midnight. The game is chosen at random by drawing a card, and many of the other family members testify that they had to play games such as chess or a random card game. Little did Grace know there was also a card with Hide and Seek in the stack. The latter isn’t the normal version, but one where the person who has to hide is getting hunted. If she survives until dawn, she is free to go, while a horrible fate awaits the family. If she is caught before that, well, she wouldn’t live to tell the tale.
The flow of the movie was fairly straightforward. Suspense graced the movie from start to finish, as the deadly game of Hide and Seek starts quite early in the movie. From here on out it’s a lot of action and a macabre sense of comedy. You’ll quite quickly find out who’s going to end up becoming the good guy, and who will turn towards the dark side. The movie may have some very predictable moments, it also has a fun few twists along the way, making this a fairly original and amusing experience.
Acting performances in the movie are simply amazing, and very convincing considering what is going on. You’ll have characters that seemingly live for the hunt, while others treat it lighthearted and some see it as a necessary evil which they don’t wholeheartedly agree with. The most screen time will go to Samara Weaving who plays the new bride, Grace. We also see a blast from the past, Andie MacDowell playing the mother of the family. Melanie Scrofano seems to be the victim of typecasting in her role in this movie, but she adds a hefty amount of comedy to the mix. The rest of the cast also feels very balanced and entertaining for the length of the film.
The Blu-ray features of Ready or Not delve deep into the making of segments of the film. You’ll get treated to about 42 minutes of making of footage involving opinions from the creative minds behind the movie. Other than that, there’s a gag reel, a red band trailer (that pretty much spoils the entire movie), audio commentaries and a gallery. There’s not that much that will truly enlighten you, but the extras are fun nonetheless.
Conclusion
Ready or Not may have some predictable moments, it is still a surprisingly good movie. Even though the movie classifies itself in the horror genre, thrill seekers, action fans and even comedy lovers can enjoy this movie about a deadly game of cat and mouse. The film has an interesting atmosphere, the story is intriguing and even with the few predictable parts embedded, there are enough twists and turns making it easy to enjoy every minute of the movie.
Ready or Not (Blu-ray) - Movie Review,
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