Movie review: Ready or Not

Samara Weaving in the film Ready or Not

Latest in the "shall we play a game?" horror sub-genre pits a young bride against a murderous horde of well-to-do American toffs. Directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettenelli-Olpin, who have previously brought us a slew of B-grade horror (V/H/S, Devil's Due) have outdone themselves this time with a slasher that is as funny as it is ... uhh ... splattery.

Unsurprisingly, Ready or Not isn't heavy on plot. Grace, played with a lively energy by Samara Weaving (a sort of Margot Robbie lite), is a young woman on her wedding night who is surprised by her new in-laws with a postnuptial board game—a strange family tradition, but hey, whatever gets you past Go. In good humour, she follows along and picks from a selection of games; Chess, Checkers, etc, even (gasp!) Hide and Seek—"just don't pick the wrong one". I don't think it's a spoiler to say that, yes, she picked the wrong one. I guess two hours of watching them play Chess wouldn't make much of a movie.

So, the game is afoot (or is that a decapitated hand?), with things getting a bit bloody in parts as Grace is hunted down by a bunch of hoity-toity in-laws turned killers (including a very insidious Andie MacDowell). Thankfully, they're all rather incompetent and what might have become a slasher film trying to take itself seriously, instead appears to knowingly revel in the ridiculousness of it all. Ready or Not is raucous fun and Messrs Gillett and Bettenelli-Olpin seem to know how to balance their gore with generous dollops of humour.

It's not all hack'n'humour, though. Ready or Not has a few salient comments to make on classism, but to suggest they're said with any subtlety would be the understatement of the century. When Grace screams at her assailants as "F**ken rich people!", you kinda know who the baddies are.

As the bungling archetypes run riot within the mansion, it's clear that this is a horror that knows its strengths and undeniably operates best in its more playful moments. The result is loads of bloody fun.

Cast: Samara Weaving, Andie MacDowell, Adam Brody, Henry Czerny
Director: Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettenelli-Olpin
Running time: 95 mins
Rating: R16 ( Violence, cruelty & offensive language)
Verdict: A raucous dark comedy that feels like a game of Cluedo played in an abattoir.