I just learned tonight (from the Dead Meat channel on YouTube) that Ready or Not, along with Abigail and the new Scream installments, were made by a group called Radio Silence. I think that’s worth pointing out for a couple of reasons: first is because this movie is so similar to Abigail that I would’ve accused the latter of being derivative. Second, both movies feel like stubbornly independent original projects.
It’s possible that I’ve just stopped going to theaters except for big franchise installments, but it does seem increasingly rare to see standalone, self-contained movies get much popular attention. No doubt the production companies would like to be able to turn them into long-running, profitable series, but Ready or Not seems to reject any attempt whatsoever to continue the story.
There are a lot of aspects common to both Ready or Not and Abigail: A premise that could work as the “twist” that sells the movie, but it’s given away in the trailer. A protagonist trapped overnight in a huge gothic mansion. A combination of comedy and pretty extreme violence. And a few gory specifics that would be spoilers if I gave any more detail. It almost feels like Ready or Not was a kind of first draft for Abigail, because I think the latter is quite a bit better.
One sequence I liked — or I guess it’s more accurate to say admired — in particular: main character Grace has been found and gets wounded by a bullet. She ends up falling into a horrific pit (something that also happens in Abigail), and after being fully traumatized by what she sees down there, she has to climb back out, wound and all.
The reason it works so well is because it’s excruciatingly suspenseful, in the way the best horror movies are suspenseful. You’re not wondering what’s about to happen; you know exactly what’s going to happen, because there is a single shot of an exposed nail that the camera lingers on for just a second too long at the start. And after sticking that image in your mind, the movie makes you wait an eternity for it all to play out, as if it were a Final Destination sequence. When it finally ends, it’s made a hundred times worse, because we’ve had to imagine the pay-off for so long.
That pay-off is also a good example of my biggest problem with the movie, though: the tone is all over the place. The studio lists it as a “horror comedy,” but there aren’t enough scenes where it’s both at the same time. Once the action starts, it feels like it’s spending most of its time either putting its protagonist through horrible and not-particularly-funny situations, or trying to draw out too much drama from the characters who are supposed to be sympathetic. It seems to take itself too seriously for what the trailers and screenshots implied.
But I thought it all came together satisfyingly in the end, even if I wished more characters had gotten their comeuppance earlier on. (I haven’t seen You’re Next, but from what I know about it, the structure is more like what I’d been expecting from Ready or Not). And I liked that it felt almost old-fashioned, for telling a complete, original story from beginning to end, with no hint of a sequel.
Hello,
I found your remarks quite interesting, mostly because I absolutely love Ready or Not, and while I liked Abigail, I think it’s the lesser of the two, still fun but less polished.
I suppose it’s a matter of taste (as I understand you have the exact opposite impression), and maybe it also depends from what movie one watches first, as well as a matter of taste (I like the tone of Ready or Not).
As for it being a self-contained story with no ‘open threads’ for a sequel, I totally agree… though unfortunately last April there were quite consistent talks of a ‘chapter 2’ being in pre-production.
Chapter 2 of Ready or Not, or Abigail? It felt like they were leaving themselves plenty of room for Abigail, but I thought RoN was about as definitive as you can get! Never underestimate how much moviemakers like to make money, I guess.
I think it does come down entirely to the tone. Based on the trailers I’d seen for Ready or Not, I’d expected it to be a black comedy/action movie about Grace going back on the offensive against a psycho family. There wasn’t enough of that for me, and it just felt like overlong sequences of her going through hell. (Which was a big part of my problem with the last act of Abigail as well). And there were so many family members that I’d wanted the bulk of the movie to be her taking them out one by one, but that doesn’t happen. It’s never good to judge a movie based on what you wanted vs what they made, but I still feel like it was too goofy to be taken seriously, but also too serious to be super fun.