Comedy and horror are two genres that are tricky to blend together. Generally, a "horror-comedy" is going to be something outrageously funny like Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland and while those are great films, they lose the fear element of the film. There's a very special talent in being able to craft a horror comedy that is equal parts scary and funny, to the point where it should almost be a separate genre in itself. Think "funny horror" instead of "horror comedy," and movies that are very scary with some funny moments come to mind. Classics like TheTexas Chain Saw Massacre or American Psycho are scary movies with a lot of humor, also more recent films like Krampus and You're Next. Add to that list Radio Silence's 2019 film Ready or Not, a film that absolutely nails this perfect blend.
Ready or Not follows main character Grace, played impeccably by Samara Weaving, on her wedding day. She's just married the love of her life Alex, who has a very rich and eccentric family who made money with a board game company. On her wedding night, her father-in-law explains to her that their ancestor made a deal with a man named "Le Bail" to build their family fortune so long as they followed one tradition. That tradition being, every new member of the family must draw a card from the Le Bail puzzle box, which will contain the name of a game, and then they all play the game together as a family.
When Grace pulls her card, she gets Hide-and -Seek. That's when things take a turn. As she hides, her new in-laws start to arm themselves. It's learned that this isn't just an eccentric, weird, family tradition, but a sinister one. The family intends to hunt Grace down and kill her. And they believe they must do so before dawn, or every member of the family will be killed for not honoring their deal with Le Bail.
The premise of this film is absolutely terrifying, and there is some truly cringeworthy gore, but as a whole it does come off lighthearted and sort of hilarious. In a way, Grace's humorous response and her frantic quips are realistic and set this tone for the film. The majority of final girls in horror are portrayed as these natural fighters, very smart and perfect. Grace is still a great fighter and very smart, but she has a very human quality to her and it comes out in awkward humor. She says many things out of frustration like, "F***ing rich people!" as a car won't stop to help her, or towards the end of the film she screams "F*** your f***ing family!" as she kills someone. Notice, this is a profanity-laden film, but again that's an element that feels very realistic.
For all of the realistic humor audiences get from Grace, the Le Domas family she's married into provides the truly outrageous laughs. They're all caricatures of real-life people, specifically rich people. There's the cocaine-addicted sister, the grumpy brother with the gold-digging wife, the eccentric aunt, and of course the cold and sociopathic father. There's even a faithful butler portrayed, who adds to one of the funniest scenes in the whole film.
All of these family members provide laughs in not only their lines, but what they do. The sister keeps accidentally shooting "the help" instead of Grace. A brother-in-law doesn't know how to work an old crossbow. The gold-digging sister-in-law seems far too eager to kill. And of course, their reactions in the "explosive" ending. These are all moments that make for really effective dark humor that will make audiences laugh out loud.
All of this is juxtaposed with a lot of fear, violence, and a lot of gore. The amount of humor in this film does not take away from the fact that those with a weak stomach to blood and guts, should probably stay away. Grace goes through a lot, and so do the other characters as she fights them, and they shy away from showing nothing. It's very clear, both from the special effects and the acting in this film, that these characters are in pain when all of these things are happening to them. That makes it very gruesome and at times hard to watch. One scene in particular, where Grace is having to climb to her safety with a gunshot wound right in the middle of her hand, is incredibly cringeworthy. The ending of the film as well, when everything comes to a head, is incredibly bloody and though it's played for humor, it is very gross.
Ready or Not is a very well-done film that horror fans will love. Its script is tight, its location is beautiful, and the performances are all stellar. If someone is looking for a laugh, this film has some great dark humor. If someone is looking for some well done gore, Ready or Not has that as well. It also has a lot to say about wealth, and family. People don't get to choose their families, or their family traditions. And sometimes joining someone else's family is very tough because of that.
At the end of the film, someone says to Grace, "What happened to you?" and she simply replies, "In-laws." And that small interaction really just sums up the film. It's the perfect note to end on. Radio Silence, the duo responsible for directing this movie, are also directing the latest Scream installment, which is incredibly exciting. Scream is another film that nails the "funny horror" genre, and Ready or Not shows that Radio Silence has what it takes to do that justice.