Ready or Not: Horror Comedy at it’s Finest

I used to have the impression that horror comedy movies were terrible. I always figured that there was no way they could make a mixture between a horror film and a comedy film and not make it horrifically unwatchable. With Ready or Not, they were able to properly mix both genres. This isn’t exactly an award winning movie, if you’re looking for the next Oscar winning production, you will not find it here. But, it’s certainly entertaining.

It’s important to note that one of the largest problems with this movie, yet also one of the least important, is the originality, which this movie lacks. There was no point in this movie where I was particularly surprised by what was going on. The movie very much followed a very strict structure and rarely diverged; it was very much a “Hollywood” movie. Of course, that isn’t to say it was bad. 

As far as the horror aspect of the movie, it wasn’t the scariest film of all time, and it didn’t need to be. It has the fear levels of a George Romero film; it doesn’t necessarily work with the uncanny valley or use heavy metaphors like the works of Satoshi Kon or Stanley Kubrick. But, it doesn’t need to. It’s very gore heavy and that’s okay. It was also nice to see a female in a dominant role in this film. You don’t often see a woman stuck in a situation who doesn’t use men to get her out of it. This was very refreshing. Furthermore, it was really impressive how the lead was able to get herself out of all of these different situations that she gets herself involved in. It was the one area in the film that I thought utilized suspense really well. 

Furthermore, it’s really funny. I saw myself laugh out loud several times during this movie. It employs a very dark humor and never seems to take itself too seriously for too long. Everytime something terrible happens, the next scene will have something very funny, and I applaud the content for that. 

Also, the set design for the house was actually really lovely. The film mainly took place in one location: the huge house that the film is set in. Nonetheless, this one location is really well designed, and works perfectly within the genre that is being presented. It’s both beautiful and mysterious, enchanting and terrifying. The house oftentimes seems to loom over everything, like the house itself is watching our main character as she traverses the many halls, which really added to the fear factor. 

Thankfully, all of the characters were interesting. Our main character is likeable simply because she’s somewhat relatable and is presented as a strong woman who’s able to deal with everything that’s put in front of her, even when she can’t. Also, the characters that you’re not supposed to like serve a very interesting purpose, and that was being funny. From the coke addicted sister-in-law to the buffoonish brother-in-law, all of these characters were incredibly entertaining and I was happy with every scene they were in. 

While these characters were interesting, they weren’t exactly developed. Even with the main character, while she has a backstory, her backstory is incredibly underdeveloped and is, unfortunately, told to the audience rather than shown. There is no scene where they show how the couple met, or how they got engaged, instead, it’s only implied that they do. As a result, we never truly see the bond between these characters. Also, there are several plot points that don’t make sense. For example, there’s this idea that one of the characters has a certain amount of power, which is introduced, but is never fully resolved.