“The Monster Squad” bombed at the box office, perhaps because it arrived a couple of years too late for the “Goonies”/”E.T.” wave that director Fred Dekker was hoping to ride. ©TriStar Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Sure, the Domas family can hunt Grace down, but Weaving’s spiral into flight or fight paranoia makes “Ready or Not” worth playing. “She never lets us forget that this was supposed to be the best day of Grace’s life,” Ehrlich penned in his review, citing Grace’s descent into survival mode in lieu of newlywed bliss. Yet the commentary on wealth, marriage, and domesticity endures thanks to Weaving’s dedication to the “comedy of terrors,” as IndieWire’s David Ehrlich wrote. Siblings Adam Brody and Melanie Scrofano set out to kill Grace, at the request of parents Andie MacDowell and Nicky Guadagni.
Yet the eccentric family of board game fame force Grace into a not-so-playful party trick: Survive the night by hiding in the mansion if you dare. Bride Grace (Samara Weaving) is inaugurated into the wealthy Domas family after marrying eligible bachelor Alex (Mark O’Brien). Part “Clue,” part “Purge,” “Ready or Not” turns a boardgame on its head in a deadly game of hide and seek. We hope it’s a list that captures the wide range and diversity of the genre, from underseen Laird Cregar vehicles to a Russian chiller based on a Nikolai Gogol story, from J-Horror to the Mexican gem “Alucarda.” Brace yourself for these movies: losing control will never be so much fun.Įric Kohn, Anne Thompson, David Ehrlich, Jamie Righetti, Michael Nordine, Chris O’Falt, Tambay Obenson, Steve Greene, Zack Sharf, Jude Dry, Chris Lindahl, Kate Erbland, Ryan Lattanzio, and Noel Murray also contributed to this story. Our writers and editors suggested well over 150 titles and then voted on a list of finalists to determine the ultimate ranking. The IndieWire staff put together this list of the 150 Greatest Horror Movies of All-Time to celebrate these intensely primal, personal films. Extreme control so that the audience can lose control.
What’s funny is that horror, like comedy, is a genre in which each filmmaker has to assert his or her utmost control over the material, has to perfectly calibrate the storytelling, so that we can lose it. A lot of people simply don’t want to lose control, no matter what. Maybe the aversion some viewers have to both genres is a fear of losing control: of laughing so hard you snort or having to turn away in fright, of embarrassing yourself. “Get Out” showed the similarity between horror and comedy, the two genres most often expected to provoke an immediate, visceral reaction. What scares people says a lot about them - as the recent debate about what it means if a viewer finds certain elements of “Get Out” scary or funny revealed very clearly. How can films that fire your adrenal glands, send shivers down your spine, raise goosebumps, and quicken your breath - that inspire such an intense physical reaction - also be cerebral experiences? We forget all the time that, as Anna Karina’s “Pierrot Le Fou” character Marianne Renoir says, “There can be ideas in feelings.” Oscars 2022: Best Animated Feature Predictions The 15 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix Pay Attention to the Talent It's Unleashed (Column) 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Review: Leatherface Slashes Gen Z Gentrifiers in Bloody Sequel