dfranzen70

I realize that a lot of people have seen the more-recent Knives Out, which has a similar plot (rich people, big mansion, murder), but those similarities are superficial. Ready or Not is much more in the vein of You're Next, a family gathering gone awry, a horror movie with spots of comedic activity, and just as bloody. Here, Grace (Samara Weaving), having just married Alex (Mark O'Brien) at his super-rich family's super-big house, learns on her wedding night that she must play a game in order to be accepted into the family. The game is chosen through mystic randomness, and previous players have selected games like chess and Old Maid. Grace, though, gets Hide and Seek. Sounds like a fun game to play, especially in such a large building that's filled with tons of nooks, crannies, dumbwaiters, smart waiters, you name it. But it's not meant to be fun, as we soon find out - the family members, while Grace innocently hides, arm themselves with rifles, handguns, knives, and even a crossbow. How can she win? Grace wonders. Last until daylight, she's told. Good luck with that! The upsides of this movie far outweigh its main problem, that there's a real lack of chemistry between Weaving and O'Brien. The supporting cast is fine, but Andie McDowell, playing Alex's mother, is a real standout; it's a lot of fun to see the star of Groundhog Day and sex, lies, and videotape in a real horror movie, and she steals every scene with a commanding performance. And there's just enough humor to counteract some of the darker themes and scenes, particularly in the final act.

A comely blonde nurse, wearing a microskirt but otherwise looking quite professional, shows up at a remote sanitarium at the behest of the doctor in charge and finds that the doctor is now deceased and the whole place is in an uproar. Nurse Beale (Rosie Holotik) is quickly informed of the doctor's demise by a Dr. Masters (Annabelle Weenick), who declares herself in charge. But this isn't your typical asylum; no, the patients wander the halls, mingling with the two-person (!) staff. The staff even have rooms right next to those of the patients! And these patients aren't the benign type that just need a little freedom to cure themselves of what ills them - they are crazed pests, nymphomaniacs (back when that was an actual mental illness), ax murderers, and delusional. Our Miss Beale tries her best to work with Dr. Masters, but of course - with a title like this - the bodies begin to pile up. I can confirm, however, that there is indeed a basement in this movie and that one should not look in it. One should find cause to avoid said basement. Interestingly enough, though, the basement doesn't even make an appearance until the movie's mostly over, and even then it's sort of incidental to the plot (such as it is). Is this a bad movie? It is not a good movie. But there is a twist at the end that elevates oh so slightly from being a one-dimensional slasher pic to something a little more devious and weighty. I'd still stay out of the basement, though.

Do you like mind-flipping movies? I mean the ones that, when all is said and done, make you question what you've just witnessed? Not the ones in which every other scene tries to outshock the one that preceded it, I'm talking about psychological tornadoes. The Nines is three smaller stories wrapped up in one, in which the same actors play different roles but they each connect to one another. Ryan Reynolds plays a washed-up actor, a TV writer, and a video-game designer; Hope Davis plays his neighbor, a TV show runner, and a mysterious hitchhiker; Melissa McCarthy plays a PR flack, Melissa McCarthy herself, and a doting wife/mom. And it all comes back to The Nines. What are the nines, anyway? The adventurous among us may recall the movie The Number 23 with Jim Carrey. Poor guy thought he saw the number 23 all over the place, and it's the same with Reynolds and 9. Or is he the nine? I realize none of this review/summary makes an ounce of sense, but the movie does, especially when it's over. It's not one of those movies that one can fully appreciate until it's over, because that's when you realize the clues were there, somewhere, all along. The Nines is a highly existential psychological film that is driven by three strong performances, particularly by McCarthy and Davis, and since I hadn't even heard of it until a few years ago, I guess it's safe to say it underwhelmed at the box office and with critics. But it's so worthwhile.