A woman takes a job as a housekeeper in a NYC high-rise, unaware of the building’s history of disappearances. She soon realizes the community is shrouded in mystery.
Chuck says:
On the rare occasion when movies with similar plots are made, the studios involved usually do viewers the courtesy of staggering their release to keep confusion at a minimum. In 1997, “Dante’s Peak” was released on February 7th, while “Volcano” came out on April 25th. A year later, “Deep Impact” was unleashed on May 8th, while “Armageddon” began its box office assault on July 1st.
I suspect New Line Cinema is hoping to bamboozle horror film fans by releasing their vile “They Will Kill You,” one week after Searchlight Pictures’ “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” has hit theaters. While each has the exact same plot, the latter is done with a degree of wit and intelligence while the former is a lazy exercise that mistakes gore with being clever and funny. Distinguishing between the two is a vital, so as to avoid multiplex confusion.
Those who scoff at horror films will likely see no difference in the similar movies, yet the tone each strikes determines the success of one and the complete failure of the other. Granted, it’s a fine line, especially when you’re dealing with scenes involving exploding bodies and decapitations. Both are acquired tastes, and yet these moments can be delivered in an arch, ironic manner that generates the darkest of humor, and at times, provide pointed social commentary.
The only discernible difference between the movies is that “Ready” does have something to say. It’s message of eating the rich is no different than it was in the previous franchise entry but feels timelier. Having survived a bizarre wedding night game in which she was hunted by her new, 1% in-laws, Grace (Samara Weaving) finds herself back at square one. Seems her wiping out the Le Domas family has left the high seat of a satanic cult vacant. As a result, members from four other immensely powerful clans have convened to see who will now be its leader.
You guessed it, the game is the same but for Grace, the stakes have been raised as her sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton) has been forced to play as well. (Not sure if a third sister named either Hope or Charity exist. Likely have to wait until part three to find out.) Taking place on the grounds of a massive resort, the bickering siblings are set loose, required to survive until dawn. However, if someone in any of the competing families kill Grace, they win accede to the demonic throne.
The script by directing and writing team Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett is a witty exercise, its characters clearly drawn, the story imaginative and the tone mischievous. Winking at the audience throughout, they populate the film with a rogues’ gallery of elites who are so over-the-top deplorable, we can’t wait to see each meet a grisly end. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy stand out as bickering, backstabbing twins Ursula and Titus Danforth, while Dan Beirne as the smarmy Kip and Maia Jae as the vengeful Francesca make the most of their moments. Elijah Wood shines as well as the lawyer who makes sure all the rules are followed.
To be sure, the violence is graphic and often. However, the overt, cartoonish manner in which it’s rendered and the ironic circumstances that often occur to cause it elicit hearty laughs rather than gasps of disgust. Again, this is not everyone’s cup of tea, yet if movies of this sort are in your wheelhouse, “Ready” checks all the bloody boxes.
On the other hand, “Kill” is an exercise in repulsive repetition that gleefully wallows in its violence, its sophomoric tone relegating it to grindhouse status. The troubled teenage boys this is pitched to will not be bothered by its lack of nuance nor the fact that the script is a vacuous pastiche.
Zazie Beetz and Myha’la are Asia and Marie, the sisters in peril, the enclave they must escape is a one-time New York hotel that is now a condominium, and they too must survive the night, as these devil worshipers need a human sacrifice for their daybreak bacchanal. The twist here is these Satan worshipers are immortal, so no matter how often Asia hacks, slices, shoots or cuts them in half, they always regenerate and attack once more.
Patricia Arquette, going out of her way to prove the Oscar curse does exist, is on hand as the manager of the building, while Heather Graham and Tom Felton also appear as soulless tenants who don’t know how to stay dead. Capable performers all, they’re given little to do but repeatedly look aghast when they’re slain again and again. The script by Alex Litvak and director Kirill Sokolov dispenses with backstory for any of them, preferring instead to set up the premise and jump right into the action.
The attempts at humor when heads start to roll fall flat, the “jokes” all obvious, their execution, ham-fisted. As a result, the film’s bloodletting, which is too frequent and repetitious comes off as disturbing and gratuitous. There’s a sort of “Hey, look at this! Ain’t it cool!” vibe to the movie that dooms it from the start. Sokolov overlooks the fact that the viewer has to love or hate those being slayed for any of these moments to have an impact. His insistence on constantly displaying his Asian action film influences while drenching his sets in viscera, all of it devoid of wit, makes “Kill” a tedious, repulsive experience.
Ready – 3 Stars
Kill – Zero Stars
