It’s been almost seven years since the release of “Ready or Not” (2019), the horror-comedy sleeper hit in which an unwitting bride is forced into a deadly game of hide and seek by her husband’s wealthy, devil-worshipping family. The sequel, aptly subtitled “Here I Come,” picks up where its predecessor left off, with Samara Weaving’s Grace staggering out of the burning mansion of the Le Domas family in her bloody wedding dress. She is whisked to the hospital, where she is questioned in the rather suspicious deaths of her in-laws. She’s also unhappily reunited with her estranged sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton). Then things go really awry for Grace. It seems the Le Domases were just one of several powerful families to make similar Satanic pacts, and that by surviving the game Grace has activated a rare “sudden death” round with the remaining clans. Grace and Faith are abducted from the hospital by an eerie legal counsel (Elijah Wood, delightfully smarmy) and taken to a palatial estate where they are forced into yet another game, this time of cat and mouse. Can Grace and Faith survive one more night of dodging the bloodthirsty 1%?
By expanding the scope of the story, “Here I Come” loses some of the economy that made the first film such a nasty treat. In particular, it sags under the weight of the convoluted rules of the game (the word “bylaws” was uttered so many times it felt like a legal thriller, not a horror flick). The two sisters have to do some by-the-numbers trauma-dumping, too.
Once “Here I Come” finally gets going, there’s good, bloody fun to be had. Weaving is even more assured this time out, her terror mixed with annoyance at having to do all this over again. It helps that she’s surrounded by an enjoyably eclectic supporting cast, including horror director David Cronenberg as a shadowy family head and Sarah Michelle Gellar as his spoiled yet savvy daughter — body horror and Buffy! As with the original, the funny running gag is that today’s elites are too pampered to know how to use their expensive weapons — Nestor Carbonell, channeling a suave Spanish tycoon, can barely load his sniper rifle, let alone aim. And there is an undeniable catharsis in the series’ “eat the rich” satire which feels even more potent now. If you can’t cackle at a room full of obnoxious billionaires suddenly exploding into clouds of bloody goo, you probably haven’t been watching the news. — Oscar Goff
At Landmark Kendall Square, Apple Cinemas Cambridge, and AMC Assembly Row 12.
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