439: Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)

This week we're back in theaters to check out Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026). We explore how the sequel expands the world beyond the original, break down its balance of chaos, comedy, and character development, and discuss whether the larger ensemble enhances or muddies the experience. This episode contains spoilers, beginning at 35:25.

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Mentioned in the Episode

Watch the Movie

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)

Main Episode

'Ready Or Not 2' To Freak Out Moviegoers Earlier Than Expected As Release Date Moves

110: Ready or Not (2019)

Halloween II (1981)

165: Scream 3 (2000)

169: The Evil Dead (1981 vs 2013)

Cocaine Cowboys (2006)

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Music Credits

"Hack or Slash" by Daniel Stapleton

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Anytime you get suckered into marrying some innocent fucking dumb boy, it just turns out to be like a psychopath worse than anybody else.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Sean, what do you think my life is gonna be like now? Which is a question, just putting it out there. What do you think's gonna happen to me? That is the playing field currently right now in Miami, Florida.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

In 2019, a low-budget horror film turned a wedding night into a blood ritual and built a reputation based on a single question. What happens when the family you marry into expects you to play along with their games? That film seemingly ended with one survivor walking away from a burned estate, and now its original directors and leading lady are back to continue the story. This week's film picks up seconds after that night, where Grace awakens in a hospital under suspicion, only to be pulled into a game with more powerful families across the world. Families who all stand to lose if she lives. The question on everyone's minds though is whether this sequel expands the game or proves the original should have been left alone. This week we're talking about Ready or Not 2, Here I Come. Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash. Totally killer, pun intended. My name is Chris. I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the classic horror connoisseur Sean.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

I'm really not used to people combusting all over me.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

And the paranormal paramour Binks. That's dance puta.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

You're tuning in for Ready or Not 2, but if you support the show, you'll also get to hear our B-side at the end of this episode where we get into class warfare in horror.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Well, before we get there, what were y'all expecting going into this one?

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Jeez. I well, I'll tell you, I actually watched Ready or Not, the first one, before going to see this one in theaters, just to kind of get a refresher because it had been a while since I'd seen it. I really enjoyed Ready or Not. So coming off of that one, where literally everyone dies at the end, I really didn't understand how the plot was going to make sense in this sequel, to be honest. Like I just didn't know how they were going to carry the story and make it make sense. So I was half expecting this one to just fall flat and just end up being another cash grab sequel. But this sequel ended up being much more than what I expected. I think it expanded on the lore and it went further into what made the first one such like a wild ride, and somehow still found a way to be pretty damn entertaining.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah, I'm with you on that. I was a little bit apprehensive too, because sometimes I feel like the same bit can get a little overplayed, maybe just a smidge cliche, right? But Ready or Not is honestly a comfort film. I recently just threw it on before bed, just to have in the background. Like it's a it's a good time. And so I was excited for this simply because I just love games. I love hide and seek and board games and the strategy of it all, right? So if at anything at all, I expected that to be what charmed me, what kept me entertained. And I gotta give it to this movie for still meeting that expectation because with an ensemble as big as this one, you know, they took that cast and then they almost doubled it, right? You could either go one of two ways, either it gets real messy, you lose track of who's who, or it calls for a really good time. It's almost like knives out, right? What they've done with that franchise a little bit, they've kind of done here. And I thought that it was actually kind of um surprising in a way, and it wasn't too gratuitous as much as I expected it to be.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

Yeah, it can be such a mixed bag when you walk into a movie like this because on the one hand, the first film is beloved, right? Banks, you just threw it on, it's a comfort movie. I can't say that I've rewatched it a ton of times, but it is certainly one of those that's just a rock solid, fun, campy movie that just oozes mayhem in bloodshed. And it's a wholesome movie on top of that. Like it's it's fucked up. But going into this one, I heard that it picks up at the end of the previous film. But one of the things that I thought was really interesting here was the idea that the sequel wasn't officially planned, but the concept for the sequel was always there. The writers had actually come up with a post-credit scene for the first movie that they never ended up shooting. It would have been a group of like wealthy elites reacting to the Letimos family being wiped out. And it would have hinted that this whole thing was much bigger than just one family. It was supposed to end with Hail Satan. I'm glad it didn't happen in the previous film because I feel like the Hail Satan bit would have just I mean, we already got some of it in the first movie, but I feel like it just would have been a a little cheesy punctuation mark at the end of the movie.

SPEAKER_05 5:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

But knowing that, I really hope that this sequel would lean into that idea and expand the world, not just repeat the same setup. And to its credit, it does do that. It picks up right where the first one left off, but it starts to widen the scope in a way that feels like a natural extension of what was there. But the danger in that is am I still going to have a fun movie? Or is it going to be too rinse and repeat? Or are they going to get bold and try to hint at something much bigger, much deeper?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Yeah, I think it's a fair kind of question to ask yourself on like what's gonna be the vibes of this movie, which direction are they gonna go in? How is it gonna feel? But I can honestly say I just had a good time with this one. I think it was a fun and wild ride from start to finish. It was full of action. I feel like the campy vibe was perfect in this movie. The chemistry between Grace and Faith as sisters felt natural, and the banter between them felt like what real siblings would fight and argue about. So I just think that really, when you mix like all of the horror elements here, you're gonna find that this one is it's full of action, gore, dark comedy, but yeah, it's a very interesting thing. I had a lot of fun with it.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

Dude, I agree with you so much. This movie is just chaotic fun. It is a really, really fun movie, and there's still moments where it's not super fun. There's almost this trauma radiating from Grace Usumaru Eaving's performance, and it does deal head-on with the consequences of what she went through instead of just moving on from it, which is such a I wouldn't say well, I don't want to exactly say rare thing, but so rarely does a horror sequel really encompass the evolution of someone's psyche on one night really well. And I think this movie really does that nicely.

SPEAKER_05 7:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

I will call out though, because we mentioned and we've talked already a little bit about Samara Weaving and Catherine Newton, some parts of it though. I found myself feeling like I'm just watching very popular, funny, you know, in the films right now scream queens. And I couldn't remove myself from that thought of pop culture, I guess we could say, and just buy that they were sisters. That's on me though, because I think that they do have chemistry, but a part of me was just watching two actresses that are very similar, and that was why they were casted on purpose and not because they have this like fully natural and bought-in story. It the dialogue at times felt a little bit forced. Could be a personal thing. I, you know, I acknowledge that. There were other times where I bought into it, but only when we were seeing the parallels of their chemistry. There are other characters in this ensemble that I think other siblings that we see that I found cool foils to them. But that was something that I just kind of was in and out of. I was like, damn, Catherine Newton with her quips, right? Or is this Faith with her quips? That's kind of where I was tussling with myself.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

Man, I really enjoyed their chemistry. I thought it was so fluid, so natural. I thought they bounced off so well off of each other. And it does, for me, it did have these moments of wow, Faith is just the younger version of her. This makes perfect sense. I was completely bought in. And I also love that, you know, I mentioned that chaotic fun, right? Their humor with each other, it just meant that instead of getting a few quips from Grace every once in a while, it was like a combo. It was a one-two punch. And I love that their relationship ends up being the emotional core of the movie. So I care more about the stakes. Not that I disliked or didn't care for Grace in the first film, but I feel like I have an amplification of what and who to root for in this one.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Yeah, it's definitely the backstory because on the one hand, I think I liked Ready or Not because of the mystery of this character, but I can also see how we're rooting for her. We love Grace, but we don't really know anything about her. So when we come to a sequel, what's the stakes there? We need to then invest in her to continue rooting for her to keep going, right? We can only take us that far. I think what helps in the first one is that she's a newlywed who's been betrayed by her husband, right? Versus here, it's like, okay, well, there's no more of that family. There's no more of that. So what's gonna keep her going and that drive? But a big part of that too is also that it's really fun because of its ensemble, too. I think there's lots of humor here from coming from different angles, different personalities that meshed extremely well and kept me engaged no matter what. Even if there were times where I'm like, eh, this feels a little awkward, feels a little cheesy. Other times I was like, dang, these people are hilarious. I want this girl to keep going. I want this person to die, which is so fun. And that's a big part of this franchise.

SPEAKER_03 10:43

It is, but bless. Man, that humor, it it really got me, and it got me so effectively. I didn't have the moments where I'm like, okay, this is too cheesy. I found that this movie, as I was watching it, gave me the sensation of I earned this, I deserve this laugh. This is a well-deserved moment of joy in otherwise incredibly dark times.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Yeah, for sure. I think it's just the really good blend of the campiness, the dark humor, the action and the blood that you get. And then, Chris, to your point, even just the as you're going through the movie and you're going through all the absurdity and the campiness, you're also getting these moments where this emotional story is unfolding, and you have the bond between the sisters, and you have this whole thing happening throughout the entire movie that you keep kind of coming back to in little snippets, and I think that makes it a very unique experience for one of these types of horror comedies that a lot of people probably wouldn't be used to, but it is it just kind of flows, and I think it's just a really it's a fun time. It doesn't, it's like serious in moments, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's you know, it's got something for everyone with the gore, and then there's just funny laugh out loud moments, all the way from silly to kind of clever and witty, and I think it's just got like a little something for everyone there, and I and I think like it's not a movie that's really trying to also scare you, right? It's not gonna be something that's really trying to make you jump or fright or anything like that. I think it's just trying to be a little bit over the top when you think of gore, maybe not to the exact level, but you think of gore in the sense of like the original Evil Deads and things like that. That's kind of like the vibe of the gore. And I think it it isn't trying to get you to jump, react, or anything like that. But it, you know, it doesn't even have really that many pop-out moments, like the first one had a few with the whole hide-and-seek vibe, but this one moves away from that vibe, I think, and focuses more heavily on just kind of the bloody action and the campy comedy.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

And I think that's what really works for this world, right? It knows what it is, and it knows that it's just here to make you laugh and do some obscene out-of-the-box things. Personally, I found that to be something that I really enjoyed. And I think when we mix that in with this idea of playing a game, it's a little fucked up, don't you think? Like games, there's a childish nature to it, you know. We all played hide and seek when we were young. And I'm surprised that doing the same game again, but maybe a little bit different, it's a little bit more exposed this time around, was something that surprised me. I actually thought that maybe we were gonna somehow see another game be played out, even though it said ready or not, right? Now, I will say with that comes a lot of explanation that needs to be had, a lot of explaining of the rules that somehow gets a little bit lost in the sauce when Elijah Wood's popping off. That I'm like, all right, let me, okay, let me write this out. It almost reminded me of the quarter quill of Hunger Games. You know, it's almost like, wait a minute, how are we doing this again and why?

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Yeah. It's true. I you go into this thinking, like, how are they gonna pull this off? And I think it one of the one of the most surprising things for me when I when this movie started was literally that it opened with the very ending scene of the last one. Because that one, it definitely I sat there and I think I said out loud, I was like, Oh shit, this is actually happening like right where it left off, which I thought was also just an odd choice because it's been like what six or seven years since the last one was out, and so it just felt like how are they gonna do this? But it kind of did work out, they did it pretty well, and you know, I guess when you're going into it, you're thinking, okay, well, maybe there's gotta be some kind of weird contingency thing that happened where she's not out of it. But wow, I I don't know. I thought it was pretty clever.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

I think they absolutely nailed this, and I love when movies do this so much, and we'll talk about this maybe a little bit more in the B-side later, but Halloween 2, 1981, is one of my favorite horror films, and it does exactly this. I don't care how bad Jamie Lee Curtis's wig was for Lori all those years later. I don't give a damn, but this movie nails that spirit that I can put this on, watch it back to bath, and not miss a beat. And tomorrow weaving really nails that. I absolutely love the continuation of this, and I think this movie justifies the first movie even more because I walked into that one and you have this whole bit about them hunting each other down, and you think, okay, is this a little bit are they just a cult? Are they crazy? But then you get into the satanic worship and all this good stuff, and it kind of feels like well, there's obviously something much bigger at play here, so if it just ended there, I would have been satisfied from a movie perspective, but it makes sense that there's so much more out there. And then when you get into the beginning of this film, and we'll talk about this in the spoiler zone, you see how the powers at play have their hands across the world, and I really, really appreciated that one.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

It's wild. The lore building or the lore expansion in this movie, I think, is actually really wild, and I think they did a good job with it. I think introducing new characters, diving deeper into the game, its rules, it ultimately gives you just more on a much larger scale. I think even though I think it's not, I don't know, it's interesting that when you compare it to the vibes you got from the first one to watching this one, it definitely expanded everything. It kind of gave you a larger scale, it gave you a little bit more pieces to the puzzle as to what's going on with the grand scheme of things. It may not feel on the surface that it's quite as clever as the first one, but I think it actually, I don't know, it's got a it's got its own little charm for sure.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

I don't know that it has to be more clever, but it certainly is pretty damn smart.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

There's a lot of pieces that they had to consider, you know, to somehow not make me feel like that meme of that woman that's staring at the board and there's like math equations going on in the background. Like it was really fun to also just bring so many people to the game to begin with and have that make sense. How are we gonna introduce everybody without it messing you up and not knowing who's who?

SPEAKER_05 17:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

Yeah, I thought it was all very clearly explained, and I think that's a credit to this movie because anyone else with a very convoluted plot, with a lot of I would say footers at the bottom of the page, a lot of the bylaws that are in place in this rule book, there's just so much that nobody's gonna ever read this kind of shit, right? So to be able to articulate all of this in a film and not lose anybody, I think that's pretty significant. But being I was just reflecting on this for a moment because I'm considering what we have in this film in two sisters, and then I'm remembering the last time Radio Silence gave us two sisters, and you fucking hated one of them. Now, you don't hate Catherine Newton, you don't hate Samara Weaving, you don't hate either of these characters, but you do think it's a bit much, and I just think maybe it's because you didn't grow up with a sister.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Damn, you clocked me. You're right. On the money, that is a common denominator if I've ever seen one. Absolutely. My mind is blown. Do I have sister issues?

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Oh. Oh no. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Yeah. I did have a stepsister once when I was a kid, and you know, my father divorced my stepmom at the time, so maybe I'm just like bitter, you know? Wow. I'm gonna talk about my therapist, I'm gonna talk about this with my therapist at some point.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Good luck. You're still a girl's girl, so it's okay. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

That's funny. I think it's interesting because I technically didn't grow up with sisters or anything like that, and I had all brothers, but I feel like we had these relationships where we just talked shit to each other all the time, and so that's where I kind of related with these characters because you could tell. And listen, I don't want to get I don't want to get too far into characters before we get into the spoilers, but I there is a certain level of like how they react to each other that feels like yes, they're upset, but also they're also very comfortable with each other.

SPEAKER_03 19:27

Oh, 100%, and there is so much contextually to the relationships in this movie, which is another thing that has me rooting for it, because there's a difference between being an only child and not being an only child, right? You have that at face value, but then there's also the dynamics of being from a one-in-one set versus I have multiple siblings and you're vying and growing up and being shaped by so many people in a household, it's a nuanced and slightly different environment, which I absolutely loved and exactly why. I think if you want wholesome horror, if you want relationship horror with a good time and a good laugh, that's who should watch this movie. Like this shit is gonna hit for you. If you want to go to a theater and take your friends who don't like horror movies, if you want to go on a sibling date and go watch a horror movie together, this is perfect for you. I might see if I can drag my sister out to this. I think this is gonna be very palatable to most people.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

I'm with you on that. I think to speak on that a little bit more, who shouldn't watch this movie is anyone expecting, which I don't know why you would, but if you want something that's very extense, like extremely serious, on the more like, okay, this is a sequel that's gonna dive a little bit deeper and darker. I wouldn't say that that's this. This is still keeping the light fun. The reason that I bring that up, I know, I know. The reason that I bring that up is I feel like ready or not does have some slow build in certain moments. There's like a little bit more tension because there is a lot more hide and seek going on, right? There's less people seeking them out. And I think that with a sequel where they're exploring a backstory, sometimes it can get really, really dark. And we kind of dip our toes into Grace's backstory. We're not even really getting the exact details, right, of her upbringing either, which I appreciate. There's still that mystery to it. So if you're wanting like a full heavy themes and discourse and a light-hearted fun slasher kind of vibe, I I that's not this.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

Okay. Can I just comment for a moment, Binks? When you started speaking and you said you shouldn't watch this if you're expecting, I'm like, what the fuck does pregnancy have to do with this, Binks? Not the pregnancy.

SPEAKER_05 21:52

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 21:53

Yeah, I was like, there's nothing, you're not gonna be stressed, your blood pressure isn't gonna be raised, it's gonna be fine, disist. If if you're expecting, you can watch this. All right. You can't ride certain rides of Disney World, but you can watch Ready or Not Two, Here I Come.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Absolutely wild. Yeah. I mean, I think also if you're just a fan of campy horror, you're gonna have a fun time with this one. I think, you know, if you are to Binks's point, if you're thinking, if you're going into this one thinking it's gonna be like something super serious, I think you mentioned, like, one, why? Because if you watch the first one, you're just an idiot. Because like it's literally the it's the first one is not a serious film, so why would the second one be a serious film? You know what I mean? So I mean you just have it's a sequel, so just read the cards, right? So I feel like if you're going into thinking this is gonna be a serious, like really heavy jump scared field, like filled slasher or something like that, like where it really intense, it's probably gonna disappoint you a little bit because it doesn't play by those exact rules, but it is a fun, campy, lighthearted type of vibe that I mean, I guess you could call it maybe in the slasher realm, but it to me it's just a wild ride.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

Well, the only reason that I brought this up specifically is probably because I've been on threads a little bit too much lately. There are people out there that were expecting like Scream 7 to be profound somehow. What, folks? That's Scream 7. I know, but that took me by surprise as it is. So I'm like, if you've had seven movies that have proven to you that this is not gonna get really deep, I certainly would hope that you're not gonna expect that from a game that's about hide and seek. And yet, here we are.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

I mean, everybody imploded at the end of the first one. What do you think is gonna happen in the second one?

SPEAKER_02 23:48

No implosions, just mourning and funerals.

SPEAKER_03 23:51

Thanks to Scream's credit, though, they do get a little bit deep with the vibe and the idea of their scripts. They're not super deep movies, but I know Scream 3 gets shit on often. But the reality is, is that plot and the parallels to our actual fucking world in the film industry, they're not insignificant. So I think people uh are not so far off to expect maybe something light on the surface, but deeper with Scream. Whereas this, sure, there's class warfare, there there's that aspect to it, but this is just a full-on fun fucking time. You can look closer and find some stuff, absolutely, but it's just good to laugh with. Now, I can't wait to see how all of that shakes in and plays into how we score this movie. But before we actually get there, Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Honestly, I think that the gore was definitely elevated in this one coming coming off of the first one. We get more action with more blood and really just a whole lot of fun. I think it feels like this one literally might maybe tried to outdo its predecessor, just to put it into perspective for you. They used 325 gallons of fake blood with literally 140 gallons used in just one cinematic sequence alone. It's certainly a bloody good time, but also not as serious as you might think with that much blood used, keeping this one in high gore territory rather than severe.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

And what about the animal report?

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Now, there are a lot of carcasses. So I'm gonna say this is a big nope for the animal report. However, we do not see any of these kills on screen. So at least there's that.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

At least there's that. The absolute bare minimum of animal safety. But let's go ahead and get into our ratings. Ready or not to, here I come in 2026. Is it a hack or slash?

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Well, listen, I think that ready or not to doubles down on everything that made the original such a cult favorite and happily splatters it across really a much bigger canvas. We talked about it picking up immediately after the first film's explosive finale, literally. I think this sequel expands the lore and the mythology of the Lodomus curse into like a much bigger scale than I really could have imagined going into this one. I just wasn't expecting it. I think the lore it goes bigger, it's messier, it's more absurd. But watching this whole mess go down was undeniably fun and super entertaining to watch. I think where the first film felt tight and claustrophobic inside of this mansion, this chapter is just on that bigger scale. There's just more locations, there's more villains, it's a higher body count, the kills are bigger, they're bloodier, but also somehow a little bit hilarious with outrageous violence that often kind of crosses the line between horror and comedy. And the tone is much campier as well. I think it's trading some of the originals, you know, biting satire for this like punch-drunk gallows humor and even more creative carnage. And I think it's the kind of sequel that knows the audience came for the mayhem and really just happily delivers it by the bucket full. And I think at the center of all of this madness is Samara Weaving and Catherine Newton, who bring a surprisingly heartfelt dynamic to the Carnage and the Chaos, as like these estranged sisters, their chemistry gives the film its emotional backbone. I think it blends sharp comedic timing with this kind of messy baggage of family trauma that we're used to seeing in horror, but this just feels kind of refreshing for that kind of trope to be in here. And I think they're trying not to get murdered by literally everyone around them. Weaving, by the way, Samara Weaving remains one of modern horror's most compelling Scream Queens for me. We'll get into it later, but sure, the sequel may sacrifice some of the originals, maybe novelty in favor of bigger, louder, and kind of gorier spectacle. But listen, ready or not, here I come because I had more fun with this movie than I have had in a while. And I think it's just a bona fide slash for me. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Well, I feel like ready or not is a classic. Okay. And for someone who loves a good thrill, I greatly enjoyed its way of like interweaving the occults with these familial ties and this sense of betrayal. And the way I see it, this sequel knows its blueprint, knows that it worked, and it generally sticks to it with a few tweaks. I mean, it does introduce that backstory to heighten those stakes and force your investment. And I say force more so like my from my perspective and how it you know came off to me. I think one thing that I omitted to say was at times it felt like the Avengers were assembling to play hide and seek. Okay. And now for some, that could sound great. For others, that might sound very cheesy, campy, could be a buzzkill. Personally, I loved that aspect of it. I thought it was brilliant for it. It was great. And they managed to make everyone purposeful, even if they were there for just a little bit, enough to keep me entertained, enough to keep me intrigued, laugh along with the scene, right? I thought it was great for it. Now Chris has brought something to my attention where my issues with the sister chemistry could very much be because I don't have a sister and or I have a sibling that didn't tease me growing up, which could be a good thing, but now somehow it isn't for this film. But either way, I had a good time. I had a good time with it. Okay, it was awesome. I was laughing alone in the theater. I think it's worth it alone for that. It's a sequel that actually skates into the slash territory for me. And nowadays, who knows? Sequels are can be always be hit or misses, and they did it right before the buzzer mark.

SPEAKER_03 30:15

Damn you and your supportive relationships with your siblings. I mean, I had great relationships with my siblings, my sisters, my oldest brother wasn't like a big like tease me kind of person, but my brother, closest in age to me, my older brother, man, we were at each other's throats. So for sure, a lot of things that were uh highlighted in this movie and their relationship felt represented there. And this is one of those sequels, and this is where I actually love how that plays out. Because this sequel understands exactly why the first movie worked and it doesn't try to overcorrect, it doesn't try to completely reinvent the wheel, it just wants to polish it, maybe throw some new tread on that tire. It picks up right where things left off, expands the world in a way that feels natural, and it leans fully into its tone. This is a movie that's comfortable in its own skin. And what really sells it is that balance. It's chaotic, it's funny, it's violent, and it still has that emotional core through grace and faith that gives everything some weight without feeling heavy. And on top of the performances, especially between Samar Weaving and Catherine Newton, we'll talk about them so much. Every other uh member of this ensemble elevates the material in a huge way. And this movie is not something that I would call essential. Nobody was lining up dying for this sequel. If this never existed, the original would still stand perfectly on its own. But this absolutely earns its place as a continuation because it's just that good. It's genuinely fun to watch. This is the kind of movie that you throw on, you have a great time with, and you walk away glad you saw it. Overall, I mean, this isn't not a movie we needed, but it's a movie I'm absolutely glad exists to bring this much joy to the theater and it's a slash. Now that all said and done, this one has earned a universal slash, but we are far from done when it comes to talking about this movie. If you've already seen it, let us know what you thought. Was it a hacker or slash for you? You can jump into the conversation in our Discord, or leave us a voicemail at hackerslash. All of it. Stick with us and we'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

Are you tired of boring family game nights where the worst thing that happens is Uncle Gary's bringing up politics again? Well, spice things up with Draw or Die, the horror party game where the only thing more disturbing than the monsters are the answers your friends choose. If you've ever watched a horror movie and thought, wow, that was a terrible decision, well, congratulations, this game was made for you. Draw or Die is a completely unhinged horror twist on a classic fill-in-the-blank party game. One player draws a scene card, and everyone else plays the most horrifying, ridiculous, or partially accurate trope cards they can. For example, you may draw a scene card that says, The group should have never opened the basement door because inside they found blank. And your friends might answer with a VHS tape label do not watch. Seriously. A possessed Furby speaking Latin. A child singing nursery rhymes backwards, a killer who only hunts people with student loan debt, or the entire third act of a Rob Zombie movie. Whoever played the most twisted answer wins the round and earns the prestigious title of survivor, for now. Haha, fun times, lots of laughs, but then someone pulls the card. The ritual card. And that's when the game stops being funny. Because hidden somewhere in the deck is a single card that reads, The game has begun. Once it's drawn, the rules change immediately. Lights must be turned off, phones must be put away, doors must be locked. Every player must now draw survival cards that determine their fate for the rest of the game. Weapons, suspiciously convenient chainsaw, skill, surprisingly good cardio, weakness, trips while running, secret, you might secretly be the killer. From that moment on, alliances form, paranoia spreads, and the table slowly turns on each other as new cards trigger betrayal, traps, curses, and sudden kill scenarios. Because in Draw or Die, the question isn't who wins the round, it's who survives the game. So next time your game night feels a little too safe, grab draw or die. It's the only horror card game where the wrong draw doesn't just ruin the round, it starts the movie.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

We've got a lot to unpack here, but before we get into the specifics of those ratings, let's go through the sleigh by sleigh.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Okay, well, one of the things that I loved about this film was the use of practical effects throughout the movie. I think the filmmakers built these full prosthetic torsos and body molds that were packed with blood bags and air-powered squibs. And when they triggered, the rig would literally detonate outward, spraying practical blood and debris all over the set, because horror comedy works better, obviously, when the gore is tangible and the actors react better when something actually explodes and sprays on set. So it there with all of the little explosions that we got, and we got a lot of them, even more in this movie, probably than we got in the last one for sure. And I just think that added to the campiness and the gore of it all. But even without those moments, there's still some really great kills. There's 31 kills to be exact. And when we're going through the sleigh by sleigh, we have to start with the first kill. And the first kill literally, technically, was Grace because she fucking flatlined in the ambulance and then came back to life.

SPEAKER_03 36:39

Hell yeah. Traumatic seeing her sit there with that cigarette and to see her body start to react and absorb the weight of everything that had happened to her.

SPEAKER_05 36:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:51

First, maybe I have been watching too much bullshit TV. Probably. I watched any rendition of the 911 series. Would they not have done any essential vitals or CPR, literally anything before putting her on this treasure? I thought they would try to get the pulse back or something. I don't know. I'm not a first responder. But when you have her being shocked and then you see the flashes of the night before, chef's kiss.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Yeah. It was wild. You have to imagine yourself in the situation where you literally had just gone through an entire night of being fucking like chased after, tried to get murdered, like people were trying to kill you left and right. Then you watched everybody explode in front of you and saw some fucking ghosts sitting beside the fire. I mean, when that all catches up to you, yeah, your body's gonna go into complete shock for sure. What I also thought was interesting and I didn't really grasp it at first was Chester Danforth. Okay, like the fact that we suffocated him with the pillow. At first, I'm like, what's the point of this? Why is this part of the plan? Why did he have to get suffocated with the pillow?

SPEAKER_03 38:02

Yeah, when he says, Oh my gosh, actually, going into that moment where Titus is like, Dad, please, he slaps the chev and says, Be a fucking man, hilarious. But it was almost again, being sure made the parallel earlier to uh Hunger Games, it was almost like Mags volunteering as tribute, like, I gotta go so that we actually have a shot at winning this thing.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

Go figure Cronenberg being the one to off himself right at the bat.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

And it's such an interesting thing because obviously you have Titus being emotional in this moment, and then you see Sarah Michelle Geller as Ursula, and you think, okay, so she's the cold stoic one. But then before it's revealed that they're actually twins, I was like, She must be the older sister. She's bearing the burden and the weight of this entire thing, keeping it together while her little brother has the freedom to just express and feel everything. But you know what? Even all the twins, I bet she still came out first. I can see that.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

Probably, probably. I think also when we get through this point, this is where I feel like we start to get really into the into the wild kills of it all, right? We kind of started off with a little bit of an emotional moment with Grace. We got to Chester, got kind of set up who this family is, and that they're basically just cheaters to hold their place in the seat here. But then when we get to Detective Bassett's kill, and that's really where we have who we can call him Bill Wilkinson. I like to call him cocaine man, but this dude literally just fucking knife to the throat out of nowhere, right? Boom.

SPEAKER_03 39:45

No, dude, one better cocaine cowboy. Cocaine cow great documentary, great documentary about the construction of Miami built on the dollars of cocaine traffic. But he was a cocaine cowboy. You can't tell me nothing.

SPEAKER_00 39:58

He was wild, man.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

I was just surprised that I mean that's a notable actor. So I was like, oh, of course he's in this movie. He's a little crazy bitch. And then he was gone.

SPEAKER_03 40:09

Same for Cronenberg. What a tease. Could we acknowledge the parallel though? Of Tara ending up in the hospital and her sister going to see her, then they're attacked, trying to leave. There's a lot of blood on the floor. Listen, radio silence is repeating some tricks, I think.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

They might be repeating tricks, but what I think is interesting is that as we go through some of these early kills, it kind of sets the it starts to set the groundwork for what the rules to this larger scale game are, and it kind of like slowly reveals itself to you as you're watching the film, because by by the fact that Detective Bassett got killed by Bill Wilkinson, the next person to go was in fact Bill Wilkinson, the cocaine cowboy, because he cheated, he jumped the gun, he didn't follow the rules, and because of that, he imploded.

SPEAKER_03 40:59

Yeah, I actually love the fact that we get the rules coming out as you go, and then eventually you get to the point where like, okay, let's just hold it stop for a second and actually read the rule book. But that's the best way to play a game. You get a vibe of what the direction is, and then you just make moves and you figure out what's what.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

Yeah, for sure. And then listen, once we get past some of those rules, we get into the game. Like we the game officially starts, and I gotta tell you, one of my favorite kills in the entire film, Viraj Rajan put into an industrial fucking washing machine, sanitized and fucking melted. Literally, one obviously you knew as he's going through the washing machine, and they for whatever reason they stopped it to open it. You knew this motherfucker was gonna pop out at some point for that little one little jump scare type tactic they tried to do. But the cool, like practical effects of this dude melting off was pretty fun.

SPEAKER_03 41:55

It was fun, but boy, you know that phone didn't survive.

SPEAKER_00 41:59

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_03 42:00

What what was also great was their reaction. So Grace and Faith looking back and forth at each other, they kind of want to stop it, they kind of want to open it, but also they hate every second of this, hearing his screams. They're thinking about the phone. There is so much that they're factoring in and feeling in this moment, and Samara Weaving's facial expressions in this scene are just too die for.

SPEAKER_00 42:23

Absolutely, definitely. And then listen, we get into a little bit more of kind of the play on the rules, and that's when Ignacio literally gets stabbed in the throat with the sword that Grace basically forces Wan Chen to do by accident, playing off the rules of the game, because we established early on that if you kill another participant, you know, Labelle's gonna be mad at you. So, boom, what do we do? Boom, you get stabbed in the throat, and then Ignacio dies, and then Ju Chen explodes.

SPEAKER_02 43:00

R.I.P. Cuban king. Although he was Spaniard in the movie, but I know, and that's what matters.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Oh my gosh. Which is unfortunate for the Wan Chang Fu because that little fucker had to die too, because right after his mom died, he also imploded right in front of everyone.

SPEAKER_02 43:20

Everyone backing up slowly but surely away, and this motherfucker's just on another planet.

SPEAKER_03 43:27

Can we acknowledge that he had a classic Kenny the cameraman delay to his death? There's a 60-second delay. Because this kid, not only was he detached from what was happening, obviously he had the wherewithal, he just wasn't paying attention. I think they were running down the clock. I think they were really thinking, like, is this and this is the guy? This is the second in line to this dynasty.

SPEAKER_00 43:49

Yeah. It was literally once people started imploding in that room, it was Kip for me that was like, I need a poncho, and had literally had the butler get a fucking poncho for him. Ridiculous.

SPEAKER_03 44:00

You know, I thought maybe when we went to Halloween horror nights last year on the wet path of terrifying that we need a poncho.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

Yeah, right? Wasn't necessary. Wasn't necessary.

SPEAKER_03 44:09

A letdown.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

But listen, after all of this goes down, we probably get what I've got to imagine is somebody else's favorite kill. Because Francesca, the bride to be, can we say? I don't even know. Like, what would be her title? I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 44:24

Holy shit. The bitter ex, the jaded ex. Absolutely. Fuck Francesca. I thought her death was hilarious. One, I and when she came out initially onto the scene, I thought, damn Binks, this is gonna be Melissa Barrera, huh? Yep. Yep. Would you have preferred to have seen this actress? Because I actually loved the way that she portrayed Francesca.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

Yeah, I loved how she portrayed Francesca. That girl knows how to emote, okay? She was fucking hilarious. But I did love the like the Latina spice. You know what I mean? She was ready to ha hatch it out there. It was it was a fun time. I enjoyed it, but also the delusion of it all, too, because she was a little bit off her rocker. I don't think Alex loved her as much as she thought she did.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

She was definitely delusional, but I just love how drawn out her comeuppance is. Because one, she fucking came in locked and loaded, ready to go, goes and puts on what I presume to be the dress that she wanted to wear for her wedding with Alex. For sure. Has a fucking rocket launcher, goes through this hilarious scene we'll unpack later. Goes through this hilarious scene that we'll unpack later. Only to then get taken out so quickly to come back to back for a second round, bitch. Yep, fuck. It was so quick, and she was so inconsequential in that moment after actually putting up a pretty fucking significant fight earlier in the movie. Her whole bit, ah, I just loved it so much.

SPEAKER_00 46:04

Wow, it was definitely good. And yeah, that whole back for a second bit and just getting the shotgun blast, which literally not just the double tap, but the triple tap and the triple tap being in the face, it was what it looked like because it just like was fuck you, bitch, as she just walked into the house. I could tell you when I saw, you know, we because in the trailer you get that, you know, that little snippet as she's walking up with the shotgun. And so that little snippet from the trailer had me kind of thinking, like, is this gonna be her twisting it around on somebody now and like playing this game? Maybe there's an extended family member, and now she's playing hide and seek and fucking chasing after these people. So I uh that was kind of playing in my head when I saw this. So I guess they get it get a good job at not like giving too much away in the trailer. So I'll give it to them for that. All right. But as we move on through this sleigh by sleigh, we get to a little bit where the movie turns into like it gets a little bit more serious, it gets a little darker. And I think you know, if you you know, getting shot in the face with a shotgun isn't dark, this it actually does get dark because when we get Ursula's death, when Titus literally snaps her neck, that's a turning point in the movie that really brings like the third act of this movie into this really like almost this hopeless kind of feeling of like there's a lot going on here with you know Samara Weaving kind of saying, like, oh well, I need to take this way out, or Grace, you know, her character Grace trying to take this way out to win this thing by marrying Titus, and being not only dealing with that as a viewer, but also seeing Ursula, who then tries to maybe like show a lighter side, and then getting her next snap to show like how crazy Titus is, I think was wild.

SPEAKER_02 47:51

I have to admit that when that happens, that's where the ending to me seems like this could really go anywhere to an extent. It was initially hinting to me that it was going to go in a direction of cliffhanger, third movie, that kind of bit. Initially, that was my assumption, right? I anticipated that maybe it would go in that direction in terms of like this guy's very fucked in the head because of how he was treating Faith. That was almost like really uncomfortable and sick. So him killing Ursula, I guess I somewhat expected, but as a result of that, I was like, well, fuck, what is she gonna do? Is she not trapped here? And is the third movie gonna be trying to like find a way to just like undo this Illuminati while married to this guy? You know what I'm saying? I didn't foresee the ending to have the conclusion that it did right here and then I thought that they would try to stretch this movie out for a third one.

SPEAKER_03 48:56

Listen, I'm gonna say this right here, right now. I'm not gonna wait to the end of the episode. This is the worst part of the movie, and I don't mean that in like a lot of earnestness, but I'm so fucking tired of losing Sarah Michelle Geller in horror movies. Let her live. I mean, we had Ursula in there, and throughout the film, you see the veil slip, you see what she realizes about her brother, you see the genuine concern, and this is why I also love that Sarah Michelle Geller is portraying Ursula because she's also just such a fucking great actress. But we had so much more to get from her character, and then her life was just cut off. And I honestly hoped in this moment where she goes to warn Grace about Titus. I thought, girl, you about to make a play? Like, are y'all gonna get married? Because I could be into that, that'd be great. I don't think Grace would even mind that at that point, really. I certainly wouldn't. But her death was so dark and it was so painful to watch, and it really revealed everything about Titus. Titus revealed himself, obviously, throughout the film, but then when he's beating the shit out of faith, that was so hard to watch, it was painful. And she just kept fucking enduring it. She was just like, Yeah, I'm gonna keep talking shit to you while I'm on the floor, putting up almost a little bit more of a fight than even Grace was with Francesca. But when he snaps her neck, when he's making her look at him, oh god, it was terrible.

SPEAKER_00 50:30

It was intense for sure, and I think that was the point 100%. So that definitely took a turn there. And then, of course, you get that darkness, and then we get into this whole wedding scene, and when we get Titus's death, it's so satisfying, it's so fucking great. Like we all wanted it and we got it, and it was fucking perfect with Grace literally stabbing him repeatedly. What was she using? The quill pen from the book, like so perfect. The blood pen. The blood pen. It was so good, it was so good, and she manipulated the rules.

SPEAKER_03 51:05

Also, again, we'll talk about this in the scene, but she just had such a master stroke of sheer brilliance. She clocked that shit a mile away, and she went at it. Again, not unlike the younger sister watching the older sister stab the shit out of the guy who ended up being the fucking killer. Again, I'm realizing now how many five cream, scream five, scream 2022 parallels there are.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

Lots of parallels for sure. So we get through all that, you think, man, where is this gonna go? But literally, literally, she makes another play, she throws the ring into the pit of whatever sacrifice pit, whatever the fuck it is, and everyone that's in that fucking whatever jumps into the pit, and it's like what, 18 or so Satanists that literally jump in there fighting each other, stabbing each other, killing each other, only for all of them to implode one by one by one. Well, maybe some of them all at once, because it was a fucking big old fucking gusher yellowstone explosion of fucking blood.

SPEAKER_03 52:13

Oh my gosh, you said gusher, and I was just thinking about the one time I tried a gusher, and I just hated the way the fluid secretes in your mouth. It's disgusting. But when they start to implode and you get the poof, yeah. I really thought I was like, oh, this is definitely just popcorn. This is popcorn.

SPEAKER_00 52:34

Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 52:36

Did you also clock though how fucking hilarious it was that right before that happens, right as it's happening, you have Elijah Wood as the lawyer with his shortened height, just barely peeking above the altar, just like looking on with intrigue, because that was the funniest shit in the movie to me. Benefits of being a short king.

SPEAKER_00 52:55

It was funny. His whole character was funny. Like what happens to this guy? He's just like the gamekeeper, the lawyer, whatever. He just smiles and kind of descends backwards.

SPEAKER_03 53:05

Yeah, it's exactly who he is. He is the one the one to bear the one ring.

SPEAKER_00 53:13

Oh, the parallels to Lord of the Rings now is bad. Holy shit. Wow. Okay. Actually, yes, there's really bad parallels to Lord of the Rings. Holy shit, that's wild. Okay, it's all just hitting me right now. I'm like, what the fuck?

SPEAKER_03 53:26

Welcome, Sean.

SPEAKER_00 53:27

Here I am. Just got here. Yeah, crazy. And then, of course, like we get the we get, you know, Madhu Rajan imploded a little bit after that. And then what I put at the end with this kill count, which I had like a kind of like a question mark, was is that you know, Martina who becomes like the head of the family after Madhu like signs her like as the leader to take, you know, to go into the hunt instead of him because he's just a little bitch, she just drives off and says, fuck you, and like you wouldn't really think about it for a while. And then when the movie ended and I was watching everyone like die, I was like, oh shit, did Martina die? And I had to do some digging. There's actually an interview where the directors thankfully confirmed that it, yes, Martina did die. It's the rules, she dies.

SPEAKER_02 54:09

And the only reason that I made that connection, I guess I should have watched the interview too, I had assumed that she had died because I thought to myself, well, the wife of the previous family had passed away, right? So if at that point, if it's um through marriage, you also are part of this like bloodline or whatnot. So you also go down swinging. Now, I guess it would have been a little too gratuitous to just show us a scene of her like imploding while she's driving away, but it was a good question mark to leave you with in terms of like how far does this go? Like, does she also just get the axe? Now, what I did find interesting now that you bring that up really quickly is how does it work in terms of participation from the council? It sounds like she could have just not played at that point because she was able to just leave.

SPEAKER_03 54:55

As long as you go on the field and you represent whether you choose not to have that's up to you. I see. I see.

SPEAKER_02 55:03

Interesting, huh? Says a lot about these people.

SPEAKER_00 55:05

Yeah, it is uh it is interesting that as we learn like more about this game. And I don't know if they'll ever make another one. I don't know that there is a need to make another one, and if they did, it would probably be overkill, but who knows? Who knows? They might expand even further. It's pretty wild to think about. But listen, I can talk all day about the kills, I can talk all day about the practical effects that they used, but I gotta say, what one thing that really stood out to me was the script because I feel like, in my opinion, it was so well done. The dialogue, the banter between the characters, and we've already touched on like the banter between faith and grace. I think just really just a lot of really clever and witty humor that I think just worked so well to bring these characters to life, and the script was just so well done for a horror comedy, which most of the time I don't like, it was really well done.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

Yeah, that's because you have so much continuity in the entire production team. Not the entire production team, but the key players, right? So you have Samara Whedon coming back, she's now elevated to executive producer because she's that invested in Grace. You also have the producers coming back, you have directors, you have the writers, so same writers as the original film, you have the same cinematographer, the same production designer, the same costume designer, the same makeup department head.

SPEAKER_00 56:26

That's wild.

SPEAKER_03 56:27

This is a group of people who, of course, bring other people in. There are other key players in this film's production who really brought this to life, but you have the same bones, you have the same team to really take this story to the next level. And I think that is part of the recipe for this movie's success.

SPEAKER_00 56:46

Can we just acknowledge for a moment, like it's at least to me, and maybe I'm crazy, I feel like it's really rare after seven years to get the same crew to come back for a movie for the for all of the schedules to align, for everyone to commit to still doing work on this film. And I think that's just unique for that to happen that well, and thank God it did. Because look, it proves how well and how effective it can be, instead of just switching to all new people that are just trying to recreate or outdo.

SPEAKER_02 57:18

Crew, a hundred percent. But if I may, Samara Weaving, if you're listening, give us that skincare routine, queen. Because for you to look identical to yourself seven years later, outstanding. Outstanding.

SPEAKER_00 57:35

No notes. It's true. I was mentioning the same thing. I was like, there's no way that she's it's been seven years. How could they do this? And my wife was literally, Ari was like, no, she just got a really good skincare routine. She's like, Yeah, that's what it when you're when you got the money, you can look good forever.

SPEAKER_03 57:51

Damn, you know what though? They missed a really funny opportunity to make her have two sisters and get Margot Robbie.

SPEAKER_00 57:59

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 58:00

Her older sister. That would have been the best possible fucking situation here.

SPEAKER_02 58:04

That's a trifecta. Absolutely. That's a testament also to makeup. Incredible. I loved the placement of the blood at the end. It just felt like Faith had a crown of blood across her forehead. Just the little things were incredible to me that I thought like chef's kiss, these immortal, beautiful looking blondes. My God, just bravo to them. But costume design too. Round of applause to that black dress. She had me thinking, damn, am I getting married in black? Sheesh. Incredible. Loved the costume design. And again, we have the iconic bridal gown covered in blood. When she put that thing on, I was like, you know what? Is this cliche? No, bitch. It's a fucking uniform. Let's go. Hit those Converse. Strap them on. We're out here.

SPEAKER_00 58:59

It was good. It was awesome. I when she put on the dress and laced up the chucks, I was like, holy shit, here we go. She's ready to play. Love it.

SPEAKER_03 59:07

You know what else I love though? The music in this movie. Because we get bookends of this movie with Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, one of my favorite songs on many playlists. And also to have such an incredible scene of Grace and Francesca fighting with total eclipse of the heart playing in the background. Iconic.

SPEAKER_00 59:28

That's a needle drop. The music was fun. It was good. It was tasteful. I feel like, I mean, literally, when we break it down, like what wasn't good in the movie? I mean, we're talking about the costume design, the script, the music, everything, characters, and then even the set design. The set design was solid. All of the whole like grounds of this country club was perfect. The even all the way down to this like satanic frickin' cult ritual, whatever the fuck you want to call it. Like, even that was so cool to look at. Like I was just like eating up the set design. It was so fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:02

It was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. And you know, Binks, I hadn't really even thought about the idea of damn, do we need to get married in black? But you're so fucking right. It looked so good. But I think I was also just so distracted by how everything was coming together in that moment. And I'm even thinking about when they have their kiss. It was such a gross-looking kiss, also. Can we just acknowledge that? That was disgusting. But when she finally makes her play, he is shouting, Hail Satan. He's throwing on he's showing off his ring of power, and then she just so suddenly, so unexpectedly stabs him. Faith is fucking cheering and then losing her mind the more that she continues to stab Titus. But what really does it for me is everyone's just sheer confusion. This frozen and paralyzed in the question of what's next, what does this even mean? And then of course we have Elijah Wood as the lawyer acknowledging yeah, we didn't think of this because who the fuck would do this? Absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:16

Oh my gosh. There were so many silly things. I'm just thinking, even at the beginning, there's the moment that we're introduced to, you know, Chester Danforth before he gets suffocated with the pillow, and he's watching all the TV screens in his like I don't know, his hospital chair bed thing in his home. And there's just a moment where he's watching like some war take place, and he literally just calls and says, approve the ceasefire, and like within a second, the TV says the ceasefire like just got approved instantly. Like that level of silly bullshit is what gives you a little bit of a chuckle. You're just like, How absurd is that?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:57

Yeah, that was a big flex. And I actually thought, like, a really fun way of showing just how deep this family runs. Yeah, for sure. It's the idea that this is a highly influential group of people. Like the things that people have conspiracy theories about, there's like just the rich are the ones ruling the world. That's exactly what this moment is. A hundred. Illuminati. The Illuminati.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Yeah, for sure. I also really loved even just the there's so many good scenes, but the one that I recall is early on when Faith and Grace are kind of going after each other in their kind of arguments. And I think it's just really funny. There's that there's when they're on the lawn or whatever, and they're going off with their banter, and Faith is was talking about the lies of like that she was lying about like the life that she had and all this stuff, and she starts saying like she's just a hostess, but then she's like, they allowed me to be the hostess because they said I'm pretty or whatever, and then Grace goes into well, I'm a waitress, so I still outrank you, and she gets tips because she's prettier than you, and like whatever the fuck they said, that whole back and forth was so fuck-I was laughing the whole time. It was fucking great.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:11

Yeah, they played off of each other so well.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:13

Wish I knew what that was like in real life, but alas, here we are. Instead, I feel like I can relate more with the bride v bride scene, because at the very least, I unfortunately know what it's like to deal with some crazy exes, you know? And that was uh again, to your point, Chris, with the needle drop, I mean, was such a good time. And it really had me thinking, like, it does make you curious about what life was like for Alex before he met Grace. And we get hints of their how they met and how that came to be, right? But what would make him interested in dating someone that isn't a part of this occult because apparently he was set to marry or was dating someone within the occult, which then had me curious about whether that would have meant that she didn't need to play the game. This whole entire thing would have never even happened had that actually came to be. So honestly, Alex brought this upon himself.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:14

Oh, yeah. Typical.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:16

Who knows? Maybe she would have had to play the game. Who knows? Maybe she's down to play. I mean, they all look just down to fucking play, man. They just look down to just be crazy, man. They're all just nuts.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:28

That's true. No different than obviously Titus and Francesco, because they were very much like, well, someone has to call the seas fire moving forward, and it's gotta be us. I want it real bad. There goes daddy. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:42

Oh man. I think obviously the bride v versus bride scene is very good. What I really loved is like the aftermath of when they were fighting each other to like where where Grace goes to get the shotgun to where she ends up actually killing Francesca. Because for me, what's special about that and is in the first one, she finds the shotgun with the band of ammo, and she's it we're all expecting this to just be a really badass moment, and she's gonna fucking fuck shit up. And she points the gun at the butler dude in the first one, and it's not a real gun, right? It doesn't fire anything, and it kind of that whole plan backfired on her and it kind of fizzled out. Whereas it came full circle in this one because she finds a shotgun with a band of ammo, and this time it's real, and this time she's fucking shit up and she blows that fucking bitch away, man. Loved it.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:41

It's so good. I was thinking about that obviously when she was just charging up. I'm like, oh, what a great call back to the first film.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:48

Yeah, it was great. It was great. I loved it.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:50

But again, that's just looking at the parallels between the two, obviously, knowing that this is the same night. Grace feels so much more grown up here, and it's great to see. How strong that change is in her character, not as like a wide gap or a far leap to make, but the comparison of who she is today and how she's been shaped. And then you get the data or the insight based on who she was for Faith and the complexities of their relationship. And I think we can all agree that Faith fucking overreacted because she was a young kid at this point. And I know she felt abandoned, obviously, but Grace clearly wanted to go get herself settled so that she could bring Faith with her. And I imagine that must have been scary to be in a foster home alone for the first time in 15 years without your sister. But their relationship made Grace as a whole so much deeper than I could have expected. I didn't realize how much I didn't want her to be a mystery until we got all this insight on her.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:53

I will agree with that because it really didn't dawn on me how much we didn't know about Grace until it was kind of unpacked. Although on the one hand, I liked the mystery. On the other, it's not that I hated the answers. It's more that sometimes it did feel a little bit cliche. Now, that aside, this idea of abandonment and abandonment in order to survive is so great in the scope of games, right? And hide and seek and all of these, like and manhunt, right? Sometimes you have to fucking sorry folks, I gotta make it to the end of the game. Can I help you here? And we see this also in like video games too. Like been playing this one called, I think it's called Phasmophobia or something like that. And that's like another one, I'm sure. What's the one that we you got me to play once, Chris? The one with all Death by Daylight.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:42

Dead by Daylight.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:42

Death by Daylight. Okay, so like these kinds of things, these games and overall mechanics were what was crossing through my mind when we were getting this trauma that they have. Now my curiosity only just gets piqued more because once you open those can of worms, it's very hard to put the lid on it. I'm like, what did they fucking go through? You know? I can't help but wonder. But also, maybe I don't want to know.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:09

Give us the prequel. Okay, but I don't actually want the prequel. But I just want to share because we talk we have them as sisters. Do you know how they came to be in this movie together?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:21

No.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:21

Okay. So I've been talking a lot about Melissa Barrera tonight. Do you know another film that Melissa Barrera was in, aside from the Scream Films as of late?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:33

There's one called I think Love Monster or something like that. It was a Valentine's Day. That movie slaps, okay? So let it be known here and now, the record show that I thought she was actually great in that movie.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:44

Yeah, but did you watch Abigail?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:46

Oh yeah. Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:49

Oh my god!

SPEAKER_00 1:08:50

And Catherine Newton's in that as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:53

Exactly. So the directors were with Catherine Newton and Melissa Barrera in Abigail. I'm gonna read this quote. It's actually from Rue Morg. It's one of the directors. We had worked with Catherine on Abigail, and that was what actually sparked this idea that Grace should have a sister. When we were with Catherine, we kept feeling that there was something she and Samara had in common, that they have a similar energy. So we became obsessed with the idea of them being sisters in something. And yet, nevertheless, here we are all these years later.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:27

Okay, so I wasn't entirely off base by my connection of it's really that the actresses themselves could be sisters that then drives why they're sisters in the movie. I just couldn't separate those things.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:41

Yeah, you weren't wrong about why they were cast, but you were wrong in it not being good. I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:48

No, fair, fair. Get it. I get it. We unpacked my trauma tonight.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:51

That's wild though. Yeah, I didn't know that. I didn't know that. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:55

At this point, you can connect Catherine Newton to just about fucking anybody in Hollywood because this won this woman is in everything, and I love it. I'm here for it. Connect her to Adam Sandler. The connection is in Lisa Frankenstein.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:07

Damn, that was a quick one. Man, she's booked and busy. She's another McKenna Grace. She could have been the little sister, McKenna Grace. I don't know. I'm thinking of all the blondes. Leave me be.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:18

I'm gonna make a mind map of Catherine Newton's trail in Hollywood and all the six degrees of Catherine Newton.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:24

It's wild. I will say, outside of that, and you know, we've talked a lot of you know ad nauseum about Grace and Faith as characters and their chemistry, but I think even just to touch on Samara Weaving before we move past this, I think one thing to note, I think she has between these two films has established for me one of the most iconic screams in horror. Her scream is just unmistakable. I never heard a scream like hers.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:54

Her scream is great. I wasn't thinking about the individuality of the scream, but if I play it back, if I run it back, yeah, it's brand. It's a brand.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:03

It's definitely a brand for sure. I also think I wasn't prepared for the Little Mermaid pipeline with Titus and Ursula. That I just wasn't prepared for at all.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:13

Wait a minute. God damn.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:15

But Ursula seems like a very specific choice with Titus. I feel like it has to be a pipeline.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:22

King Triton.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:23

Hey, listen, it's there. It's there.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:25

Cronenberg loves Little Mermaid.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:28

One of the other things that was actually kind of cool was apparently there's this kind of running gag while making the movie with specifically Sarah Michelle Geller, because they were literally trying to get her to use a weapon that maybe she hadn't used on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but literally it found that it became increasingly hard because she had used pretty much every fucking weapon from crossbows to bazookas.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:52

Yeah, that shit was hilarious. And actually, we get some great Buffy the Vampire Easter and actually we get some great Buffy the Vampire Slayer Easter eggs in here, like the moment where she stakes Grace in the shoulder, and then she's in her classic pose about to kill her before she gets interrupted. And then Catherine Newton's outfit, like her first outfit in the film, is inspired by a Buffy outfit.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:18

Yeah. Oh yeah, that's true. That is true. Dang, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:23

But now that we're talking about Buffy, also just a quick R.I.P. for the show that could have been the reboot, or rather the requel, whatever they wanted to call it, anyways. For this announcement to come out right when Ready or Not 2, it's it's a little bit of a shame, but I'm glad we still have Sarah Michelle Geller out in the limelight, because that's most important.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:44

Absolutely devastating. Someone else needs to pick up this show. I hope so. I hope so. It does raise a great question though. I'm thinking about Sarah Michelle Geller. I'm thinking about the marriage that could have been. Let's say you're in this situation and Chen Zing is confronting you first by drone, then in person, just to say, yo, I'm not trying to kill you. Because I do believe she genuinely didn't want to kill someone. And she says, Hey, if you marry my idiot son, who's just dumb, not a psychopath, you can live your life, I'll live mine, and the world can be a better place because it won't belong to this fucking psycho. Would you take that deal?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:23

Hear me out. All right, here's my thing. They had me until I would then have to participate in killing someone, potentially killing someone, because we know that I just don't do well with blood. However, then that's why I asked the question about is participation mandatory? Because when I watched the movie, I assumed that it was. So I brought back up that question a little bit earlier tonight because I was like, well, if it's not required, then technically I could have married this guy, not participated in any of the games and been fine and dandy. I can show up to mass, all right? And not really give a damn. Okay. But what I would also really want to gain from marrying this kid is what fucking game are you playing that has you so locked the fucking on a Nintendo DS looking Switch. I don't even know what what are you playing?

SPEAKER_03 1:14:23

Because I look at the Nintendo Switch too, and I bet he was playing Tears of the Kingdom, because that shit is great.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:30

Alright, well then valid. Then in that case, I'm marrying you just so we can play.

unknown 1:14:33

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:34

A little bit together. There you go.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:35

Yeah, you can be a little gamer girl. My dream.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:38

Something, I mean, it just doesn't feel right. Anytime you get suckered into marrying some innocent, fucking dumb boy, it just turns out to be like a psychopath worse than anybody else.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:50

Sean, what do you think my life is gonna be like now? Which is a question. Just putting it out there. What do you think's gonna happen to me? That is the playing field currently, right now, in Miami, Florida. So at this rate, I might as well be rich. At least I can guarantee that.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:04

I don't know. I don't know what to tell you.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:06

You guarantee proximity to power, riches beyond imagination, and you can also live. So there's that. I also got the vibe that he looked younger because he was a buffoon playing a video game, but then when he stands up towards the end, I'm like, oh, is he actually like a little bit is he like in his like late teens or something?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:27

Or older, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:28

Or older. I don't know. He was giving could he be in his mid-20s but just looking real young? I don't know. That was a bit skewed.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:35

That's a good call out.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:36

It's a big baby.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:37

We need to look up the age of the actor who plays him, and I think that will give us some clarity. But again, I don't want to circle the drain too much on this sisterhood bit, but you know what out what else I was reminded of watching this movie? Just with the brother and sister of it all. It was Helen Shivers, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and her relationship with her sister. Sarah Michelle Geller really loves being in a movie where she's got a sibling. And I mean, you can even watch throwback to cruel intentions. I never saw cruel intentions, but it's my understanding that that shit was weird.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:11

It is weird.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:12

She had a brother in that, right? Her brother was Ryan Fleet.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:14

I was a stepbrother. Stepbrother, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:17

A little incestuous.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:18

A little cross in the lines.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:20

A little cross in the lines there for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:24

Which brings you back to my main point. Just let her live. The one move mistake this movie made was killing Sarah Michelle Geller. At least the way that she went out. Now, if she went out by combustion later on in the film, great. But we didn't need to see her go so viciously.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:44

Yeah, again, I I hear you. I think it was very from what I've read with interviews, very intentional moment that they were trying to build in that third act of going into the ending, just to give you that sense of like we just went down a hopeless path. And so very intentional choice, I think, that they made there.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:05

It was, and I'm not saying it's like fully the wrong choice to make, I get it, but also shit.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:11

Yeah, I feel you. I feel you. I do think, aside from how terrible and dark that was, the best thing about this film is literally how perfectly it blends the horror comedy genres, the perfect amount of blood and camp and action and laughs. You just really can't help but have such a good time with this movie. And these are just the things that if you enjoy in movies, you're gonna love this movie.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:38

Absolutely. I think it's also I keep saying it, it's the cast because we've talked about a few people here, but it's 90s nostalgia. It's you know, actors that you've probably seen in a couple one-off TV shows that seem familiar to you. Some child actors that are really fucking funny, you know. I it's a range that I think is extremely entertaining, and it's because of that that I would actually love to re-watch this, but definitely within a double feature back to back, because even the first one has an incredible cast too with a lot of charisma. And when we double that, you're thinking, okay, can I handle like so many characters? But everyone, no matter if it's a small moment, down to the cousin, they all hold their weight in a particular way. The butler, right? The everybody, the way that they move, the way that they like introduce themselves into a scene, the things that they don't say, their emotions on their face, like it's very, very entertaining, no matter what. So I would love just a full-blown, like, let me sit down, dedicate four hours, fuck it, and just like watch both back to back. I think that would be a ride.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:51

I'm totally with you. I actually don't know that it is even possible to watch these movies separately anymore. I think this is like to me, because it picks off so well, like from the last one to the second one, and the continuity and everything just feeling so great as one continuous story. I feel like if you're gonna set out to watch these, it's gonna have to be back to back. It literally is gonna have to be back to back.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:18

That's simply the only way to do it. And I think if you wanted to maybe expand it a little bit, you could also throw in maybe a little Hunger Games, maybe a little purge, maybe a little bit Rob Zombies31, why the fuck not? Rich people trying to kill poor people. I think there are a lot of options, but the most important thing is that you're gonna have fun doing it. And for now, there you have it, folks. Ready or not to, here I come, has earned a universal slash. We certainly have a big talk about this movie, but that conversation doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:54

Yeah, if you wanna be a part of our traditions, consider supporting the show by visiting patreon.com/slash hackerslash. We can't guarantee that you won't pull the hide and seek card, but we can promise that you'll be able to enjoy even more of the show, including bonus content with early access, extended episodes with our B sides, movie nominations, and live shows.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:16

We'll see you next time, folks, and remember, you're not even a person, just a collection of organs and opinions approximating a personality.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:25

Hail Satan.