Movies
‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’ Review – Crowd-Pleasing Sequel Doubles Down on Comedic Carnage
Directing duo Tyler Gillett & Matt Bettinelli-Olpin have an affinity for blood canons and exploding characters that’s unmatched, and they’re eager to double down on the gory insanity in sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. A bigger cast means more horror-comedy carnage and set pieces, but it also brings a shift in tone.
Ready or Not 2 picks up immediately from the previous film, with Grace (Samara Weaving) emerging from the burning wreckage of the La Domas estate and into the arms of first responders. She comes to in the hospital just long enough to greet her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) and draw suspicion before both sisters get pulled into a frantic power grab for the head seat at Mr. Le Bail’s high council.
The rules remain mostly the same in an even higher stakes game of hide and seek; Grace must survive until dawn to win while six High Council families compete to slay her.
The prize? Ultimate power.
Read on for Bloody Disgusting’s Ready or Not 2: Here I Come review.
Kathryn Newton in READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME. Photo by Searchlight Pictures/Pief Weyman, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
There’s a lot of ground to cover in introducing the new Satanic clans and their familial dysfunction, which means Ready or Not 2, while it still moves at a rapid clip, takes a bit to really get the lethal game going in full swing. It’s the introductions that also make clear that this sequel goes much broader with comedy than its predecessor.
Elijah Wood elevates his exposition delivery role as Le Bail’s lawyer with mischievous glee, but writers Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy prioritize twins Ursula (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus Danforth (Shawn Hatosy) more than the rest of the newcomers as the antithesis to the constantly bickering Grace and Faith. Ready or Not 2 is prone to pausing the action to let the sisters work through their issues, and it can overcrowd an already crowded playing field, including the contrasting Danforths.
Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin have fun playing with scale, giving Grace even more places to hide and fight than before. Sometimes that leads to ruthless combat, in which Faith proves she can take a brutal beating as well as her older sis. Sometimes action sequences veer too far into silly, like a cat fight between two jilted women at the scene of an abandoned wedding.
From L to R: Kara Wooten, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, and Sarah Michelle Gellar in READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME. Photo by Searchlight Pictures/Pief Weyman, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
The filmmakers never treat the carnage as silly, though, and the deaths and beatdowns remain as effective as ever. Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin’s dedication to practical effects means that bursting Satanists still hasn’t grown stale, or Weaving’s reaction to them.
Kathryn Newton shares an effortless rapport with Samara Weaving on screen, bringing an infectious energy and fighting spirit to Faith that complements Grace’s disillusioned exasperation. But Weaving remains the star here, even in this all-star cast, and Grace’s slow switch from defense to offense heralds in one satisfying finale. Special mention to costume designer Avery Plewes for topping Grace’s iconic battered bride look with new elegant perfection in the climax.
From L to R: Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Samara Weaving in READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME. Photo by Searchlight Pictures/Pief Weyman, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
More is more in Ready or Not 2. Bigger stakes, larger playing field, a higher (and more gruesome) body count, and even double the protagonists. All designed to deliver maximum crowd-pleasing fun. It more than delivers on that front, even if it loses some of the original magic in the process.
Watching the ultra-rich and privileged get blood-soaked comeuppance in cheeky, violent fashion makes it pretty difficult to leave Ready or Not 2 without a big grin on your face.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is now playing in theaters.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published March 13, 2026.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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