A sizeable family dynasty (sorry, dominion) and a childlike game of Hide & Seek with dire consequences make Ready or Not one of the freshest feeling horror thrillers of recent times and in many ways, one of the funniest films of the year.

Samara Weaving shines as Grace, the latest member of the Le Domas family and the hunted “hider” in the movies twisted cat & mouse game. She has an extremely expressive face and a captivating screen presence that endears you to Grace’s plight and helps give the film more emotional stakes than it might have had in the hands of a lesser leading actress.

The film treats its gore and horror moments with more brutality, grit and callousness than I expected, but it all works exceedingly well and the shock actually heightens the humour too (in similar fashion to the final act of Once Upon a Time In Hollywood).

Ready or Not feels like the result of Jordan Peele directing a particularly dark episode of Downton Abbey, and whilst it isn’t the most original film out there, it keeps you guessing and does more than enough to stand tall as a fresh and audacious delight in a summer that coasted along with reboots, sequels and sorely lacking blockbusters. It’s one of the most enjoyable films of the year and it’s certain to become a cult classic in the years to come.

ALSO it’s a crying shame that soul classic “Ready or Not” by The Delfonics doesn’t feature anywhere in the movie and I’m already drafting my strongly worded letter of complaint to Fox Searchlight.