Ready Or Not 2's 3 Big Buffy References (& 2 Deep Cuts You May Have Missed)

After a seven-year gap, directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin - better known as Radio Silence - have returned to the world of Ready or Not with sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. The inclusion of David Cronenberg, Kathryn Newton, Shawn Hatosy and Elijah Wood will have genre fans, new and old, excited, but it is the involvement of Sarah Michelle Gellar, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, that has audiences most excited to see the sequel.

Picking up exactly where Ready or Not ended, the premise of Ready or Not 2 is very similar to that of the original film. The first Ready or Not movie saw Grace MacCuallay marry into the super-rich Le Domas family. Her wedding night was far from expected, though, as her new in-laws insisted on playing a game with Grace. The game in question was hide-and-seek, but it was unlike the version everyone else is used to. In a bid to appease the devil and ensure their family fortune remained intact, the Le Domas family had to kill her before dawn. Grace, however, proved herself to be tenacious, and after an explosive showdown, she emerged victorious. 

In Ready or Not 2, Grace is abducted from the hospital alongside her emergency contact, Faith (played by Kathryn Newton), and challenged to replay the game - double or nothing. Now accompanied by Faith, Grace is once more pitted against a legion of depraved rich people. This time around, they are not being hunted by members of just one family, but by the senior members of several of society's most elite. More hunters means a bigger cast, and the team have really outdone themselves with the casting on Ready or Not 2.

As with most of this new cast, Sarah Michelle Gellar is no stranger to the horror genre, having starred in movies such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, and the US remake of The Grudge. However, whilst these prove her horror movie pedigree, Gellar is a screen icon due to her time playing Buffy Summers on ‘90s and ‘00s TV institution, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

In Ready or Not 2, Gellar plays against type as the villainous Ursula Danforth. One half of twin siblings, Ursula is one of the more adept of those hunting Grace and Faith, Gellar’s time as a TV vampire slayer preparing her for the role perfectly. The Buffy DNA within Ready or Not 2 runs far deeper than just Gellar’s involvement, and a viewing of the movie proves Radio Silence are big fanboys of the show, as this sequel is full of nods to the hit series. 

Names & Costuming Provide Early Buffy The Vampire Slayer Nods

The first and most obvious of Ready or Not 2’s references to Buffy can be found in Kathryn Newton’s character. Firstly, the character is called Faith, and fans of Buffy know that Faith is the name of another vampire slayer that Buffy had a terse relationship with. During Ready or Not 2, there are several altercations between Newton and Gellar, which means Radio Silence are sneakily giving the audience a few more rounds of Buffy vs. Faith – only this time with the audience firmly on Team Faith. 

Newton’s character also has a more obvious homage to Buffy Summers, specifically that of her wardrobe. For most of Ready or Not 2, Faith is clad in a pair of trousers, a blue shirt, and a white tank top combo, sporting an updo with bangs. Dedicated Buffy fans will recognise this as one of Buffy’s outfits from the pilot episode ‘Welcome to the Hellmouth.’ 

A far deeper cut is the name of Gellar’s character, Ursula. To pick up on the relevance of this, you need to be familiar with not only Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but also Friends. On the hit sitcom, Phoebe Buffay has an estranged twin sister called Ursula Buffa, who is revealed to have starred in several adult movies, including ‘Buffay the Vampire Layer.’ Given Radio Silence’s love of pop culture references, naming Gellar’s character Ursula is almost certainly a nod to this. 

Ready or Not 2 Has Sarah Michelle Gellar Staking People Again

With the Buffy reboot, Buffy: New Sunnydale, now sadly cancelled, fans have been lamenting that they will never see Buffy stake another vampire. Whilst this might be true, in Ready or Not 2, Gellar does get to ‘stake’ Samara Weaving’s Grace. Slight spoilers ahead for this one…

During an early encounter, Ursula hammers a long bolt into Grace’s shoulder as she lies powerless on the floor. The grassy ground has echoes of the graveyards that Buffy used to frequent, and the staking is dispatched in a way that only Gellar and her muscle memory could convey. Although a cheeky wink to fans of Gellar’s most famous role, within the context of Ready or Not 2, this is not a moment to cheer for, but fans will definitely have a sneaky grin during the sequence. 

Radio Silence Homage One Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Silliest Moments

Ready or Not 2’s final obvious callback to Buffy involves one of the show's silliest moments. During Season 2’s devastating double, ‘Surprise’ and ‘Innocence’, Buffy sleeps with Angel and unknowingly undoes a hex, causing him to lose his soul and turn into the monstrous Angelus. At the same time, baddies Drusilla and Spike have assembled a legendary being called The Judge. Invulnerable to the weaponry of the time of his reign, The Judge was hacked to pieces, which were then scattered across the globe. In no mood to play, Buffy arrives at the shopping mall, where he is terrorising, armed with a rocket launcher. She then shoots the creature with it, vaporising him and leaving her free to once more contend with her broken heart. 

Buffy was notoriously anti-gun, and the rocket launcher scene felt very out of place and has become infamous among fans. As fans themselves, Radio Silence are aware of this, and so they decided to include a similar scene during Ready or Not 2. Once again, mild spoilers coming up…

As Grace scrambles for a place to hide, one of her hunters decides that they have had enough of stalking and slashing and so arrives armed with a rocket launcher. Unfortunately for them, its use doesn’t have the same heroic effect that it did for Buffy. It does, however, provide a perfect gag sequence that works whether you understand the nod to Buffy or not. 

Diehard Buffy fans will undoubtedly uncover even more connections between the TV show and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, but suffice to say that if you’ve been missing Sunnydale, this comedy horror sequel might be just the ticket.