Sunday, December 15, 2013

Come Out and Play (2012)

Director: Makinov

Writers: Juan Jose Plans, Makinov

Composer: ???

Starring: Vinessa Shaw, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Daniel Gimenez Cacho, Gerardo Taracena, Alejandro Alvarez

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Time to play.

Plot: A couple take a vacation to a remote island - their last holiday together before they become parents. Soon after their arrival, they notice that no adults seem to be present - an observation that quickly presents a nightmarish reality.




My rating: 6.5/10 (had it a stronger ending then we'd be looking at a minimum of 7.5)

Will I watch it again? No.

I've been avoiding this simply because there's no way that it can be as good as the original Spanish film, WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? (1976). I am surprised, though, that it's as good as it is.  The first hour is pretty strong.  The atmosphere is right and, like the original film, the setting with the lonely streets lined with white buildings is perfect.  The music (no credit is given for the composer) is atmospheric and strikes the right tone for the film.  I was digging this pretty well until Beth (Shaw) starts having that 'issue' with her pregnancy toward the end.  It should have been handled much more effectively.  Sure, it's considerably better in the original film but here we were given too much information (she didn't need to hold our hand and say what she did).  I'm all about movies that have the balls to kill kids and this one. Francis (Moss-Bachrach) goes apeshit at the end and does the deed without conscience but, again, it's handled so much better in the original.  So basically, it's a very good horror flick until the final ten minutes where it doesn't live up to its potential or its successor.  Of course I'm going to recommend WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? over this one but if you're averse watching older movies, give PLAY a shot and then at least compare the finale of the original and judge for yourself.  And, as with both films, I LOVE that why the kids do what they do is not explained.


No comments:

Post a Comment