COME OUT AND PLAY

"Come Out And Play"

I had better begin this review by telling you that this film is…

MAKINOV'S COME OUT AND PLAY

If you think that those letters are big you should see the end of the film, with 'MAKINOV' stretched out across the screen in enormous letters to leave us in no doubt whatsoever as to whom is responsible for making this movie.

HOWEVER…

It could just as easily have been the director of 'Village of the Damned', or 'Children of The Corn' as this film has the same basic idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIUO-pU7kNE

 If you are thinking of holidaying on a Mexican Island, or if you have children, you may not want to watch this, so my advice is stay home and get a vasectomy.

Vinessa Shaw and Ebon Moss-Bacharach are the ill-fated couple who decide to visit a Mexican island only to discover it's got something of a ghost-town vibe to it. The film starts slowly, building up a nice atmosphere of desertion until children start to appear, initially doing little more than watching the couple until Moss-Bacharach's character Francis witnesses the children murdering an old man, and then all bets are off as it's a fight for their lives against the brats from hell.

I THINK WE MAY HAVE GONE ON HOLIDAY BY MISTAKE

The two lead actors do a fine job, can't fault the acting at all. The film is also very pretty to look at, and the gore is so well situated as to be believable with the island's children performing truly horrific acts in a very matter-of-fact manner.

COULD DO WITH MORE MAYO

Sounds ideal fodder for the horror inclined doesn't it? Unfortunately it somehow loses something in the translation as I was left thoroughly puzzled as to the one thing which isn't adequately explained in the movie: Motive.

There's one scene where unaffected children come into contact with the killer ones and some sort of understanding happens without a word being spoken, but as to whether it's extraterrestrial or what is unknown. That for me is a huge plot hole.

All things aside it's not a bad film, but given MAKINOV's obvious pride of ownership I would have thought he'd have given us something a little more original than a remake of the 1976 film "Who Can Kill A Child?".

REVIEWED BY JOE YOUNG