Aristides-2 I knew I was in deep, deep trouble when the director's surname-only name was emblazoned in huge lettering in the credits; he dared go where the great director's of cinema history never went. As many of you know horror films are a beginning step for many a wanna-be filmmaker. Usually lower budget and of course given the whorish ego's of some of these people, a lowering of movie-making standards takes place by making their products more violent and gross than last year's group. So what finally does Mackintosh present for the audience? An unoriginal, highly derivative re-branding of elements that go back decades. Overwrought music that 'tells' you when to be frightened, two main characters that repeatedly follow the script but do not follow the script of what two frightened people would do in real life. Example: A killer kid has the wife and husband in view behind the grate, pointing a cocked pistol at them. But bloodthirsty as these children are supposed to be he never pulls the trigger and is shot to death for his imbecilic hesitation. And does the couple rush forward and pick up another weapon? No they don't. Another example has the husband leaving his 7 month pregnant wife alone in the courtyard, where the walls could be easily scaled and goes for a second, unnecessary tour of the hotel, the whole purpose being to set up his running back to her when she screams. Finally, though there are numerous other examples of bad writing, I would ask the folks who liked this movie, which of the giggling, cannibalistic kid-murderers kept the generator running for this good sized town?

blueberry-jen This movie is sold as a terror movie. I am not sure what the director wanted to accomplish, but I'm sure it was not terror. Maybe is terrifying to ever want to see a movie directed by him. They paint a picture of the American tourist as if they were dumb and wouldn't recognize signs of danger. After all of this time, and all of what has happened in our world, you really think a couple of tourist will behave like this? The movie also lacks complete story and foundation, there is no background as to why the main characters want to come to this "misterious island", who are they, how they came to where we found them at the beginning of the story. A magnificent Mexican actor appears giving the hope that the movie will rise and some emotion will come, something fearful. NOTHING. Terrible story, terrible acting, terrible direction. The only good thing is the location. But is not worth your time. Buy a post card.

Samuel W Connelly (SamTheWriter) Shot off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan on the small island of Holbox (which creepy enough means 'Black Hole' in Yucatec Maya) it was perfect for Makinov's film as the population isn't over 500 and it's mostly all kids. There's virtually no vehicles on the small island, ran by children, because vehicles are not allowed entrance at all. This calls for a horror film to be shot there, right?Come Out and Play is a remake of the 1976 Spanish cult, "Who Can Kill a Child?" and Makinov answers that question in his film with a resounding "I can, and I can kill a bunch of them!" The story follows an American couple, Francis (played by Ebon Moss- Bachrach) and his pregnant wife, Beth (Vinessa Shaw) who are on a vacation (to work on things in their marriage) at Mexico's famous street festival, Carnival. Francis (Bachrach) rents a boat from a local fisherman to take his wife on an overnight excursion on the island. When they arrive they're greeted by kids playing on the dock. As the couple walk into the little town they quickly realize how quiet and void of any adults the town is. With the empty white sand streets of the village town and the bizarre 70's science fiction-zombie music playing throughout the whole film the director successfully creates an atmosphere of solitude and strangeness. As the couple decided to head further into town to find the adults they come upon a little girl hitting an elder man with his cane. Not long after, Francis witnesses the old man being drug through the street into a yard where a horde of laughing children with rocks and knives wait. That's when the film begins the pick up the pace, culminating into a 'do anything to survive the night' gory horror. Although 'Come Out and Play' is being compared to other 'crazy kids killing adults' films like 'Children of the Corn'(1984), 'The Brood'(1979) and 'Village of the Damned'(1995) (as it should be) the director takes a horrific story idea that has been done several times, and brings it back to life in a creatively artistic fashion.The 35 year old actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Francis), who looks amazingly like country singer, Blake Shelton (judge on the, The Voice), is the real driving force behind the heart-investment viewers will give to this film. As the husband (Francis) who feels a responsibility for putting his pregnant wife in this horrible nightmare, and the urgency to do anything he can to save her, Bachrach plays his role strongly. Although Bachrach's not a name too many people know yet as he usually plays 'the person of interest' or 'the friend of a friend', some of his work includes: 'The Lake House' (2006) where he played Henry Wyler, Craig Young in the television show 'Rubicon', and Nick Salenger in 'Damages'. I have a feeling that after his performance in 'Come Out and Play', we'll see more of him.For a director (Makinov) who had never worked with actors before, was responsible for directing, producing, editing, doing all the camera work, and on top of it never took his mask off (according to an interview with Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Makinov even spent some full days directing from inside a refrigerator and only ate food in stick form because it fit through the mouth-hole of his mask), I'd say "Well done". Over all, I really enjoyed Makinov's re-imagination of the original 'Who Can Kill A Child?' It is really gory at times, and I found myself watching some scenes through the safety of my hand over my eyes. There are a few questions the story leaves unanswered like; what happened to the children in the first place?, why did the young couple choose to go deeper into the creepy adult-free town once they realized no one was running the stores or hotels?, and screw gas, why didn't they get back in their boat and head towards Mexico which would've been better than staying the night on an evil island running rampant with kids who want to kill you? Out of a rating of 1 - 10 I give 'Come Out and Play'a strong 7.

kamikaze-4 I really wanted to like this remake of Spanish cult classic, Who Could Kill a Child (1975) AKA Island of the Damned. However the movie is so flat it becomes hard to sit thru since I knew the outcome from the very beginning. As for the acting? There was a reason the female lead of the original, Prunella Ransome, won the Best Actress award from the Sitges International Horror Film festival. Oh well, if you never saw the original, you might like this thriller. Keep in mind, it's not as fast paced as most recent horror thrillers. You might enjoy the build-up. Better yet, look for the original on The Dark Sky DVD label. Then you will see true fear.