Come Out and Play (2012)

In the years I have been watching horror movies, numerous remakes have peeked their ugly heads out of the proverbial coffin. Remakes like Prom Night, The Fog, The Stepfather, and April Fool’s Day are some of the worst re-imaginings I can think of. Using the film as a jumping off point and then taking the story in a whole new direction, all the while, using the same title of the classic and alienating the longtime fans of the originals. This is not to say that all remakes are bad. Much to the excitement of most horror fans some of them have been quite good. Come out and Play is in fact a remake, however even with using the same premise they took creative liberties…but they changed the damn title. So to most people they have no idea that it’s a remake and acts as its own entity.  I personally like that. Don’t blemish the originals if you’re not going to stay true to them.

Come Out and Play is actually a remake of the classic 1976 film “Who Can Kill A Child?”. The films are basically the same, however COAP lacks the gritty 70’s exploitation feel of the original. The film is about a couple who are taking a vacation to a beautiful remote island before they become parents. When they arrive on the island, they realize that all the adults are missing, and only the children are left. Soon the couple figure out where the adults have been hiding and who is to blame.

Come Out and Play is not a terrible remake. The film is, however, a very barebones re-telling of the original, only without the grit and eerie atmosphere. Basically COAP is by the numbers, and generic. For me, I found myself getting very bored during the movie the pacing was off, and the film never really moved, It was all very stagnate.

The film stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Francis and Vinessa Shaw as Beth. Both actors did a good job, but that’s about all. Nothing was spectacular and as a result the film neither suffered nor improved. One thing that did really throw me off, was the films writing. My god, some of the films dialog is atrocious, not to mention some of the shit they had the characters do just didn’t make sense at all. At one point in the film the guy decides hers going to go look around, but he wants the wife to stay back and wait ALONE in the wide open area. Strange shit is happening and you’re going to abandon your pregnant wife to go look around…you sir are a giant douche.

Aside from the glaring screenplay errors, the films practical effects were really good. There is a lot of off screen kills but you do get to see the aftermath

which is pretty gnarly. The viewer gets decapitated heads, dismemberment, disembowelment, some gun violence, and a weird reverse abortion. These things really helped the film out.

Finally, COAP is not a terrible film, but it is misguided. Nothing about the film really stands out as a winner beside the great practical effects. I would watch the original over this but, I am only one dude and you may wind up liking it. I would suggest watching this if you have some time to kill. Other than that wait till it hits Netflix and or Redbox. GLP give this film a disappointing 2 out of 5 stabs. View the trailer below.

GLP Rating: