COME OUT AND PLAY (2012)

Directed by Makinov, Starring: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vinessa Shaw, Daniel Giménez   Horror, Mexico, 2012, 86mins, Cert 18.

In Mexico during fiesta season, Francis (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and his pregnant wife Beth (Vinessa Shaw) are grabbing their last chance for a holiday before their baby is born. After persuading a local fisherman to lend them his small boat the couple cast off from the harbour and sail off in search of a remote island named Punta Hueca. Disembarking on the island they are greeted on the dock solely by children.
If you’ve seen Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s WHO CAN KILL A CHILD (1976), then you’ll more or less know exactly what this couple are about to witness and the ordeal they are about to be exposed to. If on the other hand, you’re approaching director Makinov’s slick, sick and disturbing remake fresh – and providing you crank your suspension of disbelief dial up to maximum setting – you’ll find yourself rewarded with a film which gradually pulls you in and will linger with you long after the end credits have rolled. 

Your disbelief does need suspending almost from the off however. With pregnant Beth throwing up in a darkened hotel room lit sporadically by exploding fireworks from the noisy festival marching past outside, you could begin to question whether this particular vacation choice was altogether appropriate. Then, you could also question why husband Francis is so keen for them to sail off to an obscure little island in a rickety boat (albeit with a newly fitted outboard motor); knowing full-well there isn’t enough fuel in the tank to make the return trip. Don’t touch that dial yet – there’s more. Upon arriving on Punta Hueca (where mobile phones presumably don’t work – I say presumably because no one mentions or attempts at any stage to use one) the couple then spend an inordinate amount of time trying to rationalise the situation before their hackles are rightly raised. And surely no self-respecting modern horror film should allow the main character to leave his partner alone on three separate occasions whilst each time pronouncing: “I’ll be right back!” (Incidentally, I also loved Francis advising his wife shortly before disappearing again with the very helpful: “If you see anyone, just scream”.      

But looking beyond all that, director Makinov still manages to build a tangible sense of tension and impending dread during the first half of the film, helped immeasurably by a brooding and effectively eerie electronic soundtrack. Then, once the true horror of Punta Hueca begins to unravel, Makinow pulls off several visceral set-pieces and a memorably macabre montage of images which you won’t forget in a hurry.

In reflection, it’s an odd choice of a film to choose to remake. Given the glut of sub-standard genre remakes it’s surprising that Makinov thought audiences would embrace this remake of, let’s be honest, a fairly obscure original to begin with. Or that there would be an audience for it at all given its subject matter.

But judging the film purely on its own merit, it certainly delivers a nasty punch - even in these jaded days of extreme cinema – and it still has the capability of setting our moral compasses spinning with the question it poses at its core.

***(out of 5*) 

Paul Worts

(Originally published by FrightFest).