Come Out and Play is the second cinematic adaptation of Juan José Plans novel El juego de los niños (The Children's Game). Though it may seem like this film is a shot-for-shot remake of Who Can Kill a Child?, it really is another accurate adaptation of Plans' chilling novel.
A vacationing couple rent a small boat to visit a remote island. When they arrive, they can find no one but children. They sense something is wrong, but choose to explore the island anyway. What they discover is a world gone horrible wrong. The children have a bloodlust that only murdering adults in variations of children's games can quench.
The biggest difference between Come Out and Play and Who Can Kill a Child? is tone. Who Can Kill a Child? couches the entire narrative in political satire. An opening montage of documentary footage declares that children are the real victims of everything that plagues humankind: war, famine, poverty, etc. Suddenly, you find yourself on the island with the vacationing couple who watch helplessly as children sporadically string up and beat adults to death like piñatas. The title is ironic, of course, as the adults continually say that they can't fight back because they couldn't possibly hurt a child.
In Come Out and Play, there is no political subtext. Writer/director Makinov creates a mystical, haunted tone. There is no attempt at an explanation. At most, we see hints of how this mindset is spread from child to child. It's a murder mystery where the only unanswered question is motive.
The title itself really makes Makinov's intentions clear from the start. Beth and Francis are expecting a baby very soon. Beth is seven months pregnant and already struggling with the pregnancy. She can't stand or walk for very long before becoming tired.
The children in the film treat her with some sort of reverence. While they don't hesitate to attack Francis at every opportunity, they pause before going for Beth. One child even has a very touching scene with Beth in a restaurant. Maria comes in, notices Beth is pregnant, and wants to listen to the baby. It's simultaneously moving and quite unsettling, as Maria doesn't say a word the entire time.
In essence, Come Out and Play is a slasher film within the rules of childhood. Every kid has to join in sooner or later. The game is so much fun and so easy to play that everyone wants to play. Adults just don't understand how much fun it is.
Come Out and Play does have a pretty major flaw in its approach. While the children are shown as playful when committing the murders, they don't really act like children most of the time. Makinov is playing with some kind of infection/possession idea that really softens the blow. When the children are cold, stoic, and always lurking with angry expressions in the background, the shock of their crimes later on loses its effect. It becomes clear at the climax that his focus is establishing the monster before the child, but it's an ineffective treatment of the source material.
Still, Come Out and Play is a disturbing little indie film. Some of the budgetary constraints even enhance the film, such as the dreamlike haze that appears in low-light scenes because of the limits of the digital cameras. Who Can Kill a Child? is clearly the better film, but Come Out and Play takes a distinct enough approach to stand on its own.
Come Out and Play is currently streaming on Shudder, a streaming service for horror fans.