Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Plot: A monster named Larry manifests itself through smart phones and mobile devices. Feature film version of the 2017 short film.
Review: I knew there was a reason Come Play reminded me of films like Lights Out and Mama. All three films are full feature-length versions of short story films originally made for YouTube. Like the others listed, Come Play made for an entertaining, albeit predictable, horror movie. The kind that scares the crap out of “normies” but won’t have the same effect on hardcore horror fans.
One of the things I enjoyed here were the performances by the younger cast, specifically Winslow Fegley as Byron and Azhy Robertson as Larry’s reluctant friend Oliver. Both boys did an amazing job, with Winslow’s Byron going from brat to best friend in a very believable way, and Azhy’s Oliver, a possibly autistic boy who can only communicate through devices and who bares a striking resemblance to another haunting and haunted youngster, Danny Torrance from The Shining.
The adults were okay. Gillian Jacobs (Community) and John Gallagher Jr. (Underwater) play Oliver’s parents. I would like to say they were top notch here, but there were moments when both performances felt a bit phoned-in to me.
Acting aside, Come Play is definitely the type of horror production that will attract audiences. The story is easy to follow, the monster, aka Larry, has a great design to it, like Mama meets The Crooked Man. And the ending, while very similar in tone to Lights Out (and of course, Mama) strikes a nice balance between scary and sweet. It’s the type of horror movie I would show to that one friend who doesn’t like horror movies. Easy to digest, with just enough “scary moments” to keep them on their toes.
Sommer’s Score: 6 out of 10
For more of my thoughts on Come Play you can check out my video review below:
For my review of The Empty Man you can click here. And for more than 100 horror movie reviews and lists you can check out the RMR horror section here.
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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