by Shane Conto
What is the best way to spend your Halloween evening? Rolling up to a drive-in theater and watching a horror film seems like a pretty option to me. That is exactly how my Halloween night went as I had the opportunity to travel to the only drive-in New Jersey to enjoy Come Play. Jacob Chase takes his own short film, Larry, and makes a feature length creep show flick out of it. What can make our society’s obsession with our “black mirrors” more disturbing? Well, what if they are not mirrors at all? What if they are doorways to another world inhabited by a creature of pure loneliness? What if this creature wants nothing more than to find a friend…at whatever cost? Those questions set the stage for Chase’s Come Play.
Many people will complain about a horror film if they find out that it is not rated R. But why?
Why does a horror film have to be rated R? In all honest, Come Play works perfectly in the PG-13 rating. The blood and guts of many modern films is not necessary for this film to work. Chase relies on creative and unique scares and chilling tension. Since the whole idea of Larry is that he lives in a world on the other side of our screens, the scares work by using our technology against us. Whether it is the AR aspects of a horrific version of Pokemon GO or something as simple as a laser tape measure, these scares are benefited by intelligent set pieces. But it would be so much better if the characters were as clever as the scare? we will talk more about that later. Chase really excels with how he frames his scares and scenes as well. Unfortunately, the attempts at concealing Larry throughout the first two acts leads to some poor lighting and shaky cinematography.
Speaking of Larry, the design and audio effects are really creepy in creating an effective movie monster.
Chase writes the film, but the writing definitely does not reach the same level of success as his direction. The film does have some inspired messaging centered around the young protagonist who has autism. The major themes throughout the film focus on a positive message of self-advocacy for people who have autism. The film embeds this message throughout and even includes it in the final resolution of the third act.
The level of “punishment” for one character by the end of the film does feel harsh and problematic. The finale of the film feels a little bit unsatisfying to do this.
The main character of Oliver is a strong protagonist who really works in the context of the film (played well by Azhy Robertson). Some of the other children in the film have some silly sounding dialogue that makes for some awkward interactions. Then you have Oliver’s parents. Gillian Jacobs is a talented actress who delivers on many of the emotional aspects of her role. There are moments that her expositional dialogue sounds like it is delivered in a stiff and awkward manner. John Gallagher Jr is a talented actor but his character is terribly written. The father in the film is stupid and makes the worst decision at every opportunity. He also has an unbelievably swift progression of character at the end.
Is Come Play a nice addition to Halloween this year?
That question really depends on what you want out of a scary movie. Are you satisfied with some quality scares and atmosphere? Chase has you covered with his buddy Larry and the creative technological scares. But what if you want some depth of characters and some quality logic? Well…you might have to look elsewhere.
Grade: C-