Come Out and Play (2012) Horror Evil Children

Come Out and Play (2012) - This is a slow burn picture that sort of is inevitable in plot. I can't stress enough how much value I see in individuals making small independent films and appreciate the hard work in making it happen. (Single Name) Makinov pretty much did everything on this film, directed, was the DP, did the sound design, hell probably his own assistant. The mysterious figure from Belarus adapted a book by Juan Jose Plans and managed to get 30 or so child actors to do what he wanted which is a major feat in itself. The sound design is great and adds a nice sense of foreboding throughout the story. Still though the story just misses in the all important area of keeping an audiences attention.
  Francis (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Beth (Vinessa Shaw) are a couple expecting a child, like any day now. For some unknown reason they are traveling the Spanish speaking part of the world. Francis secures a boat so they can go to an Island for what reason is unclear. When they arrive and for the first half of the film really they are looking for people as the island is empty of adults. Slowly they end up seeing children only. The turn at the end of the first act is when one of the children beats an old man with his cane giggling the whole time. While Francis goes to find  supplies to care for him, having stopped the child, the old man is dragged off by a gang of children and killed. Francis witnesses and realizes that he and his very pregnant wife should really get out of dodge. Unfortunately they are distracted repeatedly, another man appears, who explains that the children all awoke at the same time the night before and began attacking the adults. He is around just long enough for that exposition before being lured to his death by his daughter. An old woman helps them but her demise is fast coming also.
  The second act is trying to get distance from the children without harming them. They are kids after all and it seems wrong to attack them. The problem is the action is stunted and  the elements designed not to show carnage. So it looks more like meandering around the island instead of immediately fleeing back to their boat. Padding the movies run time but not really adding too much tension as the full picture of how off kilter the children are. At this point i can't really say I like the characters mostly because they barely interact and are not developed enough to care about. Sure Beth being pregnant naturally lets you pull for her. Still, the overall development is missing and is needed.
 The third act has the couple barricaded in a house and figuring out how to get back to the boat.  I remind you this is something they could have done in act two but got side tracked. Unfortunately things do not go as plan with Beth as her pregnancy becomes more problematic. Francis makes plans, finds a gun and we are ready for the climax of the film. Adult on child violence is not something you see everyday in film and the camera work by Makinov does not flinch. Unfortunately there is not enough of this to save the movie and the lets get ready for a sequel ending was flat. More going for an ominous feel of an ending, but because the acts played the way they did you sort of knew it would follow that path making it more predictable. So I am really not loving this film and don't recommend it.

Dust Up (2012) Adventure Comedy

Dust Up (2012) -This shockingly violent adventure is brought to us by Ward Roberts who wrote and directed. With a budget of almost nothing he has put together a schlock filled journey where the good guys ultimately win and the desert is made safe from the forces of evil. More than that though it is a redemption story where our hero, haunted by an incident in the past uses the present to make amends and finally allow himself to put the past behind him.
  When I saw the announcement for this film on All Things Horror Online with a guest appearance by Amber Benson I thought it would be a fun thing to do with my daughter while she was home from college. An important aside is that I really did not know anything about the movie at this point. So if you think I am likely to go to violent film where there is a scenes where a bar owner masturbates while choking the local Sheriff to death, killing him while he splurges on his face, with my twenty year old daughter , with knowledge of this you are wrong. It was a side effect of not doing my homework about the film. We of course know Amber as "Tara" from the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and saw it as an opportunity to meet someone from the series we both enjoyed. Well so much for safe bonding experiences.
  The last time I saw Amber Benson in a film it was the ridiculously funny alien possession film One Eyed Monster, where Ron Jeremy's dick is possessed by an alien, detaches itself and tries to mate with the human in the film. It was a funny but really not a very good film. Recently I watched a  movie she co-directed called Drones (2010) that I thought was witty and clever. She also writes and there were quite a few fans of her writing in the audience of Dust Up. Miss Benson was gracious enough to come to the screening and stayed all the way through to a question and answers session afterward, as well as pictures and autograph session in the Museum of Bad Art as well. I know her kindness made the night for my daughter and I so to Amber, Thanks.
  The film centers around Jack (Aaron Gaffey) a former soldier who is haunted by an incident while at war in the middle east. After an IED exploded near him, he in a dazed state shot a man who was approaching him only to later realize that the man was coming to help. The sight of the dying man with his crying wife and terrified child still wakes Jack from his sleep. He broke apart a family and the injury he sustains (lost an eye) and PTSD of his war experiences has left him a broken man. He now lives in the California desert working as the High Desert Handyman with few friends. One a young man, Mo (Devin Barry) pretending to be Native American in the most old movie "Indian" kind of look, but seeking a wisdom modern society does not provide seems his best friend. They don't have a lot to do and enjoy the quiet life.
  This quiet life is broken when Jack is called to the home of Ella (Amber Benson) to fix her muddy water problem. After assessing her problems and giving a price he returns to his life only to be drawn back in when Ella accidentally calls his phone while she is fighting with her husband (?) Herman (Travis Betz). Herman is a crack head who owes a good amount of money to local drug dealer and bar owner Buzz (Jeremiah Birkett) who is none too happy to use violence in the collection of the money. Jack comes into this situation seeing Ella and her baby and this loser husband he is struck by the guilt of the war experience he had. This spurs him into attempt to try to keep this family together.
  Now I don't want to give away the entire plot where this set up is the start of a violent and crazy few days for Jack, Mo, Ella and Herman. As mentioned before there is some really raunchy stuff in this film but it is done like a spaghetti western with the strange violence, impaling, scalping, drugs dance, exploding bars, cannibalism, all leading to a resolution for Ella and for Jack. This movie will not be for everyone but like the recent "Hobo with a Shotgun" for a hyper violence fantasy it is a pretty fun ride. When the film ended and the chat and pictures were done, Joy (my daughter) and I talked about it in the car. She was not quite sure what to think of it and since I have to admit I see a surprising amount of these kind of films I was okay with it. The violence is over the top and disturbing so those who are shocked easily will do well to avoid this film. Still it will get a recommendation from me.
Rating (5.5) 5.0 and up are recommended, some more recommended than others.