When you name a movie All Fun and Games, make sure it is just what it says. Unfortunately, Celeboglu and Costa skipped such a stage while they were trying to transform playground games like hide-and-seek or flashlight tag into horrifically death scenarios. This is an interesting concept that was not properly developed by these writers in this film. Instead of telling their story as fast as possible which is what most films should try to achieve with only 75 minutes running time, “All Fun and Games” falls flat on its face before the opening credits even start rolling. “Game Over” appears before the end of the film.
The carnage takes place in Salem, a historic city that has been known for its eerie past for many years. Victims are selected by a knife made out of bones inscribed with “I Will Play, I Won’t Quit.” These victims then force others into unusual versions of traditional children’s games from the era before Fortnite or Neopets got big.
A night of babysitting that was supposed to be effortless is transformed into a terrifying battle against a spirit out for revenge, from the dark history of this town which comes back home as the characters practically ask to be possessed in what is predominantly just horror child’s play.
My biggest problem is the lack of interest in exploiting the three main games used: hangman, hide and seek, and flashlight tag. However, in its depiction of how these games involve killing and violence, it feels achingly bland where other films in the horror genre embrace creativity. Hangman becomes almost nothing except two letters long. Hide and seek is basically a slow-moving slasher villain following people around until he can kill them, whereas flashlight tag seems like an afterthought with fire effects that light up participants as they are tagged but are mainly uninteresting. The concept by Celeboglu and Costa falls flat as their basic offering fails to engage with payoffs towards an ending that would have made us go wild celebrating their achievements.
The script’s answer to story-based horror challenges like “Why not call for help?” typically causes more questions than answers, like why any mother would confiscate the cell phones of her babysitting teens before leaving for the night. No one hesitates to read the inscription on the bone dagger, or pay much mind to the possessed child sweating profusely. Storytelling is flimsy and rushed, making characters feel like they’re marching forward to their demise without any awareness. Horror movies might rely on common cliches to establish why things go wrong, but without sufficient inquisition from those caught in the chaos, the experience feels cheap and forced.
Let’s use the word “low-priced” again when assessing scare factors. All Fun and Games depends on murders that shy away from cameras and on jump scares without much thought put into the formula. The stabby bone’s background story connects with old-timey Salem and one of its countless misdeeds, thereby summoning ghost children with open, bleeding sores to repeatedly pop in front of the camera. Celeboglu and Costa are not good at drawing suspense out to a point where it becomes terrifying releasing itself but reduce horror cinema to rapid camera cuts that thrust us suddenly into an old hag cackling or a walking dead baby without warning. All Fun and Games never heard the phrase “speed kills,” because too often it relies on hasty forward motion that doesn’t stop to let themes, thrills, or chills make their impact.
This should not be blamed on any of the young cast. Natalia Dyer does well enough as the infatuated girlfriend and concerned elder sister. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth has an alright performance as a catalyst for his family’s possible destruction, though I am happy that the possession acting duties pass to others after some time (his portrayal becomes uneven). Despite Asa Butterfield’s portrayal of a revolting weirdo god, he is over shadowed by a thunderous voice modulation that only serves as a distraction and not an added advantage. The mood could be right when it plays into the gallows humor of someone putting a noose around a tree limb in the backyard while smiling; however, once we even start considering the sickening cruelty of playing live hangman, there isn’t much more depth to explore from characters because this scene goes away before we can digest it.
The verdict
All Fun and Games is an appetizer of a movie served as the main course. The storytelling feels like it’s on fast forward so the inherent ghostiness that comes with Salem’s tarnished past is wasted. No amount of transformation can make the games that these directors re-imagine with rules from horror genre special nor does looking for a thrill in scary death blows ever work if they seem afraid to show blood and guts all through. All Fun and Games almost seems uncertain that its premise could capture our attention beyond 90 minutes, hence why it consistently has insubstantial and yet rapid movement towards nothingness. That might be excusable were there more diabolical thinking at play during recreation — but alas, Celeboglu and Costa’s choices aren’t fun.
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