All Fun and Games

 Length: 86 minutes Genres: horror ~ thriller

Summary: Salem teens discovered a cursed knife, unleashing a demon that forces them to play gruesome, deadly versions of childhood games where there can be no winners, only survivors.

A cursed, bone-sculpted knife with “I Will Play, I Won’t Quit” scratched into the blade chooses victims to possess, who in turn force innocents to participate in twisted takes on games played by kiddies in the time before Fortnite or Neopets. What should be an easy-breezy night of babysitting turns into a fight against a vengeful spirit from the town's morbid past.

Plot Twist? 

none

Ending: 

The knife reappears at the cabin, suggesting that it will continue to haunt and kill thousands more. The siblings managed to eliminate a version of Daniel, but since he was a demon spirit, it was not technically possible to destroy him entirely, or so it seems.

Notes - Thoughts

The lack of enthusiasm for exploiting the three main games used - hangman, hide and seek, and flashlight tag - is my biggest frustration. While the horror genre typically allows filmmakers to push the boundaries of creativity, All Fun and Games feels disappointingly pedestrian in its dry approach to incorporating killing and violence into these classic children's games. Hangman is merely an afterthought, with only a couple letters revealed per round. Hide and seek is reduced to a simple slasher scenario, with a villain slowly chasing down victims. Flashlight tag is the sole game that receives a horrific revamp, heightening anxiety and dread - but even this is undercut by lackluster digital fire effects that merely engulf "tagged" participants in flames, rather than delivering on its sinister potential.

Rating: Meh