A Christmas Horror Story
October. 02,2015 NRChristmas is supposed to be a time of joy, peace and goodwill. But for some folks in the small town of Bailey Downs, it turns into something much less festive.
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Reviews
Admirable film.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
This is the same film which has the PC cover title "A Holiday Horror Story" being sold in Walmart. The film opens with 4-5 subplots and each builds slowly until the stories are connected, even if loosely connected.1) The first subplot consists of Santa (George Buza) and his wife Marta (Debra McCabe) getting ready for Christmas when an elf zombie outbreak happens. "Stay back Jingles!" 2) Dangerous Dan (William Shatner) is a radio host on Christmas eve. He brings in the Christmas spirit by saying things like "Let's throw another eggnog on the fire." There is an unknown commotion going on at the mall. 3) Three high school kids, Dylan, Ben and Molly (Shannon Kook, Alex Ozerov, Zoé De Grand Maison ) are doing some investigative reporting at St. Joseph Academy where 2 kids were brutally killed last year. The school also has a story of a supposed virginal conception and abortion. 4) Officer Scott (Adrian Holmes) who investigated the murders is together with his wife and child this Christmas. He is setting a bad example by poaching a tree off of posted land. 5) A family visits their rich aunt (Corinne Conley) in hopes of getting her to invest in a company. While there, the insolent teen Duncan (Percy Hynes White) breaks an old statue of a Krampus.The film takes place in the fictional town of Baily Downs (Ginger Snaps, Orphan Black). Krampus has become the latest rage in Christmas horror films, and in that regard, this one is the best. In fact, I would go as far as to say I enjoyed this as much as the iconic "Silent Night Deadly Night." There was scene where I was lulled into a false sense of security and then they made me jump. I haven't done that in a while.This is a keeper.
When I found "A Christmas Horror Story", I needed little convincing to make me sit down and watch this movie after I saw the movie's cover. I didn't even bother reading the synopsis or check who was in it. All that mattered was the fact that it was a horror movie and the DVD cover pretty much sold the rest."Elves becoming the walking dead? No, it does not make any sense..." as Santa himself said it was essentially all that was needed to summarize this movie.For a collaboration of multiple writers and directors, then I must say that "A Christmas Horror Story" actually turned out to be quite nice. The writers Jason Filiatrault, James Kee, Sarah Larsen, Doug Taylor and Pascal Trottier actually put together three interesting stories which worked quite well individually, but also came together quite nicely as an interwoven whole. And the three individual directors Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban and Brett Sullivan did great jobs in directing each their own story and managing to tie the three tales nicely together.They had managed to get together a good ensemble of acting talents for this movie, although I can't claim to be familiar with the vast majority of them. Actually, the only two actors that I were familiar with were William Shatner and A.C. Peterson. But it should be said that the entire cast were performing quite well with their given roles and characters in all of the three different stories.The effects in the movie were quite good and they definitely served their purpose quite well. Don't expect an all out CGI special effects galore though, because this movie is so much more than just a hollow display of multi-million dollar CGI effects - and thankfully so. There was enough blood, gore and mayhem to keep an aging gorehound like me more than happy. And the scenes with Santa were just amazing.And the showdown between Santa Clause and Krampus was well worth the wait and definitely worth the watch, and it alone made it worthwhile to watch "A Christmas Horror Story".The twist to the storyline that was revealed towards the end was just a stroke of genius. I hadn't expected that and much less seen that coming. It was really a nice change to the storyline and a very welcomed one at that.This is hardly going to be a Christmas classic, but it is still an enjoyable movie, especially if you enjoy a Holiday themed horror movie.
This is great - Krampus; The Changeling; Superhero Santa; Night of the Living Dead Elves; Horror; Terror; Gore; and, it's creepy!It's also a sort of guide for parents not to spoil their children into becoming little sh*ts who believe they can do whatever, whenever, wherever they want and expect everyone else to tolerate that bad behavior...Go Krampus!Krampus is the German/Austrian predecessor to the modern-day "Boogie Man." Parents telling children, "Misbehave, and, the Boogie Man will get you!"There are also a lot of twists and turns to this story that you won't see coming, and, you'll never come to realize until the moment they're exposed.Very close to the original stories and fairy tales, except -Krampus comes on December 5th, not Christmas Eve. He also returns the bad children to their homes after a serious attitude adjustment. He's also a companion of St. Nicholas, not an adversary. Santa's 'naughty' list is handed over to Krampus on December 5th so that the bad children will be 'born-again-good-kids" by Christmas Eve."The Changeling" from The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales (they didn't mention cooking the 'eggshell' meal and how this makes the elves come to take the changeling away and return the mother's real child).The writers changed the details a bit, but...Who cares!This is a great movie filled with creative ideas built upon legendary myths and stories from Germany, Austria, and, other European nations.If you have an interest in old European folklore and stories with a moral for bad people and sh*thead kids; or, if you just enjoy satirical horror with the AWESOME William Shatner...this movie is for you.
I've read most of the reviews after I saw this awesome movie. Forget about those long reviews that try to analyze every aspect...whatever. This is a GREAT movie, however, DEFINITELY NOT FOR CHILDREN! Plus, it's got William Shatner in it - what's NOT to love about it?This review has to contain at least ten lines of text, so what I can say that won't ruin it for you...? Well, not much. The zombie elves were pretty funny. Krampus was very, VERY cool. In fact, I totally agree when I heard a comment that they wish that this entire movie was about just Santa & Krampus. That would have definitely made me bump this up another star making it a solid nine (9). I can also say that Santa looks totally "bad-ass". The one braid that rests over his right shoulder with the gash that comes down across his face makes him look like he could join up with GI Joe. This is definitely NOT for children. Whether they believe in Santa or not, I'd think twice before letting anyone under the age of 14 to watch this. It has gore, trust me, "gore" is a definite understatement. The ending is sad, didn't expect it - that's for sure. And I can honestly say that this movie made me jump. It may not be a holiday classic, but it's definitely better than that "other" killer Xmas movie (without mentioning any names). I believe it's a movie you have to watch. I feel you'll surprisingly enjoy it like I did.