Well here it is readers, my 100th review and as it’s a special one, I have a treat for you, as this flick isn’t even out in the UK yet!!
Obviously inspired by everyone’s favourite festive slasher pics, the film is an enjoyable mix of Christmas slashers and anthology pics.
The story revolves around a couple on their way to a Christmas party out in the Boonies, the guy desperately wants to stay at home and watch TV so
sets about trying to put his wife off. He begins to tell her about a
spate of killings in the area by a pissed off burns victim in a Santa
costume.
Told in flashback we learn about the killer’s life and the fates of his past victims.
There are basically 5 stories, the first about a group of girls staying in a cabin in the country, the second about a blind woman being burgled, the
third about some local residents the night the killer escaped from
hospital, the fourth about a brother and sister with car trouble and the
fifth being the wraparound story.
The fact that this film is very low budget gave it a sense of realism that actually freaked me out a little.
The stories are well thought out and the acting is surprisingly quite good too, for a real low budget movie.
Obviously the lack of budget would have put up many restrictions but the film’s first time writer/director certainly found ways around it, as the
camera is very involved in the story telling and made slower parts of the
story interesting to watch.
The film is a little slow in places and could have been tightened up a little editing wise just to make it move a bit quicker, but there are good
uses of Christmas imagery and humour. My favourite scene occured when
actor Eric Spudic entered the scene of a murder and exclaimed ‘Jesus’.
Fearing the worst, the camera then revealed to the audience that he is
looking at a nativity scene.
OVERALL SUMMARY
A very well produced and thought out low budget effort. All involved will
really deliver the goods if they are given the chance to shine.
