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A Christmas Horror Story [Horror Movie Review, As You Can Tell]

  • Writer: Emily Deibler
    Emily Deibler
  • Dec 25, 2017
  • 2 min read

[SPOILERS]

A Christmas Horror Story is, as the title suggests, a Christmas-themed ho-ho-ho-horror film. It has ambitious, great ideas, but there are issues with the pacing, acting, and writing that hinder some of the brilliant moments. Below is a list of the pros and cons of each segment.

Ghost Nun Hospital Possession Pregnancy Thing

Pros:

  • Uh, the nun hospital for unmarried pregnant girls set-up is pretty cool and reminds me of my favorite season of American Horror Story? Man, I really should rewatch Asylum. Jessica Lange is amazing.

Cons:

  • A jumpscare where a dead body screams. A body. That is dead. As in not alive.

  • Every jumpscare with no build-up. (All of them.)

  • Why exactly did a teenager hack into private security footage of a homicide while she was babysitting for a police officer? Just...why? You know, besides For the Plot.

  • Stilted dialogue.

  • Undeveloped characters who state their feelings.

  • Three unlikable kids who cannot escape a basement adjacent to an accessible bathroom with a giant, unbarred window.

Definitely Not Banking Off the Krampus Hype

Pros:

  • Amy Forsyth's performance is one of the best in the entire movie.

  • Michelle Nolden gives a decent performance with the exception of her lack of care toward the reveal that her husband has ruined her life and her children's, though this may be more of a writing issue.

  • That Death guy from Supernatural.

  • The ending is surprising and great.

Cons:

  • Terrible acting from the father. Also, the character is a douchebag.

  • The dad literally gives zero fucks about being impaled and gushing intestinal blood.

  • The CGI Krampus tongue is poorly rendered.

  • I hate, hate, hate the whole "let's leave the safety of our car to wander the woods" trope.

A Changeling Story

Pros:

  • Adrian Holmes's acting as the father.

  • Good continuity with the father being the traumatized cop in the found footage segment during the school excursion.

  • Olunike Adeliyi probably gives the best performance in this entire film. She gives it her all.

  • Ultimately, the parents' acting makes the viewer care about the characters and what happens to them.

  • Great writing in the parts that reveal the family conflict because of the father's trauma.

Cons:

  • Audio effects when a creature's mouth is closed.

  • Disappointing ending where villain just gives up on the replacing-child-so-human-child-is-trapped-in-fairyland motive for...no reason?

  • The father's death is disappointing for an otherwise strong segment and it feels like it undermines the depth and care put into his character.

The Wraparound Radio Segment/Santa Claus: Elf Zombie Hunter

Pros:

  • William Shatner.

  • The "Fuck Christmas" guy. He's basically me barring the mall massacre in a Santa suit and fake beard.

  • The grim, industrial Santa with kick-ass skills is pretty cool.

  • "I said I don't want a goddamn cookie, you reindeer-fucking snow whore."

  • The entire segment is so outlandish that it has a Sam Raimi charm to it. It goes for the dark and silly.

  • The ending is actually brilliant and a great conclusion to an otherwise uneven film.

Cons:

  • Ugh, a zombie plot. Not just any zombies, Christmas elf zombies.

And with that, Merry--

Anyway, if you like Christmas-themed horror, I suggest watching this and Krampus. Find out more in the links below.

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