When I finished watching this film I felt that the group
behind it deserved an A for effort but a solid D for execution. I have little
doubt that this was due to a miniscule budget being allotted for the film but
still, it would have been nice to see some of the pieces done with enough money
on hand to employ better actors and special effects people since it relies
heavily on both. At least the stories were solid.
What we have is an anthology film with the Christmas theme
running through each. Tying them all together is a couple out on a first date
on Christmas Eve. The guy has bought them tickets to a small theater with a new
production to present. Each episode is introduced by these minimalist plays on
stage that morph into the filmed pieces.
The first tale involves an office party that most of the
people at aren’t thrilled about but participate in. That changes when the first
one to open a gift from their gift exchange is killed by the gift. The phone
rings and an anonymous caller lets the group know that they are trapped and
can’t escape from the room. The gifts might be tame or they might kill them.
But they must continue opening the gifts in order to reach a point where
whoever survives can leave. The story is interesting and plays on the fearful
part of not knowing what gift you will receive while at the same time having a
humorous touch in the fact this is an office party no one cares about turned
deadly.
The second story involves a young man doing his last minute
shopping before heading home. Parked far from the mall he realizes he’s talking
to his wife and then as he puts a package in back locks both his keys and his
phone in the car. Looking around the only other vehicle in the lot is a van
that he walks to. He meets two young women in the car and asks for assistance.
Both act a bit strange and he sees something unusual in the back of the van.
The odds of his making it home in time for Christmas seem to diminish as the
story moves forward.
Next up is a retelling of “A Christmas Carol” of sorts. A
middle aged businessman hates Christmas and always does what he can to ruin it
for everyone else, like stealing his neighbor’s lawn ornament. He calls his
girlfriend and expects her to leave her family on Christmas Eve for a booty
call. Eventually while sloppy drunk he falls and hit his head on a coffee table
which allows him to begin seeing different ghosts of Christmas who will provide
him the opportunity to change his ways.
We’re not through yet! Fifth is the tale of a man driving
home on Christmas Eve who isn’t paying attention to the road and hits a deer.
Getting out of the car he finds the wounded animal and rather than leave it
there suffering he smashes its head in with a rock. What he failed to notice
was the reindeer’s name on his collar, one of Santa’s finest. Getting home he
finds his girlfriend has come over to surprise him. When he hears something
upstairs he goes up to investigate. What he finds is not what he expects. Though
short and incomplete as far as effects go this was one of my favorites among
the 6 stories.
Yes I said six because the last story involves a man who is
avoiding his friends and wrapping chains around himself as a full moon appears
for Christmas. Unfortunately his girlfriend has brought the party to him in
spite of him asking her to not come over. I’ll stop there because what happens
next I didn’t see coming. Suffice to say it was an interesting story that kept
me watching.
The wraparound story concludes the film with the couple
seeing the stage play suddenly recreating their date. Once more, watch and
you’ll see what happens.
So the good news is the stories here are original and
interesting. The writing isn’t bad and the concepts they play with here will
hold your interests. The bad news is that the film looks like it was shot on an
obvious set, the acting ranges from good to terrible and the special effects,
the mainstay of most horror films, are lacking quite a bit of the time. Also
portions of the stories that should have had money invested in them weren’t and
that leaves a lot to the imagination and not in a good way.
So what’s the end result? Good or bad? Well for me I’d say
the movie was definitely entertaining and for something different to watch I
would recommend it. I don’t know that it will become a part of my regular
Christmas viewing list but it was fun for a single night. My guess is most
horror fans will find something in it to like. And many others might as well.
Just know going in it could have been just a little bit better.
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