Ho! Ho! Horror!!!!

“Slay” Bells!

Netflix is a funny thing.  I often find myself cruising through the films and shows that are provided for my enjoyment and know right away which ones I am going to skip and which ones I’m going to watch.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched and re-watched episodes of The IT Crowd, Cheers, and Stranger Things.  I watch a lot of films more than once as well (I’m looking at you Moana and Metropolis).  But every once in awhile a film or show catches my eye that’s a little bit intriguing.   Films like The Babadook and The Daughter Of Dawn and shows such as Orange Is The New Black aren’t necessarily on my radar, but when I see them, something makes me want to watch them.  Sometimes these shows are great and sometimes they completely suck.

A Christmas Horror Story, a Canadian thriller that was released back in 2015, happened to catch my eye one evening while trying to find something new to watch.  I’m already a fan of Krampus, another Christmas thriller released in 2015, and seeing Santa Claus taking on Krampus in the preview image piqued my interest.  Digging deeper, I found that the film featured a ton of Canadian actors…..including William Shatner, Captain friggin’ Kirk!

I decided to give the film a go, especially since knowing that with Shatner in it, I was either going to be surprised at how good it turned out or have a good laugh since he is known for doing many things tongue-in-cheek.  I’ll get to his performance a little later, but let’s get into the film.

A Christmas Horror Story is actually four stories directed by Grant Harvey (Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning), Steven Hoban (producer of Ginger Snaps and Splice), and Brett Sullivan (Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed).  The Ginger Snaps films are actually some of my favorites, so it doesn’t surprise me that that I enjoyed ACHS for the most part.  Each story could stand alone, but they were tied together by certain elements and characters such as Krampus, Santa Claus, and a murder that happened at a local school.

The film opens with Santa Claus checking on his reindeer.  He’s bloody and looks like he’s been through the ringer.  There’s a massive knock on the stable door and then Santa yells, “Who’s there?”  Then we cut to Dangerous Dan (Shatner) talking about how much he loves the Christmas season at a local radio station.  Shatner’s role in the film is small, but his banter with characters off screen and his constant Christmas updates are actually very key to the film.  I won’t ruin anything, but be sure to listen carefully to Shatner whenever he’s on screen.

The stories are intertwined throughout the film.  In other words, you get a few minutes of each story and when things get a little intense, the action moves to one of the other stories.  This actually hurts the film in my opinion, with the exception of the resolution of the final story.  There’s a steady build up each time and then the viewer is whisked away to one of the other tales, cutting any tension that was built to zero.

The first story in the film features three high school students (Zoe De Grand Maison, Shannon Kook, and Alex Ozerov) who sneak into their school to investigate two brutal murders that happened a year ago.  We see a video of a cop (Adrian Holmes) going over what he and his fellow officers found at the crime scene.  This cop will be explored more in one of the other stories.  We’re also introduced to Caprice (Amy Forsyth), who is part of another story in the film.

The three students manage to get themselves locked in the basement of the school and face off against a ghost.  The story follows standard “Boo!” scares and is, at least in my opinion, the least enjoyable story.  Again, no spoilers, but the ending of this tale left me wanting.

The second story in the film is much creepier.  The cop we are introduced to early in the film (Holmes) takes his family trespassing in order to find the perfect Christmas tree. Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like going on private property and pilfering the perfect pine, right?  After cutting down the tree and walking back to their truck, the family’s young son, Will (Orion John), goes missing.  The cop and his wife (Olunike Adeliyi) frantically search for Will and do eventually find him hiding in a tree, but he’s changed….a lot.

Will begins to act out at home.  He stabs his father’s hand at the dinner table with a fork, watches his mother take a shower, and does a few more things to amp up the creep factor.  The rest of the story finds the family attempting to figure out what is wrong with Will.  Adeliyi shines in this particular story, but all of her excellent acting proves to be fruitless with the weak conclusion to this chapter of the film.

The third tale is one of the best ones in my opinion.  In it, we join the aforementioned Caprice journeying with her family to visit her Aunt Etta (Corrine Conley).  While visiting with their aunt, Etta highly recommends that they go back home as soon as possible.  Her caretaker, Gerhardt (Julian Richings), is particularly anxious for them to leave.  Before they hit the road, however, Caprice’s brother, Duncan (Percy Hynes White), manages to break a statuette of Krampus and Caprice steals a little something for herself.  Gerhardt becomes visibly annoyed by the family, and they end up leaving in a rush.

They get into an accident and (as any “smart” person in a horror film would do) decide to cut through the woods to go back to Etta’s house.  Duncan is taken by something in the forest.  Caprice and her parents end up in an old church and believe that they are safe on sacred ground.  They aren’t.  Krampus shows up and attempts to take out the family.  As Krampus deals out punishment, Caprice makes a mad dash to her aunt’s home.  A twist is thrown into the narrative at this point, and it’s this twist that makes watching ACHS worth the mediocre school tale and the creepy kid story with a bad resolution tale.

The final story in this quadrilogy features Santa (George Buza) taking on undead elves.  The elves manage to infect Mrs. Claus (Debra McCabe) as well, and Santa goes on a killing spree.  He has a feeling that Krampus is the cause of all of the chaos, and the film reaches its climax when Kringle and Krampus face off.  It’s a fa-la-la-la-fight to the death….and one more twist that ties everything up neatly with a pretty Christmas bow.

Is A Christmas Horror Story worth a look?  Yes, but probably just one or two looks.  Unlike the Ginger Snaps series of films, I don’t see myself repeatedly watching this movie.  I will say that the Krampus creature and the undead elves look great, and the elves are pretty funny with their foul mouths and violent actions.

Everyone in the film does a decent job, with Adeliyi being the only real standout cast member.  The action and horror was good but not great, and the music did its job.  This film doesn’t deserve to be on any naughty lists, but it doesn’t deserve a Nintendo Switch under the tree either.

As always, thanks for reading.  If you’ve seen any excellent Christmas horror flicks, let me know in the comments.

Have a Merry Christmas!!!