Director: Steven LaMorte
Year: 2022
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Returning to her hometown, a woman trying to get over her traumatic past fears it’s coming back once again as a series of murders plagues the town, yet no one is willing to believe her story about a Christmas-hating creature haunting the town forcing her to battle it alone to save everyone.
Review:
This was a generally solid genre effort. Among the better elements here is the rather intriguing setup with the highly effective atmosphere in play that allows a genuinely effective universe. The idea of her childhood trauma coming back to haunt her in the form of a demonic creature not only provides a form of PTSD in her but also has such a grip of fear over the town that he's taken away their desire to celebrate Christmas. The ensuing conspiracy to try to hide it so they can keep the creature at bay despite her constant attempts to bring it to light and expose everything is a fantastic idea that's pulled off well.
That setup provides the film with a highly enjoyable series of scenes featuring the mischievous creature going around attacking anything that moves. Starting with the opening attack on the family when she was a child, this one provides a solid series of encounters including the new attack on her father, an encounter in the woods, and the highlight encounter at the diner where it wreaks havoc on a collection of innocent convention-goers dressed as Santa. These all set the stage for the big Action-packed finale where the series of confrontations in the woods and back at her house has some thrilling moments, as well as a rather shocking twist reveal, come into play bringing about an exciting finish. Alongside some nice creature make, as well as a rather shocking twist, up, these features provide a lot to like.
There's not much to dislike here but there are some issues here. The biggest drawback to this one is the highly unnecessary and somewhat underwhelming narration that occasionally pops up. The tie-in to the source material is the only real reason why it's here since it serves the same fundamental purpose and disappears from the screen for so long it's not missed until returning to deliver a lake one-liner making it all moot. There's also the highly underwhelming use of CGI for the gore which is frustratingly obvious and makes the vast majority of these scenes rather off-putting. These are the biggest factors against this one.
Overview: ***.5/5
A highly enjoyable genre effort with a lot to really like, this one manages to be quite likable with a series of solid positives while managing only a few flaws to keep it down. Give it a shot if you’re a fan of this style of film or intrigued about it based on the source material while most others should heed caution.
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