Director: Manuel Camilion, Benjamin Edelman
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Attempting to perfect an experiment, a teen and his friend try to put their skills to the test by resurrecting Santa Claus after accidentally killing him as a kid several years earlier, but when the resurrected Santa starts going on a killing spree in his town must race to stop it.
Review:
Overall, this was a rather fun and enjoyable genre cheesefest. One of the main aspects to be had with this one is the series of solid and enjoyable interactions that come about here due to the setup at play. With the initial accident involving his attempts to photograph Santa backfiring and inadvertently killing him instead which results in a decidedly different timeline that alters how society views the Christmas season, this already has a solid enough backstory in place long before it deals with the regeneration experiments and the high-school cliques that constitute the human drama. Realizing that his experiments are designed to bring Santa back to life, the interactions with him and his friend trying to put their science experiments to the test is enough to understand this viewpoint much like the secondary storyline with the sister’s party that takes place at the same time.
This provides a great setup for the kind of cheesy, over-the-top carnage that takes place as the resurrected killer is set loose on the town. Initially focusing on brief ambushes such as the series of stragglers he comes across wandering the streets at night after getting woken up, the changeover into more involved and lengthy stalking scenes such as the ambush at the police station after initially thinking it’s a drunk-driving victim or a fun series of encounters at a convenience store knocking off several rounds of individuals who arrive there looking for supplies allows for a fun series of escalating confrontations to be had. It all leads to the arrival at the party where the various storylines emerge rather nicely with the inventive kills on the numerous guests he comes across, the full-scale brawling that takes place, and the enjoyably over-the-top means of integrating the season into the combat tactics to stop him. It’s all given a fun sheen with a lighthearted approach while still being taken seriously and it gives everything a lot to like about it.
There’s not much to dislike here but it does have some minor issues. One of the biggest determinants present is the general air of cheese present involving the tale of a reanimated Santa Claus going on a killing spree after his death provided a world without the holiday season. It’s a concept that should obviously not be taken seriously but the concurrent humor that goes along with this type of storyline is a real hit-or-miss. Some of the corny actions here, especially by the various high-school clique girls on the sister trying to get in their good graces which ranges to the mocking treatment and the numerous undermining comments that just vaguely come off as funny. Either of the numerous gags with the kid trying to save the resurrected Santa running loose that is also immensely scattered, focusing on this idea of the adults not trusting his claims about being able to help Santa and just trying to put it down that’s quite hard to get over which are the issues present here.
Overview: ***.5/5
A generally fun cheesy Christmas-themed genre effort, this one manages to work quite well even if there are certain areas involved that do bring it down somewhat slightly from what it could’ve been. Those who appreciate this kind of cheesy genre fare or are fine with the issues present should give this a shot while most others out there should heed caution.
The film is now available for streaming on Screambox.
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