Director: Zac Locke
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
After surviving a brutal encounter, a woman accused of staging a suicide attempt instead heads out with her friends to help recuperate at a remote cabin in the woods, unaware that the real killer Santa figure has followed them there and set about trying to finish what he started the year before.
Review:
This was an intriguing if somewhat troublesome genre outing. One of the better factors with this one is the absolutely fun setup that provides this with the kind of starting point that comes across incredibly well. Starting with the initial ambush and survival, where it inadvertently gives off the optics of being a botched suicide attempt for those who are unaware of what really happened, the general approach here makes it so that her frustration and mounting inability to convince others of how the whole thing actually went down feels genuine and earned. Catching up with her friends and how their lives have changed over time, the various challenges her parents faced trying to help her, and the overall state of how everyone has moved on creates the kind of strong starting point here that makes what goes on later on be all the more intriguing.
What happens here is a series of decent and far more intriguing stalking scenes once the group arrives at the snowbound cabin where they’re going to hang out for the holidays. The first half, involving them going around trying to get a feel for the location, trying to play into her stories about the truth involving what happened, and the different clues left behind about someone being there, leads into some rather solid stalking scenes surrounding them fighting off the killer in the cold environment or taking off to a local church that houses some potential sanctuary spaces. These offer up some nice enough gore and intriguing kills in how these play out, which gives this quite a lot to like.
There are some issues that hold this down. Among the biggest drawbacks here is the utterly atrocious final half that comes together with several really unnatural choices that don’t make any sense. The whole final twist about who the killer Santa really is, what they’re motivations are, and why they’re choosing the main group of friends as a target is immensely obvious and easy to guess, never really taking any real surprise when it plays out, or that the decision to do that is so plainly ridiculous it contradicts plenty of elements that came before, leaving this to be so problematic and underwhelming it leaves a bad impression. As well, there’s also the overwhelming low-budget limitations here that are immensely damaging, from the crummy mask and costume for the killer, the one-location setup, and generally cheesy approach that runs rampant throughout here, all of which are used to keep this one down.
Overview: **.5/5
A rather solid if somewhat problematic slasher, there are some worthwhile aspects here that manage to make it worthwhile enough compared to the few big drawbacks that keep it down. Those interested in this style or approach or who are hardcore fans of indie holiday-themed genre fare will have a lot to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.
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