CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS (REVIEW)

Dir. Joe Begos

Reviewer. Martyn Wakefield

There's a naughty list, and everyone is on it. Like an amped up version of 2012's SILENT NIGHT (itself a remake of the seasonal slasher classic, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT), CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS is a violent and possibly the most brutal festive film yet.

It's Christmas Eve and Tori (Riley Dandy) just wants to get drunk and party, but when a robotic Santa Claus at a nearby toy store goes haywire and begins a rampant killing spree through her small town, she's forced into a battle for survival.

Joe Begos' feature doesn't wait around and at 88 minutes long, jumps straight into a night filled with festive fear rather than joy. Each death as graphic as the last and Santa Claus never fails to be intimidating on a merciless massacre of the small town.

CHILD'S PLAY meets SILENT NIGHT via THE TERMINATOR as Dandy becomes Sarah Connor in a fight for survival with the odds against her. There's little more depth to this Christmas night but what is on offer is a fantastic central performance in a cloud of mayhem. Being her fourth Christmas film in as many years, this is her first foray into the genre and does well to hold her own to give the film its only semblance of heart. It may be shallow but makes the perfect stocking filler to switch off the brain cells and indulge in some nasty effects driven horror in what could become a future festive cult classic but for now doesn't quick make it as the main present.