Santa Claus brings gifts and people in a contemplative mood? No way! In “Christmas Bloody Christmas” a Robo-Nikolaus runs exceedingly bloody amok. Available now on Amazon Prime Video!
Christmas is a great time to make it the setting for a horror movie. Why? Because the contemplative mood just lends itself wonderfully to subverting expectations. In the past, this has happened quite a few times in genre cinema. Just think of “Black Christmas,” “Better Watch Out,” “Krampus,” “Gremlins,” “Silent Night, Horror Night” or even “Violent Night” with David Harbour, which was released in German theaters in December 2022.
“Christmas Bloody Christmas” has been released in this country directly on Blu-ray and DVD, but can still be understood as a highlight in the Christmas all-unconscious segment. In the horror thriller by Joe Begos (“VFW”), the robot RoboSanta+ gets out of control, which the director uses to indulge in rampant splatter cinema with plenty of hefty spikes of violence. “Christmas Bloody Christmas” is available now on Amazon Prime Video subscription.
THAT’S WHAT CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT
It’s Christmas Eve. Record store owner Tori Tooms (Riley Dandy) actually wants to use the holidays to meet up with some hot guys she met on an online dating app. But instead, she lets her co-worker Robbie (Sam Delich) talk her into keeping him company while drinking, listening to music and chatting about underrated horror movies.
Meanwhile, at a toy store not far away, a human-sized Santa robot (Abraham Benrubi) intended for decoration has a short circuit. Called RoboSanta+, the military-engineered mechanical soldier monstrosity comes to life and goes on a bloody rampage. Soon it’s hunting down everyone in its path – including Robbie and Tori. They, however, are not ready to simply be slaughtered without a fight…
AN INTOXICATING EXCESS OF VIOLENCE
The official FILMSTARTS review gave “Christmas Bloody Christmas” a good 3.5 out of 5 possible stars. Our author Janick Nolting writes in his conclusion: “Joe Begos’ not very contemplative FSK-18 Christmas film is an audiovisually intoxicating excess of violence. The consumer-critical commentary, meanwhile, remains an interesting but underdeveloped approach. “
Those who have become somewhat familiar with Joe Begos’ oeuvre and have seen “VFW” or “Bliss” know that the director leans toward old-fashioned genre cinema, always rekindling his passion for grindhouse inheritance. It’s no different in “Christmas Bloody Christmas. “The Christmas horror aesthetic is raw, gritty, sleazy – and that’s before the violence even breaks loose. Joe Begos shot on 16mm film. […] Noisy image grain and glowing fairy lights condense into an impressively dim look.”
But “Christmas Bloody Christmas” is not only visually eye-catching and a welcome change from the slick visuals of modern blockbuster cinema. Joe Pegos also shows no mercy when it comes to violence and lets his robo-Santa with laser vision really get going. There are severed heads flying through the area and bodies are cut up with the axe. Partly the whole thing is filmed from the first person perspective, which skillfully intensifies the bloodlust again and again.
What doesn’t really work is the social criticism. The director exposes the Christmas consumer terror that Begos wants to get to grips with here a bit too vaguely by slashing and slaughtering his Santa Claus Terminator. In addition, “Christmas Bloody Christmas” doesn’t quite succeed in maintaining its grimness as a psychedelic slugfest of material over its entire running time. Nevertheless, the partly quite subversive holiday horror is a worthwhile grotesque viewing experience.
