Red Christmas: Written and directed by Craig Anderson.
As the season winds up to its unveiling for Christmas, horror films come back with a vengeance. Christmas horror movies started with Bob Clark's Black Christmas and continued on through the ages. This is an Australian slasher film. It doesn't feel like Australia with the exception of a few accents, it feels like any old American slasher movies. This has a great set up. The villain looks really cool despite being portrayed as a bumbling doddering fool from the first moment. The other characters are pretty loathsome though and the only decent one dies right from the get go. The problem with this movie is the director is an incompetent meatbag. He can't shoot action in any way. Everything is in tight close up and moving around constantly. It is going in and out of focus. Nothing about the beginning of this film indicates this is meant to be super realistic. The reveal of Cletus suggests otherwise along with the film school 101 lighting scheme. It doesn't work. It feels like Cube which worked in that movie but does not work here. The power is supposed to be out but they need to light people's faces especially with their extreme close ups. Each room is bathed in a single color. I thought Crayola had a field day with I Know Who Killed Me but they've really out done themselves this time. This is just silly and a waste of an intriguing festive horror film idea. This movie is a mess. I give it an F.
As the season winds up to its unveiling for Christmas, horror films come back with a vengeance. Christmas horror movies started with Bob Clark's Black Christmas and continued on through the ages. This is an Australian slasher film. It doesn't feel like Australia with the exception of a few accents, it feels like any old American slasher movies. This has a great set up. The villain looks really cool despite being portrayed as a bumbling doddering fool from the first moment. The other characters are pretty loathsome though and the only decent one dies right from the get go. The problem with this movie is the director is an incompetent meatbag. He can't shoot action in any way. Everything is in tight close up and moving around constantly. It is going in and out of focus. Nothing about the beginning of this film indicates this is meant to be super realistic. The reveal of Cletus suggests otherwise along with the film school 101 lighting scheme. It doesn't work. It feels like Cube which worked in that movie but does not work here. The power is supposed to be out but they need to light people's faces especially with their extreme close ups. Each room is bathed in a single color. I thought Crayola had a field day with I Know Who Killed Me but they've really out done themselves this time. This is just silly and a waste of an intriguing festive horror film idea. This movie is a mess. I give it an F.