Christmas Bloody Christmas

2022 has not only been a standout year for  horror with both critical and commercial hits such as Smile, Barbarian, X, Terrifier 2, Pearl and more. The year is also notable for its Christmas-themed genre films with last week’s highly entertaining Violent Night. And now we have the next film from indie horror filmmaker Joe Begos. Begos, whose past works include the ferocious acid trip Bliss and the bone-crunching throwback VFW, has a distinctive voice that stands out among his peers. Influenced by the likes of Abel Ferrara, John Carpenter and Richard Stanley, to name a few, Begos’ style of filmmaking and storytelling is inherently in-your-face and aggressive. It’s the work of a filmmaker with a clear sense of style, one that, love-it or hate-it, is undeniably singular. His latest 16mm concoction, a killer robot Santa movie, is filled with the kind of scuzy grindhouse aesthetic that is so tangible in his other works.

It’s Christmas Eve and there’s a global recall on a hot new product called RoboSanta+, a robotic Santa Clause made from military grade technology to replace “local degenerate mall Santa’s”. However, in a small town, one robot, Abraham Benrubi (The Belko Experiment, TV’s ER), goes totally haywire and begins a brutal killing spree. Begos’ distinct personality comes through off the bat with his dialogue, full of debates regarding music, horror franchises and F bombs galore. Imagine a halfway point between Richard Linklater and Rob Zombie, and you have an idea of the filmmaker’s sense of attitude.

We follow Tori, Riley Dandy (A Hollywood Christmas), herself appearing in several Hallmark-like Christmas faire, and her friend/co-worker Robbie, Sam Delich (Spiderhead), as they go about town looking to drink and smoke the night away. Proving to be a great fit for Begos’ style of writing, Dandy makes for a strong protagonist, with a naturalistic performance that makes her instantly relatable. Begos muse and former Friday Night Lights co-star Dora Madison makes a brief, fun appearance as well as MST3K’s Jonah Ray as a married couple looking to get it on in a toy store on Christmas Eve. Rob Zombie regular Jeffrey Daniel Phillips (31, The Munsters) is compelling as a recently divorced sad sack Sheriff looking to spend Christmas shitfaced instead of dealing with a killer robot Santa destroying his town. Begos does an amicable job of giving these characters a number of small nuances in critical moments that help make them stand out and give depth to what could otherwise be stock slasher leads.

Shot in stunning 16mm photography by cinematographer Brian Sowell (Beyond the Gates), the use of 16mm makes the images feel more visceral and hard hitting. Add in the striking neon Christmas lights aesthetic, and the look of Christmas Bloody Christmas is damn near hallucinatory. Despite being filmed in LA, the film’s winter backdrop doesn’t look cheap and is rather authentic, despite the low budget.

While taking a while for carnage to truly unfurl, Begos does generate some of the most palpable sequences of tension in his career, thus far. Particularly in the first half where Begos and editor Josh Ethier (Bliss, The Standoff at Sparrow Creek) will cross cut between the RoboSanta beginning his rampage and the protagonist, Tori. Begos will hold on a truly chilling note and just linger on it for an extended period of time. Notably in a tense-as-hell car chase that contains some impressive pyrotechnics. Begos is pulling from a few different ingredients here, mainly the gritty, lo-fi intensity of James Cameron’s first Terminator, with the sleazy Christmas exploitation taste of Silent Night, Deadly Night. The killer, played with psychical intensity by Abraham Benrubi, isn’t the most personable, and you can almost always tell it’s an actor, but the finale reveals some terrific practical effects.

Christmas Bloody Christmas is one badass holiday horror film. While the first act mainly comprises of lengthy exchanges of dialogue by characters that sound just like its writer/director, this is an enormously tense and bloody entry in the Christmas horror canon. Between this and Violent Night, 2022 is a strong year for Yuletide bloodbaths.