We are ten days away from Christmas and that can mean only one thing. It is time to open day 15 of our Awful Advent Calendar. Behind today’s door is a Christmas Horror Anthology called A Christmas Horror Story. Starring William Shatner as a festive radio host. This movie features four frightening festive tales designed to shock and delight… Or, potentially, just disappoint.
The first story follows Dylan, Ben and Molly as they head into the basement of their haunted school to conduct a paranormal investigation. Story two sees the family of a police officer take a trip to a Christmas tree lot to start the festive celebrations, only for one of them to come back changed.
The third story sees a pair of naughty kids being hunted in the snow by something that seems an awful lot like the legend of Krampus that their grandmother told them about. And story four takes us to Santa’s village in the North Pole where Santa’s elves appear to be infected with something placing the big man in a fight for his life.
Christmas Anthology Horror
A Christmas Horror Story is an anthology horror movie that ties its four tales together with a simple connecting story. Set in the fictional location of Bailey Downs; a place which you may recognise from Werewolf horror movie Ginger Snaps. The stories here are somewhat linked together by the location and certain events.
The teens in the first story are investigating a murder that took place in the school, a murder which Scott from the second story investigated. Stories three and four feature a recurring character and story four also connects to the background segment that ties everything together. Characters listen to the radio broadcast which, once again, adds a little extra cohesion.
Unlike many anthologies, however, A Christmas Horror Story doesn’t present its segments as individual stories. They overlap and are not distinctly separate from each other. Whether this works well or not is up to the viewer. In my opinion, it doesn’t always land but I did find the format interesting. It would be impossible not to notice the impact this has on pacing. There is something very distracting about being taken from one story to a completely different one just as it is getting going. It can really take you out of the flow.
Naturally, Quite Uneven
It makes sense, to a degree. These stories are supposed to be linked and I did enjoy the connections, however vague. But it just doesn’t always work. It’s an odd choice and not one I would be clamouring to experience again. As it stands, this is a pretty interesting movie with a few different, mingling, themes. We have some supernatural goings on, some paranormal stuff, urban legends, folk tales, zombie movie style happenings and a fair bit of action. Most anthology horror movies like to mix things up but the fact that these things take place within the same world is quite intriguing.
As you can probably guess, the individual segments are quite uneven. It’s the nature of Anthology movies as a whole. The only anthology horror I can think of with nothing but strong segments is Trick ‘r Treat. It’s just so rare and A Christmas Horror Story is no exception. Some of this unevenness is compounded by the timeline and switching between stories. The first story is fairly interesting in a sort of “Goosebumps” teen horror way. It does go in a bit of a PG-13 raunchy direction later on which is just a little bit weird. The second story is fairly dull, featuring a theme that has been done to death a million times before. And the third story has some promise but feels just a little usurped by the movie Krampus that came out the very same year.
One Standout Segment
The star of the show is segment four. This is the only segment I feel could be made into a full movie. It is action packed, gory, high energy and, simply, a hell of a lot of fun. The concept is pretty crazy but it works incredibly well for what it is. A definite highlight, for sure. It is worth pointing out that the connecting story here is fairly pointless. Radio show host Dangerous Dan plays Christmas songs. Drinks too much and sends out warnings about an incident at the mall. That is pretty much the entire summary of it. Linking segments always suck but this was simply a way to drag Shatner in for some star power.
As far as horror goes, none of the segments are particularly scary. Segment two has a few moments of domestic terror if that is your thing but it feels fairly predictable. Segment three has potential and is quite tense for a moment there but never quite reaches full potential. The first story is a run of the mill paranormal horror that really doesn’t even fit with the Christmas theme. There’s just not much to write home about but that’s fairly typical of the format.
Acting is Fairly Mixed
Acting is a bit of a mixed bag. This is, naturally, a bit of a trend with anthologies. As you can probably imagine, Shatner was cashing a cheque and, pretty much, phones it in. He is just drunk Shatner presenting a radio show and pretending to like Christmas. Zoe Maison, Alex Ozerov and Shannon Kook from the first story are all fine. Molly and Ben have a few pretty intense scenes which they do a decent job of. I enjoyed Adrian Holmes and Oluniké Adeliyi’s performances in the second story. Holmes does a nice job portraying the frustration of Scott’s situation.
The family in the third story were very middle of the road. The kids were absolutely obnoxious, as you would expect them to be given the plot. Corrine Conley and Julian Richings were fun as Aunt Edda and Gerhardt, suitably hamming it up. The fourth story has a wide ranging cast that does the job really well given the action element at play. I really liked George Buza’s no nonsense Santa. It’s always fun to imagine Santa as someone who can whoop some ass.
Uneven Cinematography and an Okay Score
Cinematography is really decent, in parts, but can be uneven; another trait of the anthology horror. Again, the last segment is probably the most interestingly shot, I really enjoyed the style of it a lot. Santa throwing his elves around and slashing them with knives is a weird sight but works surprisingly well. There is a distinct overuse of CG in this movie. Once again, this is very common with anthology horror, for some reason. It is particularly lacklustre in parts as well. Still, costumes for certain characters look really good. The violence and gore in the fourth segment is really nicely done, as well.
The musical score is fittingly festive. There aren’t any tunes that will stay with you but it feels like it works well with the movie. The first story was a little lacking in a foreboding piece of music to elevate the mood. The fourth segment’s score, however, was very apt for an action packed Santa romp. As far as festive feelings go, the fourth and second story stand out. The first story could have been set at any time of the year, it doesn’t fit the Christmas theme at all. The third story, obviously, has an Xmas theme but, again, doesn’t revel in it. Still, the Christmas songs that feature here and there tie the theme into the rest of the stories. Taken as a whole, it is a perfectly fitting festive movie.
Should You Watch A Christmas Horror Story?
Despite the few complaints, this is still a fun movie and absolutely worth watching. The presentation is questionable and does impact the flow. Segments are inconsistent. Two of the stories are really good, one is a bit boring and the other is just a fairly standard ghost story. The connecting segment feels entirely pointless but, hey, some people love William Shatner.
As far as Christmas Horror movies go, however, you can do a lot worse. It’s a fairly easy watch, has a shortish run time, and has plenty of festive feeling. The fourth segment alone is worth watching for. It is a lot of fun and I would definitely buy into a full movie version. All in all, it could be better but it could be so much worse.