Christmas Bloody Christmas

Based on the mixed reception this appears to be getting, at least so far today on only its first day of release, it seems perhaps Christmas Bloody Christmas caught me at just the right mood (the holiday spirit??) because I thought this was darn near fantastic.

There's definitely a small but fair amount of criticisms I would have, if I could remember them all (watching a second time will be a fascinating viewing). For example, towards the beginning theres a healthy dose of what I would call pandering, in a sense, with jokes and references that mostly just horror and film nerds are going to understand and/or appreciate. I don't think its the filmmakers intention to pander, I feel they're likely the same kind of cinema devotees as this film's audience and those moments were meant as a shout out to the "horror community." But it was a bit much, and worse, won't age well with time. So throughout, there's similar moments to that that I'd love to point out as fixable flaws in my view.

At the same time I don't think I would change a thing in this movie, as even its few bad moments have something to offer, perfection be damned. I love the robot Santa gone haywire concept, and boy oh boy does it come to a satisfying and outrageously wild end. I like the conversations and dialogue between the main characters, sounding like what everyday, modern-day people actually sound like; their relatability brought authenticity. The heavy use of black light and neon lighting throughout was a favorite for me, including new uses for neon not generally seen in the real world, such as illuminating the linings of homes in the evening with long strips of neon blues and pinks. Think Miami Vice, perhaps? At the same tame I also found the questionable decisions equally as charming, especially as a break amongst all the mayhem. Most times I couldn't decipher whether, for example, oddly-timed musical cues of an otherwise great score were intentional decisions, with the goal of recreating a cheesy 80s vibe, or they were earnest and sincere. The sort of "is it satire or not?" thoughts that likely arise I found to be a fun part of the entire experience.

I suppose it's a strange thing to describe a film, where the majority of its running time has the audience watching Santa go to town on the head of every human in the film, as "beautifully outrageous," but with the fantastic choice to use practical effects instead of CGI for all the special effects here, that's exactly what it is: beautiful. All this and holy shit is it snowing a LOT in this film, and super colorful overall, creating an excellent, sort of non-traditional "Christmas vibe." The film's funny, it's violent but not grim, the final girl is a fucking badass, and tell me she's not a doppelgänger of Sharon Stone.

This movie is just .... SOMETHING .... ELSE. A wild, fun, hilariously violent SLAY RIDE.

Yeah, I just said that. Sorry. Ho ho ho.