This is an exercise in style over substance from Joe Begos but, fortunately, I like his style. By now you'll know what to expect from the director: a synth score, gory practical effects, and neon lighting. And, courtesy of the setting, every frame in 'Christmas Bloody Christmas' is bathed in lush, saturated colours due to signage and Christmas lights.
It's about a toy store robotic Santa that goes haywire and begins a rampant killing spree through a small town... The antagonist looks great and gets progressively more awesome as it takes on damage over the course of the film, eventually becoming a Terminator-styled Jason Voorhees with circuitry innards on full display and green laser-beam vision carving through the darkness as it seeks out the tenacious "final girl".
Joe Begos's strength is not in writing, and this lets down the first act and gets the film off to a poor start as characterisation is absent in place of foul-mouthed and crude banter between characters. But, thankfully, once the mayhem begins and axes start connecting onto skulls with vicious, eye-socket penetrating precision, those first twenty minutes are forgotten, and what we have for the remainder is an entertaining slasher that evokes aesthetically pleasing 80s horror.
7/10.
It's about a toy store robotic Santa that goes haywire and begins a rampant killing spree through a small town... The antagonist looks great and gets progressively more awesome as it takes on damage over the course of the film, eventually becoming a Terminator-styled Jason Voorhees with circuitry innards on full display and green laser-beam vision carving through the darkness as it seeks out the tenacious "final girl".
Joe Begos's strength is not in writing, and this lets down the first act and gets the film off to a poor start as characterisation is absent in place of foul-mouthed and crude banter between characters. But, thankfully, once the mayhem begins and axes start connecting onto skulls with vicious, eye-socket penetrating precision, those first twenty minutes are forgotten, and what we have for the remainder is an entertaining slasher that evokes aesthetically pleasing 80s horror.
7/10.