Red Christmas (2016)

A mother must protect her family on Christmas Day from a demented stranger who is hell-bent on tearing them apart.

Director:

Craig Anderson

Writer:

Craig Anderson

Stars:

Dee Wallace, Geoff Morrell, David Collins

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Dee Wallace	...	Diane
Geoff Morrell	...	Joe
David Collins	...	Peter
Janis McGavin	...	Ginny
Sam Campbell	...	Cletus
Sarah Bishop	...	Suzy
Deelia Meriel	...	Hope
Gerard Odwyer	...	Jerry
Atlas Adams	...	Protestor
Bjorn Stewart	...	Scott
Alistair Bates	...	Bomber
Robert Anderson	...	Sheriff
Anthony Jensen	...	Farmer

Storyline

It's Christmas in Australia as Diane, played by the Dee Wallace, brings together her estranged family for a chaotic holiday gathering. A 20 year old decision literally comes back to haunt her when the ghost of Christmas past comes knocking at her door and is invited inside the family estate. Festivities quickly turn blood red, when the stranger is revealed to be Cletus, Diane's aborted fetus, all grown up, very much alive and ready to terrorize his long lost mother. Diane must face her past and explain the hideous truth that is trying to kill them all, especially to Jerry, her Down Syndrome son, before it's too late.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas horror | christmas | abortion | cult | violence | 

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Taglines:

This Christmas, the only thing under the tree is terror.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site USA Web Site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Красное рождество

Filming Locations:

Southern Highlands, NSW, Australia

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,255, 19 October 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Red Christmas

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dee Wallace's second Australian film, the first was the Australian Christmas film Bushfire moon.

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Connections

Featured in Dee Wallace Speaks! (2017)

User Reviews

Not a Good Movie But Enough Interesting Stuff To Make It Worth Watching

Red Christmas (2016)

** (out of 4)

This bizarre film starts off at an abortion clinic where someone walks in with a bag, which eventually explodes. Flash-forward twenty years and Diane (Dee Wallace) has her family at her home where they are preparing a big Christmas event. Before long a strange man wrapped from head to toe shows up. He wants to read a letter to his mommy and before long brutal murders are happening.

RED Christmas starts off with an abortion bombing and it grows every bit weirder as it moves along. I'm not going to say this movie is a complete success but there's no question that it contains some pretty bizarre ideas and a bizarre execution. This film isn't what I'd consider good but there are enough weird ideas that make it entertaining to watch and then you throw in the graphic violence and you're probably looking at something that is going to gain a cult following.

As I've said throughout, I give writer-director Craig Anderson credit for attempting to go to a very dark place and create a bizarre holiday tale. The killer here is a deformed creature and also a haunted human who just wants to know why his mother was willing to kill him and not love him. A lot of horror films try to give their killers origin stories or some sort of weak backstory but this film here actually delivers something rather strong and something that can make you think. I mean, for a horror picture that's really saying something.

With that being said, the execution wasn't the greatest and there's a point around the forty-five minute mark where things get rather stale and slow down to a very big crawl. I'd also argue that some of the points of the story could have been expanded on but the 82-minute running time didn't allow for that. Performance for the most part were good and especially Wallace as she gets a good meaty role to work with and she does a very good job with it playing a character who must face her face and see the damage it has had on her future.

As I said, gore hounds will be extremely happy as there are some pretty brutal murders here that have all sorts of CGI blood being thrown around. Technically speaking the film was well-made and has a very professional and good look to it. RED Christmas isn't a masterpiece or even a good movie but there are enough good moments to make it worth sitting through.