Last weekend, I watched Deathcember thanks to a code given to me through kickstarter which allowed me to watch the movie on their website. I wanted to do this review earlier this week but personal life events got in the way.
For this review, I watched the International Cut. The international cut contains the Crappy Christmas stop motion animated segment which was removed from the U.S cut due to certain people finding it problematic. The segment: They used to laugh and call him Names, was moved up from the post credits slot to replace the Crappy Christmas in the US cut and the Ring My bell segment (which wasn't in the international cut) took over the post credits sequence. I heard that version on amazon accidentally contains the international cut but this may have been fixed by the time I post it. If it's no longer there, then importing the blu ray from canada or Germany is your best option.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this anthology thriller although this isn't quite a film for everyone. I would set my expectations to expect weird and comedic for most segments instead of overly violent or scary. Here are my thoughts on each segment including the animation framing segments that connect each story and regardless of what I feel about each segment, the creative teams behind each segment deserve a round of applause for their hard work and dedication.
Intro and Framing Sequences (Animated by United Creative Studio): The intro itself is quite decent and sets the tone up for the movie with a great intro score by Andrew Scott Bell. The animation, while not Pixar quality, looks decent for a film with an animation budget of only 13,000 euros raised on Kickstarter. I was a bit disappointed there wasn't more to the framing segments than just zooming in on an item to introduce each segment although I wonder if the low budget may have prevented them from executing more ambitious plans. The items that they zoom in at least correlate to each short (the advent calendar for A door too far or the pig mask for Pig for example)
1. A Door Too Far (Directed by Dominic Saxal) This short involving a teen who constantly eats the chocolates off of advent calendars (even resorting to stealing them from his sister's advent calendar) helps set up the tone of most of the films. I do wish this was a bit longer and the sister appear more throughout the short but it serves as a nice gateway into the Deathcember shorts.
2. All Sales Fatale (Directed by Michael Varrati) The short involving a Karen complaining about her purchase to a sales clerk without a receipt eventually escalates into a campy but hilarious affair that escalates into a bloody affair. I also wish this was longer and I would honestly want to watch a film that was just about these two arguing.
3. Aurora (directed by Lazar Bodroza) This short about a station plant being contaminated honestly didn't do much for me as it feels more like a standalone short that ended up in Deathcember although the visual are very impressive and if this was fleshed out more, then it could be an interesting film with potential about how North Korea took over the planet.
4. X-Mas on Fire (directed by Florian Freichs) This is actually one of my favorite segments in this entire film. Taking inspiration from the films of Quentin Tarantino (and I noticed influences from the films of Guy Ritchie as well), this involves a plan to rob a Jewelry store for cash while the officers celebrate Christmas. I can't give away the entire plot but the guy playing the lead role, Steve de Souza, had a role in shaping classic action scripts like running man, die hard, and 48 hours.
5. Villancicos (directed by Issac Ezban) I recommend watching this one in particular more than once because there is going to be quite a number of things you will miss while paying attention to other elements. This involves the family of a coma patient trying to keep him from flatlining. The ending can be crazy as well. Easily one of my favorites and it reminds me a bit from the work from Ari Aster like Midsomer.
6, Joy to the Girls (directed by Sonia Escolano) This short involves a group of women inviting men over to a Christmas party and seducing him. While it runs a little too short to make much of an impact, I did like how the direction of the story goes at the end and the actors and actresses do a great job in this.
7. The Hunchback of Burg Hayn (directed by Bob Pipe) This is another segment I really enjoyed. This silent film inspired segment involves a monster about to be hanged but saved at the last minute. Then the townpeople all start to celebrate with him and give him the love and compassion he deserved. I can't spoil the ending but it does get sad.
8. Family Matters (directed by Steve de Roover) This segment involves a bizarre ritual to include the daughter's boyfriend as part of their family. The family fascinates me and is another segment that I wish was made more to show the life of that boyfriend following the ritual and how he deals with the family.
9. Crappy Christmas: Operation Christmas Child (directed by Juergen Kling): Ah yes, the controversial segment that was removed from the U.S. cut. Honestly, while showing the rapes can be a little too much for some, this isn't condoning child rape in any way. Instead, this shows a kidnapped child who fights his way out by killing the priests responsible. The stop motion animation is reminiscent of aardman's designs in which I love. The first 2 shorts of the Crappy Christmas series can be found on Juergen's YouTube channel. This segment is another favorite of mine and its a shame that it is removed from US releases (although Amazon appears to have been showing the international cut and if that's removed, then you can import the blu ray from canada or germany and get the segment.)
10. Five Deaths in Blood Red (directed by Ama Lea) I do wonder if this was inspired by telenovas and if the obvious ADR was intentional. Anyway, this segment about someone killing off family members did manage to keep me on the toes on who did what and the ending is quite enjoyable.
11. Kill Santa (directed by Sadrac Gonzalex Perellon) This segment about 2 sisters who deal with the PTSD about their father (who dresses like Santa) does go a little bit too quickly but the actresses do a fantastic job and is another segment that has potential for a feature length film in the future.
12. Bad Santa (directed by Julian Richards). I'm not referring to the classic Christmas comedy of the same name with Billy Bob Thornton. Instead, its another weird segment about a father trying to scare his son by bringing up Krampus and later dressing as him. I still don't fully understand whether its a dream or not but its another entertaining segment nonetheless.
13. Santa is Coming (directed by Sang Woon-lee). This takes on a more Korean horror feel and involves dolls in a horrific way. This is another gem that I loved. I can't say too much about it without giving the ending away but its actually one of the more disturbing segments in this film.
14. A Christmas Miracle (directed by Vivienne Vaughn). A nice and short folklore inspired tale about a mother who pays a price to have her baby reborn. Not much else to say but the cinematography is nice.
15. Casetta sperduta in campagna (directed by Ruggero Deodato) A morbid gem about a mother who comes home and sees her family dead. The way the story goes leads to a surprising ending. I also loved the acting in this.
16. Milk and Cookies (directed by Sam Wineman) This is another great tale about a boy who lives under an abusive father writing to Santa in order to wish for life changing events. While the story goes the way you think it is, the kid is someone we can root for and relate to which helps to make this one of the best segments so far.
17. Pig (directed by Andreas Marschall) The plot is a bit similar to Joy to the girls but I feel this is better executed thanks to a clear message about feminism and the pig mask itself. The cinematography, lighting, and directing are all top notch in my opinion and while the only thing Christmas about it is the party they attend, the rest of it is enjoyable enough to make up for it.
18. They Once Had Horse (directed by Lucky McKee) This segment involves 2 campers/hunters having a conversation while waiting for an unseen monster to arrive. While this isn't personally one of my favorite segments, the cinematography and acting feel great. I wish there was more to these characters but I can see Lucky McKee fans enjoying this.
19. December the 19th (Milan Todorovic's) This is another story about 2 women conversing about life while skating. The ending is crazy to watch and the chemistry for the 2 actresses is well done. Another enjoyable segment overall.
20. Getting Away from It All (directed by Pollyanna McIntosh). Just like what the title says, it follows a guy trying to get away from all the Christmas celebrations but ends up in a ritual instead. While it starts off slow, it builds into a WTF finale that makes this segment one of the more enjoyable ones.
21. Family Feast (directed by Remi Frechette). This follows a lady during a party who slowly starts to go insane and ends up losing her sanity by the end. The contrast between the normal and twisted visions are the highlights as is the acting and the cinematography!! This is another gem overall!
22. Before Sundown (directed by Jason Rostovsky) In this short, 3 teens get chased by a monster as they are leaving a party. While I've seen other films that use this plot, the teens acting is at the least believable. I think this would be better as a full film but still ok.
23. Cracker (directed by John Cook Lynch) On the moon, to help with population control, families must pull a cracker which would result in either death or a fortune. I loved the aesthetics they used and how they blended in humor with potential foreboding death. Another amazing short that could have feature length potential in the future or at the least, a tv show. I also loved the music and PSA's they showed.
24. Operation Dolph (directed by Trent Haaga) The last short before the credits, this entertaining short shows the lengths of what someone dressed up as Santa will do to reunite with his beloved, even if it means murder. Basically, its Santa gone crazy and that's why I love it.
25. Christmas Corpse (directed by Annika Marx) This mid credits short involves office employees being infected if they touch the work papers. I thought the cinematography in this one was pretty good along with the lighting and its another short that has full length potential.
26. They Used to Laugh and Call Him Names (directed by Colangelo and Zach Shildwachter). This post credits scene involves a reindeer coming back to life and killing off each member of the family. The POV shots in this are great in particular. I was interested in the family and I wish this concept was hashed out further. In the U.S cut, this is moved to replace the Crappy Christmas short and the following short replaces its post credits slot.
27. Ring my Bell (directed by Aloysha Sarri) This short in the U.S Cut has a person dressed in Santa arrive over at a family's house and it ends with a bloody end. The twist at the end was one that I genuinely did not see coming. Shame this is only in the U.S Cut.
So to sum up my overall thoughts, I enjoyed many of the segments and even the ones that didn't do much for me still had positive things in each of them. Again, expect more of a weird film than a horror or violent flick (though blood and gore are still plentiful) but I do highly recommend giving this a shot!
For my next posts, they will cover links to interviews and behinds the scenes, reviews of the VHS and mediabook releases, and expand a bit more on the directors' previous works.
