2010 Holiday Gift Guide for Horror Fiends

Christmas is almost here and for all you slackers, that means just a few more days left to shop for your favorite horror fiends (or to use those gift cards you’ve received to get what you REALLY want)! So we’ve compiled a handy list of gifts that will warm every horror fan’s heart this holiday season.

Check out our picks below!

1. The Art of Hammer – A beautiful, full-cover coffee table book featuring the amazing poster art of Hammer Films. The Art of Hammer collects the very best and most iconic movie posters produced for the Hammer studio. This lavish hardcover brings together rare artwork from around the world. Featuring Hammer’s greatest films, including The Curse of Frankenstein, the Dracula series, and many more.

2. Lenore: Cooties - Titan Books recently re-released this collection of Roman Dirge’s “cute little dead girl” comics, and it is just gorgeous! This glossy book is perfect for your gothikly inclined friend.

3. Iron Fist’s Zombie Stomper Platform – Iron Fist Clothing makes some amazingly cool stuff, but these kicks are among my fave! Perfect for your zombie-lovin’ gal!

4. The Psycho Legacy – A kick-ass documentary on the Psycho films, I personally think every horror fan should own a copy! Interweaving ultra-rare and never-before-seen interview footage of Anthony Perkins and dozens of interviews including Robert Loggia, Olivia Hussey, Henry Thomas, Diana Scarwid, Tom Holland, Hilton Green, Mick Garris and many more, The Psycho Legacy is the first documentary to unite and explore decades of Psycho movies in one place, revealing surprises and insights into what is considered the grandfather of modern horror.

5. Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy Collector’s Edition – Speaking of documentaries, this is one of the year’s best! This special two DVD Collector’s Edition comes with a total of eight hours of entertainment, including enhanced extended interviews, 4-hour filmmaker commentary and a limited edition poster featuring original artwork by Matthew Joseph Peak. A must for any Freddy fan!

6. Splatterhouse (PS3 or XBox) – This game is pure, gory fun! Metal heads, horror freaks and hardcore action gamers, unite! Rick Taylor and the Terror Mask are back, tearing, cutting and beating their way through inhuman abominations and hordes of the undead in a tale of love, mutilation and near-insanity. A wall of metal tunes underscores blood-soaked battles with massive bosses, brutal weapons, over-the-top gore and real-time regeneration. And while your ears are ringing, a new Splatterkill System lets you get your hands bloody!

7. Zombie Pin Up Calendar 2011 or Monster Movies: 2011 Wall Calendar – Whether your horror fan is into hot chicks bloodied up like zombies or the more classic Universal movie monsters, you can’t go wrong with either of these calendars.

8. Mini Cassette Tees Horror Tees – We love Mini Cassette Tees! Not only are their t-shirts high quality, but their designs are totally unique and you won’t see them anywhere else. Their may be imitators, but these are the true originals!

9. Bloodbath Morbid Moisture Body Lotion – Bloodbath on Etsy has a ton of cool horror inspired bath and beauty products like “Lip Embalm”, “Zombie Foot Scrubby Soap”, “Dexter Slide Soap” and “Corpse Cleaner” body wash, but my fave is their “Morbid Moisture Body Lotion”. Their intoxicating scents include Cleopatra’s Curse, Creepy Colada, Death by Chocolate, Petrifying Pomegranate, Screamsicle, Vanilla Vamp and Zombie Zen!

10. Hollywood is Dead Poster Art – Artist Matt Busch has taken the world by storm this year with his “Hollywood is Dead” poster art. Check out his zombified versions of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, E.T., Jaws and more and give your fave horror fan some sick new poster art!

Top 5 Unusual and Underrated Christmas Horror Movies

It’s that time of year again when all the horror sites out there make their top whatever lists of holiday horror films to watch…and all the lists are pretty much the same. Aren’t you sick of being recommended for the umpteenth time to watch Silent Night, Deadly Night, Christmas Evil and Black Christmas? Are you looking for some new holiday horrors to spook your holiday spirit?

Well, look no further because I have compiled a very unique top 5 list of lesser-known and lesser-recognized holiday-themed horror movies that are sure to knock your stockings off!

5.) Wind Chill

It’s a snowy Christmas Eve and a college student who is trying to get home for Christmas is ride-sharing with a stranger. They are in an accident that leaves them stranded and then freaky stuff starts to occur. This is a more psychological horror film than anything else, though the strange stuff that happens to the stranded girl and guy is definitely eerie. Just don’t watch it before you have to travel for the holidays!

Order it on Amazon!

4.) A Christmas Tale

Part of the DVD set “6 Films to Keep You Awake” from Spain, A Christmas Tale is about a group of childhood chums that stumble upon a thief dressed as Santa who has fallen into a hole in the forest. After learning she is a criminal who has recently stolen a bunch of money, the kids sadistically torture her with hopes they can get their money on the cash. Eventually, they think they’ve killed her, but the woman manages to escape and starts viciously hunting down the children to get her revenge. This is an extremely well-done and tense film, but also throws in some laughs with the Goonie-like group of kids and many ‘80s pop culture references.

Order it on Amazon!

3.) Inside

It’s Christmas Eve, and pregnant Sarah is due the next day. She is tragically all alone after losing her husband in a car accident, but that’s about to change as she hears a knock at the door. A mysterious woman appears who eventually tries to break into Sarah’s house to kill her and her baby. Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past couple years, you’ve definitely heard about this ultra-violent and uber-gory French import. Not only is the gore fantastic, but I also love the performances by the two actors and the eerie isolation of Sarah’s home.

Order it on Amazon!

2.) P2

A lot of people maligned this movie when it came out, but I actually enjoyed it. A woman fights for her life in her building’s parking garage when a lonely security guard who is obsessed with her decides that she’ll be spending Christmas with him this year. I was surprised how enjoyable this flick was, from the festive holiday dinner scene to how hard the main character actually fought back, and while it does have its flaws (the whole water in the elevator scene is a wee bit laughable) overall it was an entertaining holiday flick!

Order it on Amazon!

1.) Sheitan

Beware the dangers of Christmas Eve! A group of twentysomethings meet a seemingly sweet and innocent woman at a club on Christmas Eve, who invites them back to her family’s run-down farmhouse in the French countryside. Once they arrive, the kids realize that the “family” is slightly off…Sheitan another uncomfortable French film and is probably the must disturbing and strange movies of the bunch. Not only does the film make you feel uncomfortable, but there is plenty of nasty violence, incest, sex and devil worship to shock and satiate even the most jaded of viewers.

Order it on Amazon!

Experiments in Terror 3 (2008)

Experiments in Terror 3 is a collection of horror shorts covering a wide variety of time periods and sub-genres. From silent slapstick to avant guarde, there are six shorts (plus one extra) and within these is something for anyone looking for something slightly off-kilter than the usual horror-fare.

The short films in Experiments in Terror 3 are on the surreal, hallucinogenic side, offering glimpses into the dark unknown and into the very blackened heart of evil. Let me introduce you to each of the six short films contained in the collection…

First is the clever The Psychotic Odyssey of Richard Chase by Carey Burtt. Made in 1999, the film utilizes Barbie-type dolls, stuffed animals and sets made out of construction paper to tell the true story of cannibal-killer Richard Chase, “the Vampire of Sacramento”, who believed he needed to drink blood to stay alive and killed many people (and animals) to sustain his “need”. The way Burtt decided to tell the story with dolls instead of actors was really effective. It was creepy the way the innocence of toys was used to tell the story of such a twisted individual as Chase. I really got a kick out of this inventive short!

Next is Satan Claus, a nightmarish fairy tale created by cult director J.X. Williams in 1975. The short is told in a very surreal way and tells the story of a young boy who is left alone on Christmas Eve by his neglectful parents and summons “Satan Claus”. This hallucinogenic orgy may only be three minutes long, but it is nonetheless one of my favorites of this collection. Williams made this short, cobbled together from other films, to get back at a theater owner he worked for and who owed him money. When he didn’t pay up, Williams showed Satan Claus before a children’s film and many angry patrons demanded the theater owner refund them for the “traumatizing” experience! Everything from the washed-out appearance of the film to Satan’s otherworldly Hell and even his garish appearance reminded me of a Rob Zombie music video in the best possible way!

An excerpt from the full-length feature film Loma Lynda is next, titled “The Red Door”. This is a nasty, grim scene that shows an evil old scumbag belittling and then raping a young woman before her alter-ego gets revenge. Shot in HD, this film looked professional and slick. The disturbing subject matter along with the dark characters reminded me of a David Lynch film. I especially liked the odd music used as well as the blacked out eyes of the girl’s alter ego. Though this was one nasty piece of work, I can’t wait to see the full-length film from filmmaker Jason Bognacki (it is currently still playing in film festivals, but should be released on DVD soon).

In Ben Rivers’ Terror!, he deconstructs the horror genre by splicing together countless scenes from different horror movies like Friday the 13^th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Burning, The Beyond, Halloween, Zombi and many more to show the genre conventions of horror. He follows the structures and clichés of horror films, showing similar scenes from different movies and how they all add up to the big, messy finale. Though the beginning is a bit slow and repetitive as Rivers shows all the similar “set-up” scenes used again and again in horror, this really makes the viewer take a hard look at our favorite genre and understand why we love it so, even if it is sometimes predictable. Besides, you’ll have a ton of fun playing “Name that Horror Movie” with each clip shown and the bloody finale is well worth the wait!

After the first four stellar shorts, the remaining two are a bit of a letdown. Born of the Wind is a cheap 1961 film about a scientist that falls in love with a mummy princess he has resurrected, but its slow pace and amateur production make it hard to sit through. Then there is 2007′s Manuelle Labor, another silent film that tries to mimic the style of ’20s vaudeville. The story, about a sister that gives birth to a pair of hands, just feels like its trying too hard to be cutesy and artsy and comes off just plain boring.

There is also an extra short in the “Extras” portion of the disc, entitled It Gets Worse. It too is shot like a silent film, but features plenty of lowbrow gags to overcome its slow pace.

All in all, Experiments in Terror 3 is a fine collection of varied styles of horror. It has something for everyone, and though my favorites included the first four films, I’m sure that even the silent films will find some fans! It is usually very difficult for horror fans to find such a diverse collection of shorts, but Provocateur Pictures has indeed assembled some shorts that are definitely worth your time!

Available from Amazon!

A Christmas Tale (2008)

Part of the 6 Films to Keep You Awake set that was released by Lionsgate in late 2008, A Christmas Tale is set in Spain in December of 1985 and tells the tale of five childhood friends that stumble upon a body of a woman dressed in a Santa suit that’s fallen into a deep hole in the forest. After verifying that she is still alive (by pouring soda on her head) two of the kids go get the police while the other three try to haul her out of the hole with some rope. Once at the police station, the kids are ignored by the town’s cop but find a “wanted” notice for the woman in the hole. She is a dangerous criminal named Rebeca Expósito who recently stole a bunch of money from a bank. They run back to tell the rest of the gang and together they decide to leave her in the hole until she gives up the hiding place of the money. They resort to starving and torturing her to get her to tell them where the money is. Despite their promise to let her go when they get the money, they decide to keep her in the hole, afraid she might come after them for revenge if they let her out.

Meanwhile, a few of the kids are horror fans and decide to reenact a voodoo ritual on the woman that they saw in a zombie film. Soon after, the kids assume the woman has died but later find she has escaped and they believe her to be a zombie. Undead or not, she is not out for blood against the brats that tortured her.
See, this is why I don’t want kids – they can turn out to be so sadistic! This film takes a supposedly happy-go-lucky, innocent group of kids and makes them the villains. It is so easy for them to torture a human being in the name of greed that you sympathize more with the woman, a violent bank-robber, than with the 12-year-olds. They pelt her with rocks, leave her out in the rain, starve her and taunt her…No wonder she wants to take an ax to them once she escapes!

Yep, this film carries some grim tones, but it isn’t nearly as mean-spirited as say, Eden Lake. Plus, it lightens the tone with early interactions between the Goonie-like gang of characters and the 80′s setting. We get fun references to The Karate Kid, Star Wars, Ghost Busters, that Simon electronic game and even some 80′s music (in Spanish!). Then there are a bunch of horror films you can see in the background in a kid’s room (on VHS!), including Tombs of the Blind Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, Horror Express and more! So really, despite all their viciousness, this group of kids is pretty likable. Their carefree days of hanging out in their clubhouse, watching horror movies, playing in the woods and riding their bikes come in sharp contrast to the horror they are capable of.

The child actors in the film do a terrific job in A Christmas Tale and never once did I doubt their believability. They all acted and behaved like any 12-year-olds would and even fought amongst themselves as their problems escalated. Their interactions with each other felt very real, like they really were friends in real life. Also, the victim was played very well by Maru Valdivielso. Even though she is a criminal, she still made you feel sorry for her and by the end you did want her to seek revenge on the kids.

Unfortunately, all of the violence we see on-screen is directed at the Valdivielso’s character. She gets pretty trashed in this film and I thought the makeup department did a pretty great job showing her deterioration. The gore is pretty nil except for a impalement, which doesn’t end up being that gory anyway.

The film is beautifully shot by director Paco Plaza (who helped co-direct REC with Jaume Balaguero). Plaza really knows how to capture the feeling of being a kid. The final chase through the empty amusement park is very thrilling and really gives the film some nice tension that earlier scenes lack.

The film does drag on a bit too long in the end and while I appreciated the fun and shocking “second” finale, it felt a little tacked on. Nonetheless, A Christmas Tale was a delight to watch and comes highly recommended!

Available from Amazon!

My Top 5 Christmas Horror Movies

Happy Horror-days, fatal fiends! I want to bring you plenty of season’s bleedings, er, greetings, so I’ve compiled a handy list of holiday horrors for this horrendous holiday season!

So grab a glass of egg nog and a slice of fruit cake and settle in for some holiday fear with the following Fatally Yours’ approved Christmas films!

5. Two Front Teeth – This is a campy and tongue-in-cheek indie flick that celebrates the season with killer elves, a trio of nun assassins under an oath of silence called the “Silent Knights,” an evil tooth fairy posing as Santa Claus and “X-mas Files” journalist Gabe Snow trying to piece the mystery of the crash of flight 1225 together. Though this low-budget film has its flaws, its witty Christmas references make it memorable and will put you in a holly-jolly mood!


4. Christmas Evil – A Christmas cult classic, this film came out before the notoriously boycotted Silent Night, Deadly Night, even though it has the similar theme of a man snapping and doning a red Santa suit to instill Christmas fear in anyone who he deems as being “naughty.”

Though the first half of the film is a little slow, the action picks up in the last half as the lead character, Harry, finally snaps and begins taking people out with killer toys that he’s hand-crafted. A stand-out performance from Brandon Maggert (Fiona Apple’s dad!) and the film’s dark tone make Christmas Evil a memorable holiday film.

3. Marcus – Complaining about having to spend time with your dysfunctional family this Christmas? After viewing the bleak and disturbing indie film Marcus, I’m sure you’ll stop your bitching and have a newfound appreciation for your own family. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the film creates a tension that is only matched by the family members’ distrust and deceit.


2. Silent Night, Deadly Night – Poor Billy…he saw his parents get murdered by a maniac dressed in a Santa suit when he was young and has been traumatized ever since. Just a glimpse of Santa can set him off…Years after being raised by nuns in an orphanage Billy gets a holiday job at a toy store, but snaps when he has to play the store’s Santa Claus. He demands “punishment” for all who’ve been “naughty” and chops his way back to the orphanage where he grew up to have his revenge on the nuns.

This is probably the most notorious Christmas movie because of the controversy it generated when it was first released. Though Christmas Evil came years before and had a similar premise of a killer Santa, people still protested Silent Night, Deadly Night because of its portrayal of a killer dressed as Santa Claus. Watching it now you don’t really understand what all the fuss was about, but its still a pretty solid horror film and it even boasts a topless Linnea Quigley in an early role!

1. Santa’s Slay – An over-the-top, action-packed, hilarious holiday horror movie! Not very many people have heard of this film, but it is well worth hunting down. It features wrestler Bill Goldberg as an evil Santa Claus whose 1,000 years of spreading good cheer and delivering presents are up and now he’s in a killing mood…

There are so many great holiday references and gags in the film (death by menorah, Santa taking out a group of carolers, festively dressed strippers, etc.) and the film has an overall black comedic tone that makes it laugh-out-loud hilarious! If you haven’t seen Santa’s Slay before now, it will definitely become a new holiday tradition!

Two Front Teeth (2008)

Dear Santa, 

This year all I want for Christmas is a new holiday horror movie that actually delivers. I can only watch Black Christmas, Christmas Evil and Silent Night, Deadly Night so many times over the holidays! I want something new, something fresh and something that doesn’t involve horrible acting from 20-year-olds trying to pass themselves off as teens. 

Santa, if you bring me this one thing, I promise to be good all next year…no matter how many bad horror movies I have to put up with.

Yours truly,
Fatally Yours

And with that, it seems that Christmas has come early this year, as Santa delivered a shiny new Christmas horror movie to me called Two Front Teeth.

Two Front Teeth may not be all I asked for – it drags at times, has bad pacing and the storyline isn’t as developed as I’d like – but this horror-comedy delivers plenty of laughs.

Gabe Snow (Johnny Francis Wolf) is a timid journalist who works for the X-Mas Files, an Enquirer or sorts that covers holiday-related phenomenon, such as sightings of Rudolph, mutant snowmen, Santa giving the gift of…crabs, a sex scandal involving Mrs. Claus, and so on. While he’s busy working late one Christmas Eve, his wife Noel (Megan Pearson) is busy boinking a mall Santa…when out on the roof arises such a clatter, she and mall Santa spring from the bed to see what is the matter. They don’t find Santa coming down the chimney, but instead some vicious, bloodthirsty elves. It seems that one of Gabe’s stories is actually true, and these evil elves will stop at nothing to find Gabe’s source for the story. Gabe’s source has something of value to the elves and that it is all tied to a story Gabe wrote on the crash of Flight 1225.

Gabe and Noel flee the elves, but end up wrapped up in a Christmas conspiracy involving tooth fairies, evil elves, a vampiric Santa Claus, nun assassins, Rudolph’s red nose and killer fruitcake. Can Christmas be saved before it’s too late?

Two Front Teeth is certainly a fun film, peppered with Christmas references, but it is not without its flaws. Its comedy is superb, with quite a few very funny lines (“They didn’t have any ho-ho’s” or “You’ll shoot your eye out, you son of a bitch! ), but the plot feels lacking, almost like the jokes were written first and the story was cobbled around them. The lack of a well-developed story is the film’s biggest problem and really drags the film down. The reason why the elves are attacking and the story surrounding Flight 1225 are explained briefly (in an animation scene), but I would have preferred more of a focus on this part of the plot. Without more emphasis on the how’s and why’s, the film soon starts to feel like we are just watching Noel and Gabe run from point A to point B to point C, which definitely gets old after a while.

The pacing also feels uneven. When the film begins we are immediately thrown into the action, but as Gabe and Noel try to outrun the evil elves things get repetitive. Things pick up towards the end in a final showdown, but between then things feel a little slow. Also, some scenes drag on a bit too long and the film could have benefited from some tighter editing.

Despite these problems, the film features some truly memorable Christmas gags. My personal favorites include the “Silent Knights,” a trio of nun assassins sent from the Vatican to save Christmas, the 3 Kings Motel, using fruit cake as a weapon and Clausferatu, a vampiric Santa. This kind of humor is definitely the film’s strong point.

Another strong point is the acting. For an independent film, all the actors do a good job with their characters. Even the actors who play the evil elves are creepy! And what great makeup is done on them! The special effects, with the exception of a cheesy severed head, are also decent, though this isn’t a gory film.

Two Front Teeth is by no means a perfect film, but despite its flaws it still manages to be pretty damn entertaining. If you are looking to add a bit of Christmas cheer to your holiday season, all you need is Two Front Teeth!

Ask Santa to stuff it in your stocking!

Available from Amazon!

Sheitan (2006)

I was just bombarded with the strange and disturbing Sheitan, a horror film from France directed by Kim Chapiron and written by Kim and Christian Chapiron. Sheitan is a shocking, disturbing and crazy film that features some of the oddest and unsettling characters this side of a David Lynch film.

A group of twentysomethings meet the seemingly sweet and innocent Eve (Roxane Mesquida) at a club on Christmas Eve. Eve invites them back to her run-down farmhouse in the French countryside, where her parents are out of town. Once there, they meet the strange housekeeper, Joseph (Vincent Cassel). He and the rest of the countryfolk there seem slightly…off. The kids slowly start to ask themselves, just what is wrong with everyone? Then, one by one, the club kids fall victim to Joseph’s plan, one that involves his pregnant “wife,” their unborn baby and Sheitan, the devil himself.

Sheitan is a very uncomfortable movie to watch. It’s not that it’s a gory or gross-out movie (though the film has its share of gross-outs…how ‘bout that birthing scene?), but that the characters are just so strange and everything feels off-kilter. Joseph spends the entire film leering maniacally, while Eve always seems to be hiding something behind her big, seductive doe eyes. The townsfolk the kids run into are equally weird, giggling amongst themselves at the kids’ expense while “playing” rape in the hot springs (never mind that they are all related). There’s also plenty of nasty violence, incest, sex and devil worship to shock and satiate even the most jaded of viewers.

Though the kids that follow Eve out to the French countryside aren’t all that likable (the guys just want to get laid, they fight amongst each other over girls, one of them is cheating on his girlfriend, and the lone female of the group doesn’t really have a personality) you still feel uneasy for them when things begin to get awkward. When the shit really hits the fan, you’re in a panic, just like the characters. Also like the characters, we as an audience are never quite sure what is going on, but the tension and unease keeps mounting until the disturbing finale.

The acting is exceptionally well-done, especially by Vincent Cassel playing the creepy Joseph, who repeatedly steals the show. His lascivious performance made me feel like I needed a scalding shower after watching Sheitan, but I just couldn’t take my eyes off of him! The other actors did a great job as well, including Roxane Mesquida as Eve and Olivier Bartelemy, Nicolas Le Phat Tan, Leila Bekhti, and Ladj Ly as the club kids in for a hellish holiday!

The only complaint some genre fans might have is that it takes quite a while for something to truly “happen.” During that time, though, I defy you not to be creeped out by Vincent Cassel’s character or the rest of the inbred townsfolk. In my opinion, the film makes up for some slow spots by throwing in some black humor that will have you rolling on the floor when you’re not cringing at the screen!

Sheitan is an absolute nutjob, but I loved every dirty second of it. Its disturbing story, creepy location and, most of all, oddball characters make Sheitan a must-see. While it sounds like a run-of-the-mill slasher (a bunch of horny, attractive kids stuck in isolation somewhere are tracked down by a psycho killer), I assure you it is anything but standard fare. Sheitan will leave you dizzy with disturbance.

Available from Amazon!

Santa's Slay (2005)

The most criminally underrated Christmas horror movie (one that is actually clever, funny and GOOD) is Santa’s Slay, a 2005 release that was helmed by first-time director David Steiman (Brett Ratner’s longtime assistant!). Not many people know about this film, but it is one of the funniest and most fun “Holiday Horror” films!

From the opening sequence where an annoying and screwed-up rich family (starring the familiar faces of Fran Drescher, Chris Kattan, Rebecca Gayheart and James Caan!) gets butchered by Santa (WWE wrestler Bill Goldberg), I was hooked!

You see, Santa is actually the son of Satan and 1,000 years ago he lost a bet to an angel in human disguise (a scene shown in stop-motion animation that is reminiscent of the older Christmas specials and actually WORKS!). Ever since then, he’s been forced to deliver presents to children, spread holiday cheer and be the holly-jolly do-gooder we’ve all come to know. Now, the 1,000 years are up and Santa is once again free to spread some Christmas FEAR!!

Santa descends on Hell Township and it’s up to residents Nicolas Yuleson (Douglas Smith), his eccentric inventor grandpa (Robert Culp) and Nicolas’ friend/girlfriend Mary (Emilie de Ravin of Lost fame) to try and stop the son of Satan!

This film is surely no masterpiece, but it is an insanely fun ride in Santa’s Slay! Bill Goldberg is great as the hulking, Viking-like Santa Claus. His one-liners are hilariously cheesy, but in the best way possible, and his gruff delivery is uproarious. Santa’s killing spree includes taking out a group of carolers, killing someone with the sharpened tip of a candy cane, running someone over with his sleigh (pulled by a gigantic buffalo, by the way!), stringing someone up with Christmas lights, taking out a group of festively-dressed strippers, death by menorah and lighting someone’s hair on fire.

The only problem with all the killings is that there wasn’t that much grue to go around. This was a low-budget film, and unfortunately they just didn’t have enough dough to throw around some of the wet, sticky stuff. Gorehounds will be sadly disappointed, especially if they are used to bloody films like Silent Night, Deadly Night or Christmas Evil, two other “evil Santa” horror movies!

Still, despite the lack of gore, the film still delivers. David Steiman, who both wrote and directed, did a pretty competent job, even if he did emerge from the fire pits of hell as Brett Ratner’s assistant. The story is cohesive, entertaining and engaging. The film moves at a fast clip, and once the action starts, it doesn’t let up.

The film is never scary, but its black comedy and mean-spirit are more than enough to entertain! Also, even though it had a limited budget, the film looks great! The production values are very high and it looks like it was shot on 35mm. Again, the only thing that was lacking was the gore.

Santa’s Slay is a clever, wacky and very fun horror film that shouldn’t be taken too seriously but also shouldn’t be missed! Instead of re-watching Black Christmas this year, take a chance on the rip-roaring and riotous Santa’s Slay!

And remember, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been naughty or nice; Santa Claus is coming to town…to kill you!!

Available on Amazon!

Black Christmas (1974)

Black Christmas is a cult favorite among horror-lovers. Ooooh boy was this good! It's Christmas time, and in the sorority house all the sisters are leaving to go home to their families. The girls throw one last party, and receive some pretty obscene phone calls. The next day, most of the girls leave for the holiday leaving only a few in the house, along with the boozy den-mother.

One of the girls is missing, though (she was killed the previous night at the party, wrapped in a plastic sheet and placed in the attic)...The police finally get involved after a 13-year-old is found murdered in a nearby park. The creepy phone calls persist as one by one the girls (and others!) are killed.

I fear obscene phone calls so this movie really creeped me out. The killer goes all out with the heavy breathing, the screeching of obscenities, even playing different roles on the phone. Olivia Hussey (she of Romeo and Juliet fame - the Franco Zeffirelli version) is also in it -- she's got to have the best hair ever! Margot Kidder also puts in a performance as the party-hardy head of the sorority.

Watch this movie alone in the dark and see how far you jump when your phone rings - I totally freaked when my phone rang in the middle of the movie!

Order it on Amazon!

Originally posted on Fatally-Yours.com.