Season’s greetings boils and ghouls! As we make our way towards almost everyone’s favorite holiday, it’s time once again for bloody streaming roulette. Christmas time is a wonderful family tradition that goes back hundreds of years and has many different countries’ imprint on the holiday. Christmas, also goes by many names around the world. But, I am not a history professor, nor are you my history pupil. If you were my pupil, it is only in the subjects of the macabre and the horrific. During last week’s bloody roulette, we took a chance on The Lazarus Effect. The film was a surprising winner all around. But all good things must come to an end. Will my winning streak continue?
Let’s spin the wheel kiddos!
What did I get myself into this week?
A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
This blood-drenched holiday horror takes us through four interwoven tales of terror. One story takes us to the depths of a private school where two mysterious deaths happened the year before. Fast forward a year later, some fellow students decide it’s a good idea to film a documentary on the students’ deaths at the haunted facility. Another tale, shows us a family in search of the perfect Christmas tree. After finding and cutting down said tree, while walking back the car the parents lose sight of their young son. After a frantic search, they find a calm and collected boy that looks like their son. But is it?
In tale number three, we see a family trying to salvage what seems to be a bad year with a good ‘ole family Christmas road trip. They attempt to reconnect with an estranged aunt and put a checkered past behind them all. But they get much more than they bargained for when they awake a sleepy Christmas beast. Finally, the main story takes us to Santa’s north pole headquarters where strange happenings begin to effect Santa’s team of elves on the most important night of the year. Can Santa save his elves and Christmas for the children around the world all in the same night?
Once I landed on this film. I had a feeling it was going to be a good time. The Horror Syndicate’s own Ray “Rayzor” Marek III, stamped his seal of approval on the film last year. So, I figured I would be in good hands and I was. A Christmas Horror Story was quite a decent surprise. It is a very low budget affair. But works well on every level. A bit too much CGI in location shots, but that was mainly due to the budgetary restraints I am sure. Most of the special gore effects were practical and done very well. The ending was also a nice little change as well.
What really grabbed my attention was the interweaving stories. They were all done very well. At times, the film reminded me of Michael Dougherty’s 2007 Halloween holiday tale, Trick ‘r Treat. The acting was decent enough for a B-movie of this caliber. The dialogue in the script was corny at times, especially during the Santa story. But that did little to turn me away from the film as a whole.
If you’re looking to add a holiday scare to your collection this Christmas season, look no further than A Christmas Horror Story. I enjoyed this film. Sure it was low budget and it isn’t what you would call a ‘blockbuster’ film. At the very least it is worth a watch.
This film is currently streaming on Netflix. Check it out!!!
How did we end up this week?
Looks like we have another fucking WINNER folks!
IMDB: 5.7/10
ZombiSurvivor: 6.8/10
As Always, thanks for reading this babble and LIKE and FOLLOW The Horror Syndicate!
STAY SCARED!
A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY TRAILER
-ZS
