I’m something of a Joe Begos scholar, which is a way of saying I have seen all of his movies and have tracked his evolution as a purveyor of super-duper grungy horror films since the early 2010s. And I must say: I am impressed. He has gone from decent to good to great, and there’s a clear arc showing that change in each of his movies, right up to his most recent one, Christmas Bloody Christmas.
Santa Claus horror is a thing as far back as the 1980s, and probably earlier*. Begos’ movie says, “Hey, what if Santa Claus was the Terminator?” and lets the ax fall. What I particularly like, apart from the top-tier slashin’, is that Begos manages to say a few things here and there about the pieces making up his basic conceit without using any kind of punctuation marks. So many people making horror movies in the last few years can’t help but tell their audience what their movies are about. Begos doesn’t. Shut up. Sit down. Watch the movie. Whatever, you’ll like it.
You can read my full review of the film over at Paste Magazine.
*But my brain is sputtering out already just thinking about it.
A Constant Visual Feast 