Bloody Santa - Tödliche Weihnachten

Santa Isn't Real (2023) is a film I recently watched on Tubi. The story follows a young woman who wakes up from a coma after being attacked by someone dressed as Santa on Christmas night-a tragedy that left her family dead. As she tries to move on by spending her first holiday out of the hospital with friends, it quickly becomes clear that the killer may have returned.

Written and directed by Zac Locke (Float), the film stars Kaya Coleman (Beyond Black Beauty), Scarlett Sperduto (Wanted), Cissy Ly (Sad Eyes), and David Mitchum Brown (At War with Love).

This is yet another low-budget film that feels every bit of its budget. The writing and acting are painfully weak, with circumstances and dialogue that come across as completely inauthentic. The storyline is overly simplistic, predictable, and capped with a twist that's easy to see coming. While the kills are passable at best, they don't elevate the film, though the "pillow princess" kill does stand out as the highlight.

In conclusion, Santa Isn't Real is a disappointing and forgettable addition to the Christmas horror genre. I'd rate it a 3/10 and recommend skipping this one.

I fully expected this to be substantially worse than it actually is, considering it is more or less a D-grade film...and the premise is kind of weak.

Don't get me wrong...it's still pretty bad.

Just not AS bas as I expected it to be.

The story here, revolves around a woman named Nikki, who ends up in a coma, after being attacked by Santa on Christmas Eve, in a way that made it look like she tried to commit suicide.

When she wakes up from her coma- nearly a year later- no one believes her, when she tries to tell them what actually happened.

That is...until he comes back to attack her and her friends, while they are held up in a remote cabin in the woods.

Mediocre acting aside.

The main problem it suffers from is, not only, a weak script...but also some really poor set design.

I found it really hard to get over how bad the sets were.

They felt so staged.

Which really took away from the ambience of the film.

There's also a major lull after the opening scene.

As the focus shifts to lame relationship drama, prior to the horror kicking back in...which really disturbs the flow of the film.

A good deal of the film attempts to establish lore that argues Santa is Satan...and that it's not logically consistent to believe in Jesus and Satan...but not Santa.

Which isn't exactly good writing.

It probably would have been much better if it didn't take so long to suss this all out...and just got back into the horror.

Because you start to lose interest by the time Satan Santa makes their reappearance.

With what ensues not being quite enough to win you back.

To be frank...the only thing that saves this from being completely unwatchable...is the fact that the production quality is half decent (aforementioned issues aside).

Though, I think it would have benefitted from being a short film.

Instead of forcibly trying to draw it out like they did.

Because it's just too slow, without enough action to justify- or make up for- the lulls.

In their defense, however...they do attempt to give the drama purpose, with a twist.

But you really have to force yourself to stick with it.

Luckily, I went into this with extremely low expectations.

That it somewhat- and somehow- exceeded.

Though, certainly not by much.

Because it is pretty bad.

But at least it's short...because it certainly could have been worse.

2 out of 10.

This movie kicked off the night portion of Friday for Nightmares Film Festival. I got to see this for its World premiere, which was exciting. The writer/director was also in attendance, which was a treat since we got to learn a bit more about the behind-the-scenes. Looking at the title, I was hoping this would be a Christmas horror movie of sorts. It is that for sure.

Synopsis: after suffering a brutal attack on Christmas eve, a young woman struggles to convince her friends that the assailant was none other than ole' Kris Kringle. When Santa returns to terrorize the group in their remote cabin the next Christmas, Nikki (Kaya Coleman) and her friends must overcome disbelief as they fight to stay alive.

We start this off on what I believe is Christmas eve. Nikki is getting things ready as she has a friend coming over. We see text messages from her boyfriend, Nathan (Trey Anderson), that is both cute as well as a bit inappropriate. I also believe that she is waiting on her friend, Jess (Scarlett Sperduto) to show up. Things take a turn though. We see feet appear in the fireplace. Santa Claus is here and he attacks Nikki.

She then wakes up in the hospital. What she doesn't realize though is that she's been in a coma for a year. They weren't sure that she was going to wake up. The doctor, Dana Millican, wants her to stay a couple of days due to everything that she went through before her coma. She declines and wants to get out.

Things are off and she can't fully put her finger on why. Part of the reason is that everyone thinks she tried to kill herself. She denies that, but she's afraid to tell what happened, for fear that they'll think she is crazy. She reaches out to Jess and Nathan to see if they want to celebrate Christmas with her. She learns that they're going to a cabin of their friend, MJ (Cissy Ly). Nikki convinces them to allow her to come.

This isn't the ideal time that she was expecting. Jess and Nathan are hiding a secret. Nikki also reveals to the group what happened to her. MJ seems to humor her where the others can't believe it. They point out the fact that Santa isn't real. Nikki brings up different lore from around the world including how dark Nordic countries look at this lore or the fact that Santa works with Krampus. The truth might be closer to what Nikki said than they realize when strange things start happening as a snowstorm rolls in.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that the premise is an interesting one. Seeing the title, I chuckled. There is a bit of humor here, but this is played straight. What works here is the set up where Nikki is attacked. I found it intriguing to then put her into a coma and have her wake up a year later. That is a creative way to get us to the next holiday season. It also allows certain things in her friend group to happen as well.

Now that I've set that up, let me delve more into the character of Nikki. Something that I think is a bit of a misstep is that we don't get more of a baseline of her before the coma. We get to see her in that first sequence, but I'm not sure that was enough to set up her. I do think that Coleman plays this role well after she wakes up. It would be tough. The last things she remembers are from the previous Christmas season. It would hard to handle the changes that went down because of this. She is also convinced that Santa is after her, because again, everything that happened was just like yesterday for her. I do like playing with her sanity here with the crash course of events.

Where I'll shift then next would be the character of Santa. I won't give away if this is stating he is real or if this is someone stalking them. The reveal was something that I guessed, but it worked for me. I thought that it fit the story that was being presented. It also has a solid stinger ending that I enjoyed. The different lore that gets referenced is also good. What I find interesting here is that this almost is looking at religion vs. Pagan beliefs. This is something I'm a fan of since I'm an atheist and love looking at mythology, whether it is ancient or current Christian mythos. I don't know if this amounts to much though in the grand scheme of the story. What it does though is give Nikki more of an argument when trying to convince her friends.

That should be enough for the story as this isn't the deepest there. This is a slasher film at the heart of what we're doing here. What comes with that is that I didn't love the pacing. I do think this is deliberate like most in the subgenre are. That's not to say it is boring though. It just takes time to get into it after the opening sequence. I do think that the cinematography was good. I learned that this was filmed when it was snowing at times and it felt cold. That captures the Christmas vibe. I thought the effects we got for the kills was solid. I'm always a fan there. You may also know that this is one of the things I need for a good slasher. This one is more subdued in this department. Not a bad thing necessarily, but I also can't give it high marks there. I also thought the soundtrack fit for what was needed.

All that is left then would be the acting. I thought the cast worked for a low budget slasher. I've already said that I wished they did more with setting the baseline for Coleman. She was solid still as her world was turned upside down. I thought that Sperduto and Anderson were also fine. They aren't subtle in the secret they're hiding. Both worked for their characters. Ly as also interesting. She seems like she might flip-flop on her stances. She helped to make the time at the isolated cabin more interesting. Other than that, the rest of the cast was fine for what was needed. Credit to whomever was in the Santa costume as well. What I like here is that whoever is behind everything was in so props there.

In conclusion, if you know me then you know that I'm not the biggest slasher fan. I do think that this is a solid Christmas slasher. We have the mystery of whether Santa is real or not, which adds a wrinkle here. We also have Nikki might be going crazy which makes her a suspect, but it also could be someone playing on that. I do appreciate that element, even though it is one we've seen before. This is made well enough. I think the cinematography is the bright spot there, but the effects were also solid. If you like slasher films, especially the holiday-based ones, give this a watch. I don't think this is the strongest there, but worth a viewing, nonetheless.

My Rating: 6 out of 10.

I've been an avid fan of horror movies for a long time, and Scarlett Sperduto's performances have consistently caught my attention. Since her early days, notably her impressive portrayal as an Angelina double, Scarlett has demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and evolve as an actress. It's thrilling to see her transition from roles that stereotypically fit 'younger' actresses to more mature, nuanced characters.

What stands out about Scarlett is her exceptional talent for bringing depth and complexity to her roles. Whether it's her expressive portrayal of emotions or her ability to transform into a different character, she brings a unique authenticity to the screen. This transition to mature roles seems not just a step in her career but a leap into a realm where her skills can truly shine.

It's clear that Scarlett has found her groove. She has settled into a comfort zone that doesn't mean complacency, but a newfound confidence in her craft. This comfort, I believe, is her stepping stone to taking on more challenging and prominent lead roles. In particular, given my love for horror films, I can't help but envision Scarlett taking the genre by storm with lead roles that exploit her range and intensity.

The film industry, especially the horror genre, needs talents like Scarlett Sperduto. Her evolution from 'younger' roles to commanding lead roles is not just a testament to her growth as an actress but also serves as an inspiration in an industry often pigeonholed by typecasting. Scarlett's continued ascent in challenging lead roles could pave the way for a more dynamic and diverse representation in Hollywood, and I, for one, am excited to see where her talent takes her next.