It’s mid-October and the holiday season is right around the corner. For sane people, this means time for togetherness, gift-giving, and snuggling up all warm and cozy by the fire. For us troubled horror-loving lunatics, it means it’s that time of year to dust off our copies of Silent Night Deadly Night, Black Christmas, and Rare Exports while we check out what new yuletide frights are waiting for us under the tree.
Horror fans have been spoiled in recent years when it comes to holiday horror. Films like Krampus, A Christmas Horror Story, and Better Watch Out have quenched our thirst for that perfect pairing of scary and merry. Uncork’d Entertainment’s new film, Holiday Hell, is a holiday-centric anthology horror film that doesn’t do much to set itself apart from the pack, but definitely deserves a spot on your holiday watch list.
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The wraparound story in Holiday Hell concerns a woman who visits a shop of curios and oddities on the day before Christmas Eve in hopes of obtaining a gift for her sister. She meets the mysterious shopkeeper (Jeffrey Combs, Re-Animator) who, in an effort to promote his wares, regales her with the twisted stories behind some of his goods. The stories include a doll-faced slasher tale, a story about a haunted Rabbi figurine, a regular Joe’s descent into madness at a company Xmas party, and the tale of a ring with a dark backstory involving the occult. Naturally, not all as it seems in the wraparound story, and the film takes some macabre turns in its finale.
Holiday Hell unfortunately suffers from some unevenness with its storytelling. A couple of the entries are great horror tales with heavy ties to the holidays, particularly the third story (“Christmas Carnage”), which follows a downtrodden normal guy (wonderfully played by Joel Murray) who can’t seem to catch a break, leading him to snap while playing Santa Claus at a work Christmas party. A couple of the other tales are, sadly, pretty dull. Combs breathes life into the (already good) wraparound. It’s hard not to feel like Combs is under-utilized here, playing a part that feels similar to numerous other roles the horror icon has taken on (a distinguished man with a dash of evil mystique).
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The film also feels as though it loses sight of its holiday theme at times. The stories that are squarely rooted in holiday madness, like the tale of the possessed Hanukkah-gifted Rabbi puppet, are off-set by a couple segments that only barely attach themselves to the theme. Another aspect that is bound to earn at least a few finger wags, Holiday Hell is a Christmas/Holiday horror film…without even a flake of snow! There has to be some type of law against that.
In all, despite some flaws and missed opportunities, Holiday Hell has its strengths. The anthology format is a fan favorite for a reason, and this film is no exception. The variety of stories and the occasional use of Xmas imagery make this one a good choice for your holly jolly horror line-up. This one is also mandatory viewing for anyone who adores murderous Santa Clauses. Because seriously, who doesn’t love a killer Santa?
Holiday Hell will be available exclusively on Tubi starting October 15th and hits Digital and DVD on November 5th, from Uncork’d Entertainment.
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