It is time for another horror Christmas movie. This time it’s the slasher fest Christmas Bloody Christmas from Shudder.
A life-sized robotic Santa has been released to malls and toy stores this Christmas season. Unfortunately, it was based on a military robot and there is a malfunction that reverts the Santas back to their original programming. Tori (Riley Dandy), a record store owner, is spending Christmas Eve out on the town with her employee, Robbie (Sam Delich). Their first stop is to visit some friends who own the toy shop next door. Of course, they have one of the robotic Santas, which goes berserk. It follows Tori and Robbie around town, murdering everyone it sees along the way.
I’m not a huge fan of slasher films but I can appreciate that some people enjoy them. My husband is one of those people. Personally, I didn’t like Christmas Bloody Christmas that much. My first turn-off was the change to a first person point of view during Santa’s first two kills. It was very difficult to see what was going on as he was swinging his axe around. If they want me to know he killed someone, let me see the kill!
The next thing I didn’t like was the pacing. I believe the movie was supposed to be some sort of homage to Terminator , where it’s difficult to kill the robot. However, the beginning of the movie was very slow. There was a long section where nothing happened. We have the first two kills, which no one knows about and is never addressed, then the Santa has to take the long walk to Tori’s house for the next set of kills. When we finally get into the bulk of the kills, they all happen very quickly with little build-up. I may not know a lot about horror movies but I’m pretty sure there’s supposed to be some suspense to heighten our fear before the big event. That didn’t happen here.
Maybe if you are a fan of slasher movies, you might find some sort of enjoyment out of Christmas Bloody Christmas. Personally, I’d go watch Violent Night instead. It’s a much better movie.