''A Christmas Horror Story'' is a 2015 Canadian anthology horror film directed by

Grant Harvey Grant Harvey (born June 30, 1984) is an American actor who is known for starring in films and television series such as '' Animal Kingdom'', '' The Crossing'', ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'', '' Thumper'' and ''Billy Boy''. Early ...

, Steven Hoban, and Brett Sullivan. It premiered on July 20, 2015, at the

Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

and had a limited theatrical release on October 2, 2015, along with a VOD release. The film is a series of interwoven stories tied together by a framework story featuring

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

as a radio DJ.

Plot

Dangerous Dan is an alcoholic radio DJ stuck pulling a long shift at the Bailey Downs radio station during Christmas. During his broadcast, he keeps receiving notices of a disturbance at the local mall, telling his listeners to stay away. Dan keeps playing his music while a series of four stories are witnessed:

First story

Dylan, Ben, and Molly Simon have decided to break into their school, which used to be a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

, to investigate the murders of two students, one of whom was Dan's grandson, that occurred in the school's basement the year before. Their friend, Caprice, was supposed to go, but she instead has to go with her parents out of town. The three of them end up getting locked in the basement. Molly becomes possessed after witnessing a bloody ghost and tries to seduce Dylan. When he refuses her, Molly kills him. Molly successfully seduces Ben and after the act is finished, the ghost leaves Molly's body. Upon waking, Molly reveals that the ghost was actually a pregnant teenager named Grace who died when the school was a convent after the

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s gave her a gruesome

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

. The ghost is only interested in having someone give birth to her child and if they refuse, they are murdered – explaining last year's deaths. Despite having successfully gotten Molly pregnant, the ghost sees Ben holding a weapon which is viewed as a threat, and the ghost kills him. The ghost then unlocks the door and allows Molly to leave.

Second story

Scott Peters is a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

who worked the murder case of the two students the year before, but had to take a leave from the force due to the trauma of it. On Christmas Eve, much to his wife's reluctance, Scott convinces his family to go into woods owned by "Big Earl" to chop down a Christmas tree for their house. During the trek, Scott's son Will wanders off and gets lost. He and his wife Kim manage to find Will inside of a tree and are overjoyed to find him. This joy is short lived after Will begins to act strangely, culminating in Big Earl contacting the family to warn them that Will is actually a

changeling A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairi ...

. After the changeling kills Scott, Kim brings the changeling to Big Earl, who states that he's unable to help her find her son because it is up to the changelings. This ultimately ends with Kim shooting Big Earl, who was containing the changelings in the grove. Finally free, the changeling returns to his home and frees Will.

Third story

Caprice and her younger brother Duncan are traveling with their parents Taylor and Diane to visit their elderly Aunt Edda. During their visit, Edda tells them about the mythological creature

Krampus Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure in the Central and Eastern Alpine folklore of Europe who, during the Advent season, scares children who have misbehaved. Assisting Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus, the pair visit children on the nigh ...

, which frightens Caprice – especially after Duncan purposely destroys a Krampus figurine in an attempt to irritate Edda's caretaker, Gerhardt. Their parents decide to take the children home at Edda's insistence, but on the way they get into a car accident, forcing them to walk. Aware that they were being hunted by Krampus because they acted badly, the family members take refuge in a church where they attempt to confess their sins in belief that Krampus will leave them if they do so. However, they are picked off one by one until only Caprice remains. Caprice manages to flee to Aunt Edda's house. She is successful in killing Krampus who transforms into Gerhardt. It's revealed that he transformed into Krampus due to his anger over the family's actions and that Edda was fully aware that this would happen. Furious, Caprice's anger causes her to transform into Krampus, and she attacks Edda.

Fourth story

While preparing for a busy Christmas, Santa Claus discovers that all of his

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...

and his wife have turned into

zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...

s after one of the infected elves dies following a fit of rage. He manages to kill them all, but is then forced to fight against Krampus. However, right when he's about to kill Krampus it's revealed that "Santa" is actually a Mall Santa named Norman, the weather forecaster on Dangerous Dan's radio show, who had a

psychotic break Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior t ...

while working overtime that caused him to see regular mall goers as zombies during the Christmas Food Drive. The police arrive and manage to gun him down just as he goes to kill "Krampus", revealed to be the mall's manager, Mr. Taylor. This is the disturbance at the mall that Dangerous Dan has been mentioning through his broadcast.

Cast

Production

Directors for this film were Steven Hoban, who created the original idea, Grant Harvey (and Brett Sullivan, all of whom worked on the

Ginger Snaps A gingersnap, ginger snap, ginger nut, or ginger biscuit is a biscuit flavored with ginger. Ginger snaps are flavored with powdered ginger and a variety of other spices, most commonly cinnamon, molasses and clove. There are many recipes. The bri ...

trilogy. The sound track was created by Alex Khaskin, and consisted of spooky adaptations of traditional Christmas music. The film includes gory special effects."A Christmas Horror Story (2015) Review"
''Horror Freak News'', December 29, 2015, Michael Klug.

Reception

Jake Dee from Arrow in the Head rated the film a 5/10, calling its overlapping segments "uneven", and stating that only the final two segments managed to be memorable. Brett Gallman from ''Oh, the Horror!'' offered similar criticism, stating that the film would have been better if its segments had played separately. Not all reviews of the film, however were negative. Brad Miska from Bloody Disgusting gave the film a positive review, writing, "While ''A Christmas Horror Story'' doesn’t have the qualities of a big theatrical release, like ''Trick ‘r Treat'', it’s glossy enough to bring joy to those however they end up seeing it." Jay Seaver from ''eFilmCritic'' gave the film 4/5 stars, calling it "a solidly-entertaining piece of work".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas Horror Story, A 2015 films 2015 horror films 2010s ghost films 2010s Christmas horror films 2010s supernatural horror films Canadian supernatural horror films Canadian Christmas horror films English-language Canadian films Films about fairies and sprites Canadian horror anthology films Krampus in film Canadian ghost films Canadian zombie films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films Copperheart Entertainment films