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You get to see how cruel the world is at Christmas. Leave it to a super stylized Santa slasher to illustrate that best. Christmas Blood, originally released last year in Norway, is finally making its North American debut this year and the timing, as one lunatic escapes to bring a bag full of killings to an unexpected group of partiers, couldn’t be anymore perfect.
Written and directed by Reinert Kill (Whore), the film is yet another slice of atmospheric yuletide slayings. As well-photographed and as edited as it is, the film has an ultra-seriousness to its stocking stuffings, making it more of a thriller than anything that I’d classify as easily disposable for the holiday season. The killings are tough. And the investigation into the santa slayings definitely isn't cheesy at all.
The film is armed with great atmosphere and several sharp utensils. With several engaging sequences, the film definitely isn’t cheeky as Ida Malene Smith Bakke, Pernille Baggeranas, and Helene Eidsvåg find themselves up against one of the bloodiest versions of Saint Nick you’re likely to ever see on the small screen.
And it started 13 years ago. . .
The opening 5-minutes, as a little girl sneaks through her house to get a peek at the presents Santa has left under the tree, will haunt you throughout the movie. There is a silence in her house that is damn disturbing. The sound she makes as she accidentally rips one of the packages spooks even the viewer. Then, you hear it; this girl is not alone. A shadow looms behind her. The man is dressed in red and then he swings away . . . with something sharp. And the “ho ho ho” he grunts when the murder is complete will have you fearing for your life. {googleads}
Fast-forward to the present day and the man responsible, Tore Reks, is alive and ready to do it again. He’s escaped and, hopping from one well-decorated Christmas layout to another, eventually makes himself home with the young adults coming together to “support” one of their friends, who has just lost her mother to suicide. But, as the saying goes, with friends like these . . .
. . . so while all sorts of drama is unleashed within the house, a man with a loose-fitting santa suit and an axe stands in the cold. The image is a strong one, filling audiences with both dread and irony. Unfortunately, thanks to a wordy title sequence – explaining much of the backstory that we don’t get to see – and a longer than expected running time for a slasher, the energy in this horror movie comes and goes. Even the sultry sex scenes leaves a lot to the imagination. 
That being said, the whole Santa as a murdering psychopath is a trope that can be visually charged with all sorts of “no-no” type feels. There’s something STILL interesting about it and that idea is mined here repeatedly as Santa checks off some people from his naughty list.
Released on VOD through streaming platforms by Artsploitation Films, Christmas Blood makes for an ice-cold Winter Wonderland bloodbath. Christmas gets red once again.
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 98 mins
Director: Reinert Kiil
Writer: Reinert Kiil
Cast: Julianne Aga, Pernille Baggeranas, Ida Malene Smith Bakke
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Juleblood.
Memorable Movie Quote: "He used to attack the staff and he got aggressive around Christmas time
Theatrical Distributor: Artsploitation Films
Official Site:
Release Date: December 18, 2018
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: No details available.
Synopsis: Horror's Santa-slasher sub-genre mixes with Scandinavian Noir in this bloody Xmas tale. Christmas is a time of peace, love and family. But not for Norway as a psychopath dressed in a Santa Claus suit has been terrorizing them for the past 13 years. For as soon as the caroling starts, this demented Kris Kringle dispenses bloody ax blows regardless of whether you’ve been bad or good. As the holiday approaches on one snow-covered town filled with revelers, a pair of detectives work against time to find and arrest this bearded serial killer. Will they manage to stop this demented St. Nick before he kills again?
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
No details available.
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