Post by slayrrr666 on Dec 1, 2006 11:18:19 GMT -5
“Santa’s Slay” is one of the more fun holiday themed films around.
**SPOILERS**
On Christmas Eve, Nicholas Yuleson, (Douglas Smith) is visiting his eccentric Grandfather, (Robert Culp) and he tells Nicholas about the true story of Santa Claus, (Bill Goldberg) and why he refuses to celebrate Christmas. When he and his friend Mary Mackenzie, (Emile de Ravin) learns that Santa was the son of the devil who lost a bet and became nice for a thousand years, and now that the bet is over, he’s begun a rampage throughout the town, killing everyone in sight. Finally accepting the crazy story, Nicholas and Mary team up to stop the reign of terror.
The Good News: I was generally not expecting this one to be that good, but it went far beyond what I thought it would be like. The twist here, unlike other holiday slashers, is that this is the real Santa, rather than some lunatic in a Santa costume. In here, it’s actually him, and with Goldberg actually doing a very impressive job in the role, making it campy and fun yet totally believable. He is the main source of enjoyment in this, as seeing a demonic Santa Claus dishing out tons of violence with his zeal is fun to watch. The amount of kills in here is really insane. There’s a large kill count, almost reaching the 3-dozen mark, and plenty of them have a holiday theme to them. A star from a tree thrown into the back, a candy cane shoved into the forehead, a wreath used to strangle, blown up with explosive presents, and fire lights wrapping up a victim. There was a large assortment of non-holiday themed violence, including holding a metal pole kicked into a light post, bashed in the head with a table leg, having a turkey leg shoved in the mouth and shoved into a table, and being pinned to a map using tons of little pins, but clearly the holiday themed ones where he more fun to watch. There’s plenty more to go around, so if one doesn’t strike your flavor, another one will come along soon enough to take it’s place. That is another great factor for it’s success, is that it moves along so fast that it’s already on something else before you have time to dwell on pretty much anything, giving it a whirlwind pace that really suits the film. The action is also pretty nice, giving it a small collection of sequences that stand out and give a little more push over the cliff. The opening slaughter is one of the best examples, as it’s such a blur that it’s only upon thinking afterwards does the true nature of what happened take place. The chase through the forest is the better of the two, becoming a rather traditional action-film chase that keeps the excitement up. There’s plenty more reasons to like this, it’s a really impressive film.
The Bad News: Aside from a really abrupt ending that doesn’t explain anything and a criminal lack of gore on display, the only thing that can really knock this down is it’s cheesy, fun atmosphere. It’s not for everyone, and is a real acquired taste to enjoy fully.
The Final Verdict: Full of holiday cheer, dead bodies and a fun, re-watchable spirit, this is going to be a Christmas classic. The only ones that I can’t see recommending this one to is those that don’t get the joke. Highly recommended.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Nudity
