Santa – 2014
Christmas and horror are often seen as things that shouldn’t mix; fire and ice, as it were. Of course, this has never stopped the horror industry, with films featuring evil-doings during the Yuletide season being pretty widespread over the years; Black Christmas, Christmas Evil, Silent Night, Bloody Night, Silent Night, Deadly Night…not to mention the countless sequels to and remakes of these classics. Even modern times reflect the mixture of our favored flicks and Christmas time; Krampus, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, and Saint Nick, just to name a few. Most importantly, these more recent films touch upon the true history of the character of Santa Claus, exposing the actual dark side of the legends that have become watered-down and sanitized over the years. Indeed, like Grimm’s fairy tales, the ancient legends of Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, and Joulupukki have some sinister trappings lurking behind the sparkly facades; with a little digging, one can find that there’s horror to be had around Christmas that doesn’t require a screenwriter to make it up.
Greek filmmakers Dionysis & Manos Atzarakis have put together a lovely little stocking-stuffer that hints at this darkness behind the sparkly, multicolored lights…and brings some credence to the what might have been the real reason Mom and Dad always told you that you’d better be asleep before Santa showed up.
Stockings hung by the chimney with care…
Nighttime, Christmas Eve. In a house that could be any house, there’s a shuffle and trickle of dust that falls from the chimney flue…as the candles and lights from the tree reflect illumination across the quiet room, a little girl awakens at the sound. Smiling with contained glee, she steals from her bed, slipping quietly down the hall to catch a glimpse of the legendary toymaker and spreader of Christmas joy to all good little boys and girls…but what she finds will forever change Christmas for she and her family…
Yeah, it’s a short summary…but the film itself is only a minute and a half long. That’s not a detriment, mind you; using a theme that pretty much all of us can get behind, these filmmakers craft a tiny Yuletide slice of life that we can all relate to in our childhood memories. Like any good short flick, it gives you just what you need; the rest is up to you to decide; as I mentioned, there’s a suggestion of older, darker Christmas legend here if you want it, but your own imagination could just as easily run in a different direction with what you are given. The film is shot beautifully, with the angles and setups putting you in the place (and mindset) of first a hopeful and then a fearful child.
He knows when you’re awake…
Special effects are minimal, but suitable for the context of the tale. There’s no dialogue, but none is really needed for what you see; you’ll get out of it what you need to get out of it, the filmmakers job done and done well.
I myself really like this one, folks…gearing up here just a couple days before Christmas, this ninety-second bit of Christmas fear was a welcome addition to other films I’m watching of late, both of the horror and holiday variety.
Dionysis and Manos have been kind enough to allow us to share this little bit of holiday cheer with you on our new LeglessCorpse TV free short horror film site, and we invite you to take a minute (OK, fine…a minute and a half) and take part in this little bit of Christmas with us!
Andrew Thompson
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- BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974): Retro Review…Slashing Through The Snow - December 25, 2014
- New Horror/Comedy BEASTERDAY: THIS Easter, The RABBIT Gets To Feast! - December 24, 2014
- SANTA (2014): Short Film Review…Your Folks Always Said You’d Better Be Asleep… - December 22, 2014
