MY CALL: An above average horror anthology with some solid ideas to showcase in 5-minute intervals. Entertaining, and often bloody and funny. But the lack of build-up in a 5-minute short keeps the highs lower. MOVIES LIKE Deathcember: For more 20+ segment anthologies, aim for The ABCs of Death trilogy (2013, 2014, 2016).
This is essentially a holiday-themed ABCs of Death anthology in that we have 24 short films averaging 5 minutes each. So we see a lot of inklings and ideas, but not much in the way of meaningful resolutions. I like to think of this as a filmmakers’ portfolio of ideas for films that may one day be made.
The filmmakers hail from diverse backgrounds, delivering short films in German, English, Spanish, French, and Japanese; exploring the genres of Sci-Fi, fantasy, thriller, horror, dark comedy, crime, slapstick, and even silent film; and tackling iconic concepts like Advent calendars, nightmare Christmas shoppers, Santa suits, Christmas parties, Christmas carols, family gatherings, meeting the parents, Christmas miracles, letters to Santa, ice skating, and Christmas presents.
Despite their brevity, many of the horror segments include some shocking and gory bits. Ritual sacrifice, blood-drinking, fantastic consequence, monstrous reindeer, killing Santa, mean revenge, brutal handsaw dismemberment, and a completely fragmented stomped skull are among the effects-driven gags explored.
A few of these shorts are worthy of mention. All Sales Fatal (#2) features Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley, The Hazing, Sharknado 2) as a mega-Karen who tries to return a toy, fails, and throws a very violent (and hilarious) temper tantrum that snowballs into a great fight with stabbery, fisticuffs, and a nail gun. Similarly haphazard and laughably bloody was December 19th (#19), which featured several amusingly brutal ice-skating injuries.
Other memorable shorts include Xmas on Fire (#4) with a mass Santa-police shootout and musical number; a very Lovecraftian, inherited family tentacle monster in Family Matter (#8); a fantasy-comedy showcasing the magical power of letters to Santa in Milk and Cookies (#16); and an awkward family game night culminating with a wildly gross exploding head in Christmas Cracker (#23). But what really stood out to me as unique was They Once Had Horses (#18), a featurette of a kind dialogue between two old west types around a fire, one of them badly injured, both of them scared of a monster in the darkness. But they still took a moment to exchange a small Christmas present and affirm how much they valued each other’s friendship. That was nice.
Overall, this was maybe an above average horror anthology. Entertaining for sure. But the lack of build-up in a 5-minute short keeps the highs lower.
