Movie Review: Christmas Evil

As the Christmas season rolls around each year, there are a few certain films that always get watched. I always visit seasonal classics such as Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Elf, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Then there are the action regulars, most notably Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, and Lethal Weapon. Those are all well and good, but being a horror movie fan, there are the darker holiday films that need to have some time spent with them, this includes the likes of Black Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Krampus, and Red Christmas. In recent years a new film has come to my attention and has quickly risen through the ranks, Christmas Evil.

Movie Review: Red Christmas

What is it about Christmas and horror that blends so well? It is a strange mixture that, while not always perfect, often yields entertaining results. Now, outside of Halloween and summer camps, Christmas may be the best pairing with everyone’s favorite film genre. Just look at some of the classics we have already, there is the family friendly horror of Gremlins, the antics of Silent Night Deadly Night, the somewhat sad Christmas Evil, and even the recent iteration of the Krampus tale. That doesn’t even get to international offerings like Rare Exports and Sint. Now we have an offering from Australia, Red Christmas. Does it have what it takes to join the pantheon of classic Christmas horror hybrids? Perhaps.

Movie Review: The Night Before (2015)

I am not normally the kind of guy who likes Christmas movies before Thanksgiving, outside of the obvious year round exceptions (A Nightmare Before Christmas, Silent Night Deadly Night, Black Christmas, you get the idea). Still, sometimes theatrical release schedules make the decision for you when you start seeing them in any given year. This year The Night Before got me in front of a Yuletide themed film prior to turkey-day this year. And you know what? It was a blast. It is a buddy movie, a drug comedy, an awkward coming of age tale, and it is all wrapped up like A Christmas Carol. Yes, I liked it. Smart? Hardly, but certainly funny and surprisingly heartfelt.

Critical Capsule: New Year's Evil

All the major holidays seem to have a themed horror film, even Thanksgiving has the recent turkey Thankskilling, so how about New Year's Day? It's horror movie of note dates all the way back to 1980 with a movie appropriately called New Year's Evil and this is the one time a year it is acceptable to watch this movie. It really is not a good one. I guess you could say it packs a little nostalgic charm, but it seems to go out of its way to be mediocre. It leaves very little behind, not bad enough to really rip on, not good or even cheesy enough to rally behind. It just seems to be, begging to be left alone and only dug up around the holiday. It is not like Halloween or Black Christmas that beg to be watched more often.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from everyone here at Critical Outcast! We hope you are all enjoying the day with family and loved ones! Below is a selection of Christmassy clips to help you get and stay in the mood!

Movie Review: Jingle All the Way (1996)

It is that wonderful time of year, Christmas is nearly upon us. You know, the rushing around, the gift buying for people you see once a year, the snubs, the fights, the difficulty in finding the right thing. It is enough to make someone..... well, want to curl into the fetal position until spring. Anyway, I always feel the need to squeeze in a couple of holiday themed films. There are the annual ones like A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, and Elf, but I also try to take in a few others and it isn't close enough to the big day for Black Christmas (original, of course). So, I have decided to revisit Jingle All the Way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at CriticalOutcast.com! (all one of us!)