Editorials
5 Horror Movies To Watch On Christmas!!!
Oh hey, I didn’t see you there!
I don’t have anything against Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I enjoy spending time with my family and actually like this time of year because of it. But if you’re home for the holidays, chances are you have very little control over what’s playing on the house TV. It’s just sort of on, right? No one in particular seems to be paying attention – and if there’s a movie playing it probably takes place during the holidays but no one seems to actually be watching it.
Here’s where these 5 movies come in. Should you be able to sneak control over your family’s home entertainment setup, you can toss a few of these guys on. After all, they’re technically holiday movies. Your parents didn’t specifically say they couldn’t contain murder and mayhem.
Head inside to check out 5 Horror Movies To Watch On Christmas!
GREMLINS
The most obvious choice, but also the best. Gremlins is one of my favorite movies, hands down. Such a beautifully structured film with a great amount of carnage but also a strong sense of fun. It’s also a movie that feels warmly towards the season but doesn’t have a problem criticizing it either. From Phoebe Cates’ horrific monologue to the film’s final assertion that western society just isn’t ready to deal with their gifts, Gremlins packs the darkness but wraps it inside a warm, fuzzy feeling. Kind of like the biological cycle of the film’s creatures, come to think of it.
SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT
One thing the 1984 original has over this year’s remake is a sense of grainy, shot-on-film nostalgia. It still has its share of intense moments, but its overall slower pace means that there’s a slightly lower chance that your parents will yell at you to turn it off.
RARE EXPORTS
You can’t get in trouble for this one, it actually has Santa in it! To be fair, he’s a bit more of an *sshole here than society traditionally depicts him as, but it’s still fair game. Also, this thing has enough camp appeal that you run the risk of actually being kind of a hero to your family. Maybe they drop everything they’re doing, watch along and it becomes a new holiday tradition. Probably not, but you can hope, right?
INSIDE
This one doesn’t feel quite as Christmas-ish but it’s a bona fide instant classic, which more than makes up for it. Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s debut feature brings the gore, and it’s also legitimately terrifying. Out of the whole bunch, this is the one that will make your parents scream “what’s wrong with you?”
BLACK CHRISTMAS
It’s been so damn long since I’ve seen this movie that I might have to take my own advice and watch it alongside you today. I remember almost nothing except for liking it on whichever night I was able to sneak down into the living room as a kid to watch it. Weird blind spot, I know. Olivia Hussey, John Saxon and Margot Kidder? Murder, sororities and Christmas? Let’s make it happen.
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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