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Christmas Around the World: 6 Must See International Holiday Horror Films

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Christmas is celebrated as a major holiday all over the world, with each country bringing their own unique traditions and holiday folklore to the fold. For example, Santa Claus may be huge stateside, inspiring homicidal Santa Claus’ in horror stateside, but Central Europe scares its children into behaving with tales of Krampus, creating holiday horror of its own. Moreover, these unique holiday traditions are no longer residing solely within their originating region, inspiring new takes on old folklore. All of this to say that the sub-genre of holiday-themed horror is nowhere near as small as it was once upon a time, and it only seems to be growing momentum. If you’re tired of watching the same holiday horror films year after year, then these six bring new perspectives on yuletide terror from all over the world.


Dial Code Santa Claus

Also known as 36.15 code Père Noël and Deadly Games, this French horror film was doomed to obscurity as it was only available on hard to find bootleg VHS. Until now that is, thanks to a brand-new restoration by American Genre Film Archive. As for plot, it follows young computer loving Thomas, a boy stuck at home alone with his grandpa on Christmas Eve. It’s a quiet evening until a twisted, bloodthirsty Santa Claus crashes through the chimney. Released a year before Home Alone, there’s an eerie similarity in plot as Thomas booby traps his house to ward off the intruder. The key difference, though, is that Dial Code Santa Claus leans hard into horror, bringing the pain and bloodshed that Home Alone wouldn’t dare. If you happen to live near an Alamo Drafthouse cinema, look for special screenings of this one early December.


Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

This Finnish dark tale of holiday folklore revolves around the Joulupukki, a pagan tradition literally translated as Christmas goat. The Joulupukki is essentially the Scandinavian counterpart to Santa Claus, complete with red robes and reindeer, but this figure is far more frightening for children who misbehave. In Rare Exports, a research team unearths the long-buried Christmas figure, unleashing holiday filled horror for the nearby village. It’s up to young Pietari to save Christmas Eve from the horrors of Santa Claus. A darkly humorous, yet twisted take on a holiday fairy tale, Rare Exports brings a Christmas horror film the whole family can enjoy. If you’re not bothered by a lot of nude Santa’s helpers, that is.


Don’t Open till Christmas

Don't Open till Christmas

For those that love Silent Night, Deadly Night, but need a change of pace, this slasher from the U.K. should be right up your alley. Instead of a homicidal maniac dressed as Santa, though, this slasher has its killer targeting those who dress as Santa. It’s up to the Scotland Yard to stop him before Christmas is ruined. Fans of gory ‘80s slashers will recognize lead actor Edmund Purdom, who also directed this feature, from his memorable role as the Dean in wacky slasher Pieces. While Don’t Open till Christmas never quite reaches the same level of gore and insanity, there are still plenty of inventive deaths to various Santa Clauses, like the poor soul who gets his chestnuts roasted over an open fire. In a sub-genre inundated with homicidal Santas, this slasher offers a pleasant change of pace.


Saint

Also known as Sint, this Dutch horror comedy focuses on Sinterklaas. Only this version isn’t the benevolent patron saint of children, but a ghost that kidnaps and murders children on the night of a full moon that coincides with his annual celebration. Saint is over the top in gore and silly humor; writer/director Dick Maas doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously here and delivers on a holiday horror film that aims to offend as well as entertain. Sinterklaas is a corpse-like entity atop a horse, and his Black Pete helpers are problematic in their own right. There’s not much depth here, just a fun sleigh ride full of carnage and mayhem.


The Day of the Beast

Alex de la Iglesia is a Spanish director whose genre work often defies easy categorization, and his underseen Christmas horror comedy is no exception. Set on Christmas Eve, a Catholic priest teams up with a metalhead and a television occult specialist to stop the birth of the Antichrist, which will trigger the apocalypse. The lengths the trio is willing to go to thwart the end of the world really brings the laughs, but the humor is equally matched by the horror, too. This film is so all over the place it shouldn’t work, but it really does. De la Iglesia will creep you out one moment and have you spit-taking your beverage in laughter the next. A sort of spiritual cousin to the earlier works of Sam Raimi but with de la Iglesia’s unique sense of humor, this should have a bigger audience than it does. The Day of the Beast also made evil goats trendy long before The Witch.


Anna and the Apocalypse

Arriving in limited theaters this week before expanding nationwide in the following weeks, Anna and the Apocalypse is Scottish holiday horror film that deftly blends the zombie apocalypse, comedy, and Christmas musical. Yes, musical. Trace reviewed this one favorably out of Fantastic Fest, saying it’s “Filled with solid performances, a fantastic score and buckets of blood, Anna and the Apocalypse is sure to find a sizable audience once it gets released.” I’d have to agree. This zombie musical isn’t afraid to let the blood flow, and it definitely doesn’t shy away from death. The bleakness of the zombie sub-genre intercuts well with the chipper cheer of holiday fare. It’s the holiday horror musical you didn’t think you needed.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

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.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

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.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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