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5 Anthology Segments to Get You in The Holiday Spirit for ‘All the Creatures Were Stirring’
The selections for holiday horror or anthology horror are seemingly endless, but not so much when it comes to combining the two. Though there are memorable segments dedicated to holiday fare, the amount of anthology films dedicated solely to holiday-themed horror can be counted on one hand. That makes upcoming holiday horror All the Creatures Were Stirring a pioneer. Written and directed by Rebekah McKendry and David Ian McKendry, All the Creatures Were Stirring follows a couple who find themselves on an awkward first date that leads them to a theater playing bizarre tales of Christmas horror. The segments look to explore the twisted, darker side of the beloved holiday.
The film stars recognizable names in horror like Graham Skipper (The Mind’s Eye), Jocelin Donahue (The House of the Devil), Matt Mercer (Contracted), Amanda Fuller (Creature), Jesse Merlin (Beyond the Gates), Morgan Peter Brown (Ouija) and Chase Williamson (John Dies at the End) as well as Jonathan Kite, Ashley Clements, and Constance Wu. All the Creatures Were Stirring releases on DVD, digital platforms, and On Demand on December 4, 2018.
To revel in the holiday cheer, here are 5 great holiday horror anthology segments that bring the ho-ho-horror.
“New Year’s Eve” – Holidays
Here’s to hoping the awkward date in All the Creatures Were Stirring fares better than the one featured in this segment written by Kevin Kölsch & Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes, Pet Sematary), and directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer (Some Kind of Hate). After murdering a woman he met on a dating site, Reggie sets his sights on Jean (Lorenza Izzo) for New Year’s Eve. They click so Jean invites him back to her apartment, unaware that Reggie is preparing to make her his next victim. Too bad for Reggie that Jean has more in common with him than he knows, and a battle to the death begins. No, it’s not set at Christmas, but it is set on a holiday so close to Christmas that traces of it still remain. Plus, it’s just plain bloody fun.
Santa versus Zombie Elves – A Christmas Horror Story
This Christmas themed anthology offers an eclectic bag of noel nightmares, from weird ghosts obsessed with pregnancy to old fairy tales of changelings. In other words, it can be a mixed bag. But the best segment of the bunch is the one that sees Santa’s workshop hit with a zombie plague that leaves him fighting for his life against his zombie elves. It’s silly, it’s violent, and it builds to an unexpected twist that makes this a little more complex than your average zombie story.
“The Box” – XX
Directed by Jovanka Vuckovic and adapted from Jack Ketchum’s short story of the same name, this segment follows the Jacobs family. When mom Susan and son Danny are riding the train home, Danny is intrigued by a big red present on a man’s lap. The man offers Danny a peak inside. Whatever Danny sees inside causes him to lose the will to live, and he rapidly withers away as he refuses to eat. If that’s not enough, whatever Danny has is spread to other members of the family as mom looks on in horror. Christmas is usually a time of overindulgence and gluttonous delight, but in the case of “The Box,” Vuckovic imbues her segment with horrific and grotesque imagery befitting of Ketchum’s horror short.
“The Christmas Party – Dead of Night
There’s an old British holiday tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve, and this holiday segment perfectly encapsulates why that tradition should be revived. Set at a Christmas party, Sally proves terrible at playing sardines (think a sort of reverse hide-and-seek). When she’s found straight away, her finder tells her of the haunted history of the house while they look for a new hiding spot. They’re separated, and Sally stumbles across a crying little boy in tucked away bedroom. It’s a sweet, seemingly benign story that ends with Sally in hysterical tears.
“And All Through the House” – Tales from the Crypt
Two decades before this story would be adapted again in the inaugural season of the Tales from the Crypt TV series, it was the first segment of the British horror anthology of the same name. Starring Joan Collins, the segment sees her character murder her husband on Christmas Eve. As she’s preparing to clean up her crime, the radio announces a homicidal maniac on the loose dressed as Santa Claus. She sees him lurking outside her home, but can’t call the police until her husband’s body is hidden. It leads to a creepy stalking situation and a race against the clock. Christmas has never been so intense.
For more Christmas-themed anthology horror, All the Creatures Were Stirring releases on VOD, Digital and DVD December 4 from RLJE Films!
A luxury team-building trip descends into a bloody fight for survival against a vengeful retreat leader in Corporate Retreat, out today in theaters. It’s the latest entry in a cathartic subgenre of workplace horror that examines every harrowing aspect of job employment.
No job is safe from horror, either, from babysitting to even the most white-collar gigs. But if you work an overnight shift? All bets are off. Vengeful co-workers and bosses aside, the night shift is likely to come armed with witches, creatures, demons, and all manner of things that go bump in the night. Even deadly outbreaks.
Corporate Retreat, along with these five horror movies centered around some of the worst night shifts, will make you glad the weekend has finally arrived.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Passenger director André Øvredal goes full throttle for the scares in this quiet little chiller that sees a father and son coroner team stumped over the bizarre mysteries contained within the body of an unidentified young woman during an unexpected night shift. Well-executed scares, clever twists, and earnest performances by Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch give this supernatural haunter serious heft. While the narrative bides its time unveiling the truth behind Jane Doe’s battered body, it’s heavily steeped in witchcraft. In other words, The Autopsy of Jane Doe presents a new take on the subgenre. More importantly, it’s seriously scary.
Cold Storage
COLD STORAGE, StudioCanal 2023
A lethal, mutated fungus breaks free from confinement deep within the bowels of a storage facility. At the frontlines of the madness are Teacake (Stranger Things’ Joe Keery) and Naomi (Barbarian‘s Georgina Campbell), two employees thrust into the middle of the chaos when they investigate an alarm beeping somewhere deep within the building. Director Jonny Campbell (Netflix’s Dracula), working from a script by David Koepp based on his novel, helms the goopy madness with workman efficiency. This lighthearted, goopy horror comedy romp makes the deadly night shift a bit more bearable.
Graveyard Shift
Graveyard Shift follows new hire Hall (David Andrews) tasked by his mean boss Warwick (Stephen Macht) to assist with the insane rat infestation beneath their mill. They find something much most monstrous as the cause. Though the film was panned, it’s a fun creature feature with an always welcome appearance by Brad Dourif as the intensely eccentric exterminator. The film also opts for a happier ending, whereas (spoiler), the story sees both Hall and Warwick getting devoured by the mutated rats, the crew in the upstairs mill none the wiser.
Last Shift
‘Last Shift’
Rookie Officer Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy) has been assigned to watch over a closing precinct on its final night of operation…alone. With nearly everything already moved over to the new station, including rerouted 911 calls, it should be a pretty quiet night as she waits for a Hazmat team to arrive to remove biohazardous waste. Instead, it becomes a waking nightmare as she’s forced to deal with unsettling visitors. Last Shift, co-written by Scott Poiley and director Anthony DiBlasi, brings the scares.
Intruder
The overnight stock crew of a local grocery store finds themselves falling victim to an unseen killer in this highly infectious late ‘80s slasher. The deaths are delightfully gruesome and inventive; look for this killer to make excellent use of grocery store items as weapons. Frequent Raimi collaborator Scott Spiegel directed this bloody slasher, which means a lot of overlap with the Evil Dead II. That means putting Sam Raimi in front of the camera for a change, along with Ted Raimi and Evil Dead II’s Dan Hicks. Look for a cameo by Bruce Campbell as well!
Corporate Retreat releases in theaters today; get tickets now.
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