Essential The Official Coli Horror Film Thread: Discussion, Recommendations And Murder.

[storyteller]

Silent Night has a crazy premise, to the point that I don't want to spoil it for anyone that'll throw it on...but while the premise is horror, the movie is more of a dark dramedy. You get generic Christmas movie trope-ish characters all on their way to a big Christmas dinner party. But along the way, there's just some stuff that's a little off. It's mostly played for laughs...weak laughs. The comedy elements in this joint boil down to some swearing kids and some awkward convos. It's a discussion over dinner that starts to point us toward what's going on, and while it's never fully explained, the movie turns from there. Conversations take on a more frank tone, there's a sense of impending dread, and it cleverly puts a lot of this through the eyes of a child which adds a layer of darkness on it all.

BUT...they never let go of the attempts at laughs. The worrisome portions feel like an afterthought for 90% of the movie. By the time reality sets in, the ominous stuff goes super dark but it's still clinging to some damned gags that manage to reduce the hit. And the movie is soooooo dark in spite of its humor. It's a depressing ass movie. Someone that hates Christmas movies went IN with all the contempt for Christmas characters that you could ask for.

I rate it okay for one try.

One last thing that requires a spoiler...

Spoiler

I didn't feel like characters acted realistically, but then part of me thinks that's a plot point they were gunning for. No one wants to really accept the reality that they're all about to die. Everyone's kinda hiding from their fear until they go to their respective bedrooms and there's no time to delay anymore. No one fully accepts the gravity of it all until they have no time or choice. I'd have to watch it back to see if that's just me misinterpreting the lead up to reveal about the air and the pills, but I'm not doubling back to revisit this one...too sad.

 

[storyteller]

25 Days of Christmas Horror
Day Sixteen: Wind Chill

There were so many ingredients in Wind Chill that could've led to a great movie but instead of those ingredients becoming a fine meal they were overcooked and under seasoned to the point that the movie just became an overly clunky chore to get through.
All of the ghostly, time loopy stuff started out cool but became tedious pretty quickly and not even an actress the caliber of Emily Blunt could save it.

I give 'Wind Chill' 2 out of 4 Gun Totin' Santa Loomis'

It was chilling when you realize who the shadow at the car was, tho

Giving this one a look now, I got serious "The Toll" vibes from the early part so far. The Toll was alright.

 

[Jello Biafra]

Silent Night has a crazy premise, to the point that I don't want to spoil it for anyone that'll throw it on...but while the premise is horror, the movie is more of a dark dramedy. You get generic Christmas movie trope-ish characters all on their way to a big Christmas dinner party. But along the way, there's just some stuff that's a little off. It's mostly played for laughs...weak laughs. The comedy elements in this joint boil down to some swearing kids and some awkward convos. It's a discussion over dinner that starts to point us toward what's going on, and while it's never fully explained, the movie turns from there. Conversations take on a more frank tone, there's a sense of impending dread, and it cleverly puts a lot of this through the eyes of a child which adds a layer of darkness on it all.

BUT...they never let go of the attempts at laughs. The worrisome portions feel like an afterthought for 90% of the movie. By the time reality sets in, the ominous stuff goes super dark but it's still clinging to some damned gags that manage to reduce the hit. And the movie is soooooo dark in spite of its humor. It's a depressing ass movie. Someone that hates Christmas movies went IN with all the contempt for Christmas characters that you could ask for.

I rate it okay for one try.

One last thing that requires a spoiler...

Spoiler

I didn't feel like characters acted realistically, but then part of me thinks that's a plot point they were gunning for. No one wants to really accept the reality that they're all about to die. Everyone's kinda hiding from their fear until they go to their respective bedrooms and there's no time to delay anymore. No one fully accepts the gravity of it all until they have no time or choice. I'd have to watch it back to see if that's just me misinterpreting the lead up to reveal about the air and the pills, but I'm not doubling back to revisit this one...too sad.

That ending gave me the same vibe as the ending of The Mist. How a consequential decision could've avoided so much disaster if it had been made just a few minutes later.

 

[Jello Biafra]

25 Days of Christmas Horror
Day Twenty-One: Christmas Evil

Christmas Evil is an unbelievably drab movie. From the direction, to the wardrobe, to the cinematography to the actors; everything about is just drab and dull. This is quite possibly the most beige horror movie I have ever watched. I get that the goal was to explore the descent into madness of this one sad sack but for as much as I tried I just couldn't be bothered to give a damn about anything that was happening onscreen. Except for the ending...that I actually liked.


I give 'Christmas Evil' 1 out of 4 Gun Totin' Santa Loomis'

 

[MenacingMonk]

Didn’t know there were so many Christmas horrors out. Most gotta be B/C movies, right?

Anyways, watching The Purge. These kids ain’t shyt, especially Blanket.

 

[Jello Biafra]

25 Days of Christmas Horror
Day Twenty-Two: Gremlins

I've seen Gremlins a ton of times over the years and I recognize it as a classic movie that makes a subversive condemnation of 1980s consumer culture as well as being another populist special effects heavy popcorn movie that was all the rage at that time. But the thing that stood out to me with this latest watch was just what a shytty dad Mr. Peltzer was. Dad buying a strange gerbil monster for his young adult son as if Billy was 5 years old was odd enough but Billy not telling him to take that little critter back where he found it was even odder. Don't give me a gift that requires all the maintenance that a Mogwai carries with it. That isn't a pet, that is a dependent with disabilities.
But back to the movie itself, the thing I love most about Gremlins is that it is a full blown horror movie that Joe Dante and Chris Columbus snuck past parents and the censors by having of the horror be bathed in whimsy. Whether it be the music or the gremlin puppets, all the death and destruction came with such a light air to it that it (along with Indiana Jones & The temple of Doom) caused the MPAA to create a whole new rating (PG-13) just because of the debate over rating Gremlins as a "PG" or an "R" movie.
I was shocked at just how little of Gizmo there was in this film while my memory yet the character became such a cultural sensation. But this movie still gives me the warm fuzzies whenever I watch and not just because of the nostalgia factor but because it is a really fun film.


I give 'Gremlins' 3.5 out of 4 Gun Totin' Santa Loomis'

 

[Jello Biafra]

25 Days of Christmas Horror
Day Twenty-Three: Silent Night, Deadly Night

On the surface silent Night, Deadly Night seems like every other generic slasher with a Santa Claus suit clad killer murdering his way through a town but that would be a narrow view of this movie. At it's core, Silent Night, Deadly Night is a film laced with psychosexual undertones and the effect that trauma of violence and sexual violence on a child that creates the axe wielding psycho who drives this story. And that trauma is coupled with years of religious abuse heaped on young Billy Chapman by merciless nuns at the orphanage he grew up in.
All of that is very ambitious for a 1980s slasher movie and would've probably been handled a bit better by a more skilled writer/director combo and a cast that could actually act but I take glimmers of ambition in 1980s slasher horror and hold them as tightly as possible.


I give 'Silent Night, Deadly Night' 3 out of 4 Gun Totin' Santa Loomis'

 

[R=G]

This is what I like Watching around Christmas time..stuff like this..Tales From the Crypt too.

 

[Neuromancer]

Watched Antlers. Good movie.

 

[Neuromancer]

Shudder put out their Top 5 Most Watched New Movies list for 2021:

This year has felt long. 1&2 picks felt like they came out last year.

 

[Neuromancer]

They’re saying this is scarier than Sinister

So this movie will he shot by candle light then? Cause Sinster had the worst lighting. Good movie but somethings I couldn't see.

 

[Jello Biafra]

25 Days of Christmas Horror
Day Twenty-Four: Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 spends more than half of its runtime showing clips from the first Silent Night, Deadly Night while the rest of the movie is a combo of monologuing from the woefully bad Darrel Guilbeau as Ricky Caldwell, the younger brother of the original film's killer Billy Chapman, and some of the most hilariously bad kill scenes I've ever seen in any horror movie. There is one particularly amazing scene of mid-day carnage by a gun wielding Ricky in a quiet suburban neighborhood that almost redeems this entire film.
But alas, it isn't quite enough to raise Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 above being anything more than a perfect fodder for an episode of Joe Bob Briggs' The Last Drive-In.


I give 'Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2' 2 out of 4 Gun Totin' Santa Loomis'

 

[Neuromancer]

25 Days of Christmas Horror
Day Twenty-Four: Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 spends more than half of its runtime showing clips from the first Silent Night, Deadly Night while the rest of the movie is a combo of monologuing from the woefully bad Darrel Guilbeau as Ricky Caldwell, the younger brother of the original film's killer Billy Chapman, and some of the most hilariously bad kill scenes I've ever seen in any horror movie. There is one particularly amazing scene of mid-day carnage by a gun wielding Ricky in a quiet suburban neighborhood that almost redeems this entire film.
But alas, it isn't quite enough to raise Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 above being anything more than a perfect fodder for an episode of Joe Bob Briggs' The Last Drive-In.


I give 'Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2' 2 out of 4 Gun Totin' Santa Loomis'

Garbage day.

 

[Jello Biafra]

Garbage day.

If they had made the entire movie with the same crazy ass energy as these 6 minutes then Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 would be a classic movie:

 

[Neuromancer]

If they had made the entire movie with the same crazy ass energy as these 6 minutes then Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 would be a classic movie:

He just snaps. Why did the series go off the rails?