Horror Movie Review: Easter Bloody Easter (2024)

It’s Easter, and you know what that means! Easter-themed horror, and we have a new entry in the surprisingly rich sub-genre of holiday-themed horror. It’s called Easter Bloody Easter, it’s a horror comedy, and it comes from director Diane Foster and writer Allison Lobel.

Both of whom play big roles in the film, the former playing Jeanie, who lives in the town of Warburg, which has recently been plagued by a spate of murders. It should be enough to cancel the upcoming annual Easterpalooza festivities. However, Mayor Lou (Adam Slemon) and Lobel’s Mary Lou, who is the head of the church committee, won’t let that happen. Choosing to ignore the recent goings-on within the town, which includes the whereabouts of Jeanie’s husband, Lance (D’Andre Noiré).

He’s been missing for a week, and she is sick with worry, which turns to fear when his empty truck is found. A truck that looks like it might have hit something big and furry. Alongside her friend Carol (Kelly Grant), and local conspiracy nut Sam (Zach Kanner), she sets out to find Lance, which sets them on a collision course with a being known as a Jackalope, and its army of killer bunnies.

It sounds fun, and it is in spates, but Easter Bloody Easter ends up being a bit of miss, simply because it takes itself far too seriously at times and has some baffling moments that drag the film into the doldrums.

There’s a lot of good though, most notably with the cast and directing style of Diane Foster (her directorial debut). When Easter Bloody Easter is good, being silly and letting the blood flow, it’s thoroughly enjoyable.

Alas, it’s far too long at over 100 minutes, and a lot of that feels like filler. Take the odd ‘song and dance’ portion that stops the film dead in its tracks around the middle. It has no reason to exist, pads the runtime, and isn’t funny. Now, while this is the most egregious example of unnecessary moments, it’s not alone, and the eyes might start to glaze over as the film reaches its conclusion.

Ultimately, this, and some really odd ‘dramatic’ choices, makes the film a bit of a chore. Even though it has some good comedy moments, some really lovable characters (Alison Lobel’s Mary Lou is great) and is more than happy to get a bit bloody. On that front, while there’s nothing shocking here and the low-budget shows, it’s still fun and everyone plays up to the absurd look of the killer bunnies. It’s just a shame so much of the bloody content is CGI.

As you can tell, hopefully, I wanted to love Easter Bloody Easter, but it’s not made easy. For everything I did enjoy about it, there were two things I didn’t. It’s not even close to the worst Easter themed horror film seen, but it’s also quite far from the best.