Horror Movie Review: Unholy Night (2019)

An anthology Christmas horror movie, Unholy Night is directed by Chris Chitaroni, Kristian Lariviere and Randy Smith. Written by Jennifer Allanson, April Campbell, Kristian Lariviere, Jimm Moir and Randy Smith, it stars Jennifer Allanson as the meek and timid Lily.

She is a nurse working a late-night shift at her hospital on Christmas Eve. It’s a very quiet night, so she befriends an elderly patient who decides to tell her some dark and twisted tales set around the festive period.

While initially the ‘wrap-around’ part of the anthology, this blossoms into a fully-fledged story itself. Tying in with the opening segment that involves a young girl killing her father one Christmas Eve. Delectably dark, Lily dealing with the internal politics of work, her desire to be something more than she is and then having dinner with her abusive mother doesn’t sound like a horror. However, it’s a slow-burn of a tale, one that gets darker and sillier as it goes on, but holds the attention well. The plot twists, while a little predictable, do still entertain.

The other two stories are a blend of absurd comedic and gross-out horror, the first of which sees a young woman bringing her new boyfriend to meet her family on Christmas. Oh, and to help him relax beforehand, they both did some shrooms.

Tripping is the least of his problems though as his girlfriend’s family have different tastes and this Christmas dinner will be truly horrific.

The other story is all about Drunk Dead Debbie, the spirit of a woman who was peer-pressured to drink too much at an office Christmas party. She choked to death on her own vomit and legend says she can be summoned. Three young woman, enjoying some festive tipples decide to try and see if they can conjure her spirit. Unfortunately for them, the legend will turn out to be true.

If vomit, lots and lots of vomit, turns your stomach… this probably isn’t going to be for you.

The stories are great, not exactly original, but fun and cleverly told. There are moments that drag but when the meat of the tale is revealed, it’s always exciting to watch.

Stretching a low-budget far, the desire to make Unholy Night look as festive as possible pays off. This feels like a Christmas horror movie and the musical renditions of Christmas classics helps that along nicely. It won’t ‘wow’ necessarily but it will at least get nods of approval. Especially when you can tell most of the cast were trying their best, even if some of the acting is a little wooden in places.

All of this is easily forgivable though as Unholy Night tries and tries hard. The end result is a fun, gross, gory and memorable festive horror.