Horror Movie Review: Christmas Slay (2015)

How many Christmas horror films are themed around someone dressed as Santa Claus and going on a killing spree? At least half I would say. Turning the holiday into a seasonal slasher seems to be the easiest type of horror to make and Christmas Slay is no different in that regard.

In fact, for the most part Christmas Slay does very little different and is a cut and paste copy of every slasher ever. It’s not bad though as writer and director Steve Davis gives it a distinctly British flavour. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not good either.

The opening sees a deranged and silent man break into a family home and kill all inside. The police arrive and he has little self-preservation, attacking the officers before a ‘badass’ detective puts him down and arrests him. The killer spends a long time in an institution before the opportunity to escape comes his way.

He ends up getting hold of a Santa suit and makes his way to a remote mountain cabin where a group of women are having a little break away. It’s literally nothing we haven’t seen before and the it struggles a lot in places.

A low budget movie, Christmas Slay looks and sounds the part unfortunately. The location is dreary, the Christmas theme stretched and a killer that really isn’t that intimidating. Coupled with some pretty amateurish acting and you might be wondering why Christmas Slay is even worth bothering with.

All of that aside what we have is a decent stab at a Christmas slasher and we’ve had many, many bad ones. So much rubbish to dredge through that anything that isn’t remotely unwatchable is worth a go.

We get a pretty decent body count and there is some nice variety in kills often with Christmas themed weapons. It’s not particularly gory though as the film often cuts away or shifts camera angle when it comes time to let the blood fly. Instead of visual horror, Christmas Slay goes the route of tension-based stalking, something that is ramped up throughout leading to an action-packed finale.

The bad outweighs the good but that doesn’t mean Christmas Slay should be thrown in the bin. You’re not going to come away raving about it but you might at least be glad you checked it out.