Horror Movie Review: O’ Bloody Night (2018)

O’ Bloody Night, a 2018 festive-themed horror anthology, is a movie you might struggle to find a lot of information about. Its IMDB page is sparse, it’s not on most aggregate sites, and reviews are in extremely short order. In fact, the only reason I found it is because I was browsing the deeper parts of the Troma streaming app, Troma Now, in the hope of finding some forgotten festive gems.

Well, I found one, but calling it a gem is a bit much. It’s a low-budget anthology with shorts that vary wildly in quality and ends with one of the most boundary-pushing ‘horrors’ seen in some time. Seriously, if there’s one reason to watch O’ Bloody Night, it is for the final short – Gay Jesus.

I’ll get to that in a bit though, first, we have a myriad of cheaply made and questionable horror shorts that all look to utilise the festive period is some way or another. The Perfect Gift, There Is No Santa Claus, Zombies, Lesbians, Scousers, Return to Sender, Gift for Her Body and Soul, and The Night Circus.

With a garish blend of gory violence, sub-par comedy, problematic dialogue, and awkward acting, there’s simply nothing of note here, aside from the ones that are likely to offend. While they’re not all in bad taste, the theme of O’ Bloody Night is to shock, even if it’s done in the most crass and cheesy way possible. Zombies, Lesbians, Scousers is one in particular that will find many a watcher rolling their eyes, and not just because of the low-bar humour.

There is entertainment to be found though, you just have to really dig deep to find it. Which brings me to the final short and the one that takes up the majority of the anthology’s runtime. It’s Gay Jesus and it’s a seriously polarising watch.

Polarising because there’s an argument that it’s as much of a softcore porno as it is a festive ‘horror’. Telling the story of Jesus’ betrayal at the hands of Judas and his crucifixion, but from the angle of jealousy and fear of being ‘outed’. It features full-frontal male and female nudity, sex (albeit in softcore form), rape, female urination, a ton of offensive slurs, and over the top gore. Putting it simply, it is going to offend, and not just those who have a religious background.

Yet, it does need to be seen to be believed, even if it’s not a recommendation. Which is where O’ Bloody Night sits on the whole, it’s not a recommendation watch because so much of it falls short of anything resembling quality. The anthology rule of ‘hit and miss’ shorts doesn’t apply here because so many are misses. In fact, remove Gay Jesus from it, and this would be one of the most forgettable anthology horrors ever, let alone one that features the festive period.