Horror Short Review: Stirring (2018)

Immediately getting the Christmas vibes across nicely. Stirring gives us CGI snow, a Christmas tree lot, the music of We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a woman with somewhat of a joyfully crazed look on her face.

What’s caused this? Well, it can only be the lovely tree we see her later decorating. She looks on in rapt awe at the thing lit up. Her home, the epitome of what Christmas is as the sound of Oh Holy Night plays over logs roasting in an open fire.

She relaxes on a sofa to read while her adorable dog sleeps nearby. Everything seems so wonderful and then we get a shot that is from the perspective of the tree clearly watching her.

Ready for bed, she gets up and goes to sleep but is woken up in the night by sounds in another room. It’s not the dog as it is fast asleep snoring and when she finds the tree lit up, she is startled by it suddenly shaking.

Dismissing it as nothing, she pours herself a glass of water and while watching the tree sees it shake again. This time dislodging a candy cane from its branches. She goes to put it back on, which is exactly what the tree was waiting for.

A final shot reveals the Santa’s Tree Lot she visited at the start actually goes under a different name.

Initially it seems as though Stirring might be about to rip off the fantastic Christmas horror short, Treevenge. Happily though, it is its own thing and wraps up gleefully. The over the top facials from the woman, the good use of Christmas music and exaggerated sound effects put this in the ‘cheesy’ category rather then the out-right horror but it is still a lot of fun.

Check it out yourself below.