Holiday Horror 2023, Part Two!

 

Is it too late for Part 2 of my Holiday Horror 2023? I don't know, but I'm doing it anyway! It may be early January, but the true horror of the holidays is with us all year, so check out some thoughts on Night of the Comet, I Trapped the Devil, The Sacrifice Game, and There's Something in the Barn ... and because I count New Year's as part of "the holidays," Strange Days, and Midnight Kiss.

Night of the Comet (1984)

They poured all the 80's cheese on this one. A comet turns most people in Los Angles into dust or zombies. Our protagonist survies with her boyfriend in an apparently comet-ray-proof theater protection booth, and they set out on a fun zombie/post-apocalyptic romp through LA, complete with a shopping spree at the mall when they find that her sister has survived, too. This all happens around Christmas, which of course leads us to the Die Hard question of what counts as a Christmas movie, but whatever you think, I just wish they made more science fiction horror comedies as fun as this one.

I Trapped the Devil (2019)

After the cheesy fun of Night of the Comet, I Trapped the Devil was a serious and creepy turn. A man and his wife go to celebrate Christmas with his estranged brother at their family's old house. The brother is acting strange and eventually tells them that he has the Literal Devil trapped in a room in basement (which is not a spoiler, because well, that's the title of the movie). Is he mentally ill? Or is there something to it? The film is remarkably tense and gripping for what could be a Night of the Comet level of ridiculousness. It's the kind of film that's probably better experienced than explained, but I can say it goes to some dark and disturbing places -- almost as dark and disturbing as the holiday season itself. 

The Sacrifice Game (2023)

The Sacrifice Game is another dark and serious Christmas horror film, and a newer one on Shudder. Two students and their teacher have to spend the holiday break at their girls' boarding school in the 1970's. A Manson-family type group of ragag psychopaths crashes the awkward party with a creepy task: they believe that they need a sacrifice for a demon, who in return will grant them supernatural power. Overall I thought this was well-made and engaging. The 1970's setting is a great aesthetic choice. There's a twist that I won't spoil, but it does encourage you to think carefully about demons, both literal and figurative, and who you deem worthy of sacrifice for your own ends.

There's Something in the Barn (2023)

Holiday horror (especially Christmas horror) must be becoming more of a thing, because there's more new stuff than I can watch during the season. But after two pretty heavy ones, I figured something lighter was on order. I heard about this one, and it sounded fun. And it is! An American family moves to a family farm they inherited in rural Norway. Martin Starr plays the father in a fun riff on Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation. They arrive, and it's as snowy and dark as you'd expect it to be in Norway around Christmas. The son hears about the legend of Barn Elves ... and ... you can probably see where this is going already. But it's a lot of fun! There are plenty of fun Norwegian-American cultural misunderstandings. And the Barn Elves are just fantastically weird little dudes (think garden gnomes) that show us that not all is holly and merry and bright during the holidays. But maybe peace is possible, after all (there is a surprising nod to the philosophy of nonviolence amid all the murder).

Strange Days (1995)

I've already said that I consider New Year's to be one of "the holidays," but is Strange Days really a horror movie? I don't know, but it does have lot of intense violence and the whole idea of downloading murderers' experiences into your brain is plenty scary. I somehow missed this one back in the 90's. It takes place in a Los Angeles much less fun than in Night of the Comet: fewer cheesy zombies and tons of crime and violence, like the 1992 riots are happening on every block while our main characters just kinda ... drive right on by. It's interesting to look back (almost 30 years on!!) at what people thought New Year's Eve 1999 was going to be like (Y2K wasn't a major story yet in 1995). It's an interesting take on the history of a future that is now the past. It has some technically interesting shots (apparently director Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron built a special rig for the POV shots). But overall the plot is a bit of a convoluted mess of an attempt at sci-fi noir. I don't normally give content warnings, but there is a super disturbing sexual assault scene that I should warn you about if you haven't seen this one. On the other hand, Ralph Finnes and Angela Bassett are great.

Midnight Kiss (2018)

Part of Hulu's Into the Dark series that mostly consists of horror around all kinds of holidays, Midnight Kiss is definitely both a horror movie and a New Year's movie. A group of gay men and their straight friend go to a house in the desert for New Year's Eve. The friends go to a club, but when they return to the house... I mean, it's a horror movie that turns out to be a slasher horror movie. But it also raises interesting questions about what we owe friends, lovers, and strangers, with a big emphasis on friendship (there are also, of course, plenty of steamy scenes).

So there you have it! I'll look forward to whatever holidays horrors may await us in 2024!