Red Christmas
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{missing information|the film's production, and theatrical/home media releases|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name =Red Christmas
| image =Red Christmas poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Film poster
| director = Craig Anderson
| producer = Craig Anderson
Belinda King
Bryan Moses
Dee Wallace
| writer = Craig Anderson
| starring = Dee Wallace
Geoff Morrell
David Collins
| music = Helen Grimley
| cinematography = Douglas James Burgdorff
| editing =
| studio = Red Christmas
| distributor = Umbrella Entertainment
Artsploitation Films
| released = {{Film date|2016|06|17|Sydney}}
| runtime = 82 minutes
| country = Australia
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Red Christmas is a 2016 Australian horror film written, directed, and produced by Craig Anderson.{{cite web|url=https://moviepilot.com/p/red-christmas-director-craig-anderson-discusses-his-winter-horror/4359891|website=Movie Pilot|title='Red Christmas': Visionary Director Craig Anderson Discusses His Winter Horror|date=August 31, 2017|access-date=25 October 2017|archive-date=26 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026055542/https://moviepilot.com/p/red-christmas-director-craig-anderson-discusses-his-winter-horror/4359891|url-status=dead}}
Plot
{{more plot|date=July 2018}}
A family gathers together to celebrate Christmas. Amidst the celebrations, a mysterious, cloaked stranger, "Cletus" arrives at the house and is taken in as a guest. He reads a letter he wrote to the family and after he discusses the topic of abortion, he is forced to leave the home and is told that if he decided to return, he would be killed.
It is eventually revealed that 20 years ago, the matriarch of the family, Diane (Dee Wallace), travelled north to have an abortion. During the procedure, a religious fanatic bombed the clinic and took Diane's planned to be aborted child which is revealed to be Cletus. Cletus has now returned to the family home to violently exact revenge on her entire family.
During the night, Cletus kills Hope with an ax, and proceeds to strangle Joe in a car. Cletus smashes Scott's head. A police officer eventually arrives after being called earlier, unfortunately Cletus murders him almost immediately. Later on, Cletus forces Peter's head into a blender. Diane accidentally shoots Jerry. Ginny gives birth to the baby. Cletus stabs Suzy with an umbrella. Cletus stabs Ginny in the back and gently rests her newborn baby onto a table. Diane stabs Cletus with an anchor chained around her neck, then leaps out the window of the second-floor room, hanging herself and ripping out Cletus' insides, leaving Ginny's newborn baby as the sole survivor of the night.
Cast
- Dee Wallace as Diane
- Geoff Morrell as Joe
- Sarah Bishop as Suzy
- David Collins as Peter
- Janis McGavin as Ginny
- Sam Campbell as Cletus
- Deelia Meriel as Hope
- Gerard Odwyer as Jerry
- Bjorn Stewart as Scott
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 47% based on {{nowrap|19 reviews}}, with a weighted average rating of 5.41/10.{{cite web |title=Red Christmas (2017) - Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/red_christmas |website=Rotten Tomatoes.com |publisher=Flixer |accessdate=17 December 2019}}
On Metacritic, which assigns a rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web |title=Red Christmas Reviews - Metacritic |url=https://metacritic.com/movie/red-christmas?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c |website=Metacritic.com |publisher=Metacritic |accessdate=6 July 2018}}
Eddie Cockrell from Variety called it, "An energetic, candy-colored romp through genre tropes that manages to take its subject matter seriously while poking fun at itself at the same time."{{cite web |last1=Cockrell |first1=Eddie |title='Red Christmas' Review: Ozploitation Tackles the Abortion Issue – Variety |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/red-christmas-review-1201824917/ |website=Variety.com |publisher=Eddie Cockrell |accessdate=6 July 2018}} Noel Murray from Los Angeles Times wrote in his review on the film, "Red Christmas doesn't have any specific political point of view; it's fraught with contradictions, and should make anyone squeamish. Mostly, it's a tightly constructed, unapologetically nasty little thriller, given depth and weight by Wallace's interpretation of a sweet woman suffering for her past."{{cite web |last1=Murray |first1=Noel |title=Dee Wallace stands out in Australian horror film 'Red Christmas' |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-red-christmas-review-20170824-story.html |website=LA Times.com |publisher=Noel Murray |accessdate=6 July 2018}} John DeFore called the film "Gory and offensive, but lacking in the scare department.". DeFore criticized the film's pacing, and lack of humor.{{cite web |last1=DeFore |first1=John |title='Red Christmas' Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/red-christmas-1031564 |website=Hollywood Reporter.com |date=22 August 2017 |publisher=John DeFore |accessdate=6 July 2018}}
Craig Anderson also made a 100-minute making of documentary, Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|5120400|Red Christmas}}
- {{Metacritic film|title=Red Christmas}}
- {{Rotten tomatoes|red_christmas|Red Christmas}}
Category:Australian Christmas films
Category:Australian films about revenge
Category:2010s Australian films
Category:2010s Christmas horror films
Category:2010s English-language films
Category:Australian slasher films
Category:Australian splatter films
Category:Fiction about familicide
Category:Films about mass murder