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PSYCHO SANTA
Produced by Renee Reorden
Directed and Written by Peter KeirAlice - Krystal Stevenson
Josh - Eric Spudic
Ron - Jeff Samford
Jess - Michelle Samford
Santa - Jason BarnesShort of Jesus Christ or Buddha going all Manson Family Vacation with a pick axe, Santa Clause is about as farfetched a movie slasher as it gets. Children the world over love that jolly elf will all the selfless devotion of puppies. He represents kindness and generosity, and fills the hearts of millions with hope. A vision of Santa gone bad is as likely to scar a child emotionally as that crucified Barney I used to hang on in college dorm hallway right before all the pre-schoolers would come by trick-or-treating.
That's probably why so many filmmakers like using Santa as a slasher. It's the final corruption of Christmas as the preeminent icon of seasonal commercialism breaks the most sacred of The 10 Commandments and commits murder.
And there's just something gleefully wrong about Santa snuffing out more than a plateful of cookies.
With such established films as the SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT series, genre fans have come to enjoy the wrongness that comes with jolly St. Nick carving a few sexually frolicking turkeys. It's that same perverse thrill that led me to nail up that gutted Barney. The very tabooness of it is what makes it so much fun.
That's why it's such a shame that there's very little Santa in PSYCHO SANTA. The title alone has one expecting Santa to go hog wild with the body count.
The story is structured as an anthology where the vignettes are related urban legend-style from a young man to his girlfriend, Ron and Jess respectively, during a drive to a pal's Christmas party. Of course all the stories "really happened," why would the young lady not trust her beloved boyfriend?
The inclusion of Santa during the first story feels little more than an after thought. Two strippers wait for their friend Sarah to return home. To pass the time, the two shower and dance for each other (this also provides the audience with all the sleazy fan-service required during this type of movie). After 20 minutes of nubile build-up, the audience never sees the final payoff. Like with so many Lovecraft stories, the events are related as afterthoughts through Ron to Jess. That vicarious thrill of Santa and his machete is stolen from the audience by a third person afterthought detailing the actions.
Talk about a cheat...
The second short would make an excellent stand alone movie had Santa not arrived at the end to ruin everything. The story revolves around two soulless burglars who break into a blind woman's house. Told silently, the short plays like a demented WAIT UNTIL DARK, and given a chance to play out naturally, this could have made one nasty little movie. It's by far the most interesting of the set due its strong visual nature, but falters near the end with a deus ex machete comprised of a few quick cuts of Santa's handiwork.
Cheat number 2.
The third story isn't even a story. The audience learns information about Santa and his weakness as Kimberly Lynn Cole and her real life son are slain in cameos. It's the kind of mindless carnage one expects from a movie titled PSYCHO SANTA, but seems out of place in a movie that so far has not delivered the goods either structurally or viscerally.
Story number 4 is more the movie you're paying for. Santa is the stalker/slasher you've been waiting for and takes an active role in the events. Little more than climax from what could have been a bigger better movie, the story centers around Josh and Alice, two siblings out for an afternoon drive. The engine goes bye-bye and the two are stranded in the woods....woods were Psycho Santa waits with his machete.
All the shorts track a growth pattern of director Peter Kier, the first short is sloppy in its approach, where the second is much more accomplished. The final short is a stylistic amalgam of the first two. Dialogue and character-based scenes feel fresh from the stripper short, where the climatic chase scene is done with all the visual flair of the second short. The result is uneven, but that's on par with most shot on video cinema being released. It's a rare creature that excels at both.
Had Santa and his taboo-loving ways played more of a part in PSYCHO SANTA, I'd be more apt to recommending it to the public. On it's own it falls short of holiday dementia. Fortunately distributor Sub Rosa has paired the disc with Max Cerchi's SATAN CLAUS, a giallo-esque slasher where Santa does indeed go all out for the holidays. Santa even decorates his tree with ornamental body parts. Those who enjoy holiday slasher fair should find the pairing adequate, especially since the disc is far less expensive than Anchor Bay's SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT pairing. The rest of the PSYCHO SANTA disc is bare bones with nothing more than a trailer vault.