SATAN CLAUS

Written and Directed by Massimiliano (Max) Cerchi
Written by Simonetta Mostarda
Edited by Redd Rexx

Satan Claus - Robert Cummins
Sandra Logan - Jodie Rafty
Steve Sanders - Robert Hector
Lisa Red - Daisy Vel
Maman – Lauretta Ali

There’s just something wrong with the idea of Santa Claus taking as ax to someone and using the parts to decorate his tree. That’s the hook for the serial killer drama SATAN CLAUS by HELLINGER director Max Cerchi. It’s actually an early film by Max that is just now seeing release. If you head over to the Rounds Entertainment website, you can read the chain of events that led to the recent release of this film, it plays like a comedy of errors.

For the record, I’m that annoying guy who listens to Christmas hymns in July, who delivers anonymous Christmas packages to needy families, and who even donates a few man hours to ring a little bell and hit up unlucky consumers for their pocket change. As you can tell I’m a little biased towards the holiday. Thank goodness I’ve got a sense of humor. For that matter, thank goodness Max Cerchi has one too. He adds some nice black humor to a standard plot in a film that I don’t think I would have normally liked.

But the humor isn’t what makes this film stand out, it’s what’s going on beneath the surface. There was a professor of mine in college, Charles Derry, who taught me what is perhaps the single greatest lesson in film theory and criticism, that what a film doesn’t say is just as important as what it does. When you read between the lines, SATAN CLAUS is an interesting look at the plight of minorities in an America where the white establishment is the root of all evil.

The heros of the film are all minorities. Steve is a struggling Hispanic actor who takes a job as a store Santa to make ends meat. His girlfriend Lisa is an African-American police detective whose boss’ wife was Santa Satan’s first victim. Finally, there’s Maman, a voodoo priestess who is like a mother to the young couple. When she isn’t taking care of Steve, she’s connecting to Santa Satan through her magic.

Then we’ve got the supporting, caucasian cast. Santa Satan is about as white as it gets, down to the lame-ass one liners only white guys are dumb enough to use. Then there is Santa’s partner (this film actually pre-dates Scream), who steals the voodoo mysticism and corrupts it to their own needs. Can’t the white man keep their hands off anything and just respect the cultures of others? How about we ask the Native Americans. To top it off, there are the white, Santa-hating vigilantes who are of the bash-Kringle-skulls-first-ask-questions-later variety, I would have liked to seen more of these guys and there work. They reminded me of a group of brainless skinheads out on gay-bashing night.

The only man who stands up to these hate mongers is Steve, the sole male character in the entire movie who takes his time to think things out (he also spends much of his time philosophizing about life, but we don’t need to go into that). As an actor, Robert Hector is adequate in his performance as Steve. Much of the dialogue is heavy handed, but he makes the most of it.

Like Max’s previous release HELLINGER, this one is nicely shot with some great camera placement. The man has a filmmaker’s eye, or at least the good sense to work with a competent Director of Photography. I’ve seen far to many micro-budget projects where the filmmakers have no idea what to do with the camera. All Max needs is a really great script and I guarantee he’ll be turning out some of the best micro-budget films on the market. If you want to see the evolution of a good filmmaker, check out SATAN CLAUS.

NOTE: If you get the chance, hit up Max Cerchi for the postcards he uses as promotional items for SATAN CLAUS, then send them out as Christmas Cards. True classics!

Order directly from the Rounds Entertainment website