A Christmas Horror Story (2015) User Reviews

This is a very solid addition to the Krampus universe and is definitely worth a viewing

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 28 December 2021]

A Christmas Horror Story (2015) is a movie I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a family that wanders onto the wrong property to cut down a Christmas tree and in doing so unleashes Krampus and loses their son. The release of Krampus offsets Santa's magic leading to elves no longer being invinsible and after dying returning as zombies. The parents and Santa will need to find a way to offset these daunting events.

This movie is codirected by Grant Harvey (Heartland), Steven Hoban (Darknet) and Brett Sullivan (Frontier). This picture stars William Shatner (Star Trek), George Buza (X-Men), Rob Archer (Pixels), Zoé De Grand Maison (Riverdale), Amy Forsyth (Hell Fest) and Olunike Adeliyi (She Never Died).

The cinematography in this is very good. The settings, attire, makeup and masks are perfect. This is one of the better versions of Krampus, definitely top 2. The elves is this are excellent and the highlight of the movie. Their lines and dialogue are hilarious. Did I mention William Shatner is in this? The kill scenes are solid but the sex scenes are not. The ending is way better than it should be and was very smart and well executed.

Overall this is a very solid addition to the Krampus universe and is definitely worth a viewing. I would score this a 6-6.5/10 and strongly recommend seeing it.

A very pleasant surprise.

[nigelpreece-950-231484 · 7/10 · 27 November 2022]

Stumbled upon this movie and thought I'd give it a go. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised how much I liked it.

4 horror stories mixed around a radio DJ giving a live broadcast on Xmas eve, all with a connecting theme.

I love Xmas and I love Xmas movies, but there are so many bad ones. There's a few horrors that haven't done it for me. Krampus springs to mind, but this film delivers. It has a nasty feel to it, with a dark humour and a cracking end which brings the film together. A great "oh right" moment which I didn't see coming.

Definitely give this a go if you like horror movies. It's not light hearted like gremlins and Krampus, it's a proper horror with blood and guts.

It Could Have Been A Lot More Fun

[HorrorOverEverything · 5/10 · 24 September 2015]

So I am fresh off of watching this and I have to say that I am a bit disappointed. The trailer and the current reviews made it out like this was going to be a blast to watch, and some parts of it were, but for the most part I felt pretty let down.

So this is an anthology film, but instead of running each story back to back the film instead runs them simultaneously throughout. So basically you jump around from each story, the main problem here is that I found two out of four of the stories to be pretty cliché and boring. It was a bummer to be right in the middle of one story that is picking up only to be thrown back to a story that is just plain boring. The pacing was a big problem too, nothing at all really happens until about an hour in, once things do get rolling it is decent but not enough to make up for the first dull hour.

I do have some good things to say, the Santa and Krampus scenes were absolutely awesome, it mostly made me wish that I was watching a movie that was strictly about them. The acting was well done throughout, and the special effects/gore was all top notch considering they didn't have a huge budget. Plus William Shatner is thrown into the mix, hard to hate that.

I feel like this could have been so much better because the parts that worked did work really well, but the stories just didn't blend well together and since you have to watch them all at once that really effected the entertainment of the overall film. It's rare that I truly hate some parts of a film but then absolutely love other parts, unfortunately with this one the good was not good enough to out weigh the bad. The fun parts were still really fun though, it just seems like the whole thing could have been a lot more fun.

5.5/10

Great

[phollyjunk · 17 December 2021]

I enjoyed this movie more each time I saw it after noticing how every story had connections that I missed the first time. I feel like it deserves a higher rating but whatever, I enjoy it and watch it every December.

Strong horror anthology

[TdSmth5 · 7/10 · 31 January 2016]

It's Christmas Eve. Three high school students go to school to film a documentary about the disappearance of two students last Christmas. Some part of the school was at some point a convent and there's more to the place than just the killings.

A family goes to the forest to cut a Christmas tree. At some point their young son vanishes but they do find him after a while inside a tree. When they return home the kid isn't quite himself.

A family travels to visit the father's rich aunt. But she's creepy and hostile so they quickly leave. But the daughter stole some trinket and the son dropped a Krampus figurine and broke it. That will come back to haunt them as their car breaks down and they have to walk through the forest. Things quickly get bloody.

Santa is getting ready to deliver gifts. Suddenly one of his elves goes nuts, drives a hatchet through his hand and dies. Soon all the elves become zombies and violently attack Santa who will have to take them out one by one.

All these stories are framed by a radio host who is in the Christmas spirit. Krampus makes an appearance in most of these stories and even confronts Santa himself. But when all appears said and done there's an neat unexpected twist.

The stories aren't told independently but are interwoven and aren't anything special initially but improve markedly once they take a turn to the dark. The story of the kid in particularly has some creepy moments. The story of the kids playing investigators in a locked school during Christmas Eve no less is very annoying at first until things change. The whole business with the radio host was mostly irrelevant. It's good to see Santa get a cool role as well as all the resent fuzz about Krampus. I wasn't expecting much from this movie but I was surprised that it did have something different and enjoyable to offer.

All Four Stories Deliver

[gregsrants · 6/10 · 21 October 2015]

It's the most wonderful time of the year. To die.

Directors Grant Harvey, Steve Hoban and Brett Sullivan all lend their talents in an attempt to turn the happiest day of the year into a horrifying movie experience in A Christmas Horror Story.

Best described as an anthology, A Christmas story interweaves multiple stories with Christmas being the anchor theme. The stories are diverse and in no way repeating. Santa takes on a horde of zombie elves. A family goes Christmas tree hunting where their son gets possessed by a demon. A group of teenagers return to the scene of a grizzly crime to film a documentary where the evil still lurks. And a family is terrorized by Krampus, the anti-Santa Claus.

William Shatner plays a radio DJ host that helps intertwine the stories and provides some spots of levity along the snowy roads to where the film journeys. The stories themselves do not play out in their entirety before moving to the next segment a la say Tales of Halloween or the ABC's of Death. Instead, the filmmakers jump between the stories which allow them to keep audiences on their toes and ensure that the lesser terrorizing / more dramatic scenes are broken up with the moments horror fans relish.

What makes A Christmas Horror Story so different from its peers is that there is not a dull story in the mix. Sure, not all stories share the same enthusiasm, gore or humor, but there wasn't any particular segment I wished would just mercifully end so that we could get to a more interesting one. That is great praise to say the least. I could not say that about Tales of Halloween and that makes A Christmas Horror Story more in line with say Trick 'R Treat than Creepshow.

Yes, Yes, Yes, we still had our favorite. That would be Santa's story on combating zombie infected elves and his eventual showdown with Krampus. The effects, make-up and overall execution of this segment are worth the price of admission alone. Santa comes across as an 80's action hero. His eyes didn't twinkle. His dimples weren't merry. His cheeks weren't like roses. My god was he scary! The Santa/Krampus showdown might be the highlight of the film but one can't ignore the other segments that lead to the climax. Each provide a fun sleigh ride of horror and all three could have been their own movie if the stories were expanded.

A Christmas Horror Story played at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival on Saturday night and the audience clearly got in on the fun laughing at the right moments and offering applause for some of the more gruesome scenes.

There are not a plethora of good Christmas horror films out there. In fact, after Black Christmas you would be hard pressed to name another outside of a Silent Night, Deadly Night. But A Christmas Horror Story brings enough presents in its Santa sack to make this a rather fun film that might just become a 'go-to' film for many horror fans every December.

Inane Christmas horror anthology with a fumbled, jumbled narrative

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 24 December 2016]

A Christmas Horror Story is the third in a trio of Amazon Prime Christmas horror films I've watched this year (the others being A Christmas Slay and CAESAR AND OTTO'S DEADLY XMAS). I hated the first two and hoped that this film would be the best of the three, which it is, but unfortunately it's still not a good movie. Instead this Canadian anthology film is muddled and unfocused, going for gore and action over really effective storytelling.

William Shatner plays a DJ in the linking scenes and is a delight; certainly the best thing about the otherwise lousy production. There are four stories here and the problem is that instead of telling one after the other, which is how anthologies should play out, they're all mingled together with repeated cutting back and forth between the narratives. It's confusing and messy, repeatedly taking you out of the stories just when they're getting interesting.

The material is sub par too. There's a half-hearted found footage exercise which goes nowhere and another re-run of the now popular 'Krampus' legend which feels like a cheesy '80s horror. One story is a mini-slasher while the brunt of the screen time involves a Santa battling zombie elves with a taste for human flesh. The horror is noisy and gruesome but never scary; in fact, I started getting a headache at the sheer inanity of it all.

Good, simple, mostly fun

[Smarmelade · 6/10 · 19 December 2015]

You never know what are you getting yourself into with movies like this. Luckily, A Christmas Horror Story gets most of the beats right.

It's a mix of multiple intersected story lines movie, fun horror movie and Christmas movie. There are even few known names here, but generally all the cast does a good job. Cool stories, couple of cool twists here and there and pretty sweet FX makes this movie a fun watch.

Yeah, it's nothing original and over the top, but it's well made and not too long. I'm guessing this movie will get repeated Christmas viewings in the years to come. Recommended but keep you expectations real.

Entertaining enough...

[Krackoon · 5/10 · 6 October 2015]

What would the month of October be without a nice horror anthology?

'A Christmas Horror Story' is a solid, fun little film, with surprisingly entertaining stories. There really isn't a bad story in the bunch, and I did somewhat enjoy each story going on simultaneously, never allowing us to become bored with one story, before moving on to the other. It's a nice change of pace. The acting isn't the best, but you should have figured that out by the time you see William Shatner. If you decide to stick around - there's worse films out there, and a lot more to come in the upcoming weeks, and I'm sure I'll get to see every single one. God, help me.

I won't bother breaking down each story, or the plus and minuses. Each story is entertaining enough, and it all leads up to a final twist. I'm not entirely sure why a twist ending was needed here, but it doesn't hurt the film in any way. It's better than anything M. Night Shyamalan has done in recent years.

Random Ramblings of a Madman: Some of the acting really holds the film back, which explains my 5 out of 10 score. But I don't regret seeing it, which is a fine compliment, since most horror films leave me questioning when I'll ever bother watching another film again.

Not really special, for the most part, but enjoyable enough

[I_Ailurophile · 6/10 · 4 December 2021]

I appreciate that while 'A Christmas horror story' echos the format of any given anthology film by splitting its length between distinct stories, its approach to that end is much more loose and free-flowing. Set primarily all within and around the town of Bailey Downs, each story happens concurrently, with passing shots or scenes to initially illustrate that connection. Where other movies in this style would tell its stories one by one, separated with the customary wraparound segment, 'Christmas' cuts from one story to the next, generally a few minutes at a time, until they are all told to completion. Does that style make it easier to engage with, or more difficult? I can't say for sure; mileage will vary from one viewer to the next.

Static imagery, blood, and gore looks fine generally; more dynamic CGI is more of a mixed bag. Other rounding details like hair, makeup, set design and decoration, and so on range from questionable to suitable; the cast's performances range from suitable to swell (although, that said, William Shatner has rarely seemed so indifferent in his acting). Of more concern for a genre picture is the quality of the writing, and here it's a rather mixed bag. Character writing, dialogue, and plot development across each story are founded foremost on contrivances: leaps in logic, poor and unlikely decisions, stubbornness and pride, and so on. To one extent or another some of the story beats are predictable - there are also some great ideas here - but above all, however well done it may be at times, very little strikes me as especially remarkable or noteworthy.

I'll say this: the action-horror vibe at Santa's workshop is a good bit of fun; Kris Kringle has never been so hard-boiled. Despite some ham-handedness, I think each story concludes with a fine ending. And while the wraparound segment here is given less concrete treatment compared to other anthology flicks, I do like the way that it progresses with subtle suggestions of something sinister before summing up sharply. Why, the strong finishes are enough to make me want to hold the entirety in higher regard. The fact remains, though, that while duly entertaining, 'A Christmas horror story' doesn't do much to grab our attention outright. It's enjoyable enough that it's worth putting on if you want to watch a horror flick without necessarily having to actively engage with it, though don't go out of your way to find it.

Worth 107 minutes of your time? You could do a lot worse.

Thank god it at least had Shatner

[vegeta3986 · 2/10 · 5 November 2017]

I'm one of those people that will usually watch anything as long as Shatner's in it. So when i saw he was in a Christmas horror movie, I knew I had to give it a shot. Reading the synopsis, I knew Shatner wasn't going to be the star focus, but i was okay with that. I thought a Christmas horror story would be a fun idea. And then I actually saw the movie. This story is really 4 in one. Santa with elf zombies, changling kid, krampus against family, and haunted basement. All of this is connected by Shatner who is a radio DJ. And he's the only real saving grace of this film. Hearing Shatner as a mildly drunk Christmas loving radio DJ is amazing. Besides him and perhaps santa, every single character in this thing is annoying. There's seriously no character that I rooted for or even wanted to stay alive. Every single character is a pain in the butt level of annoying. I also have to say. This, this was a chore to get through. I didn't enjoy a single moment of this movie (With the rare exception of the Shatner scenes) When we're introduced to the characters we see them as unlikable jerks, and just because they're put in danger doesn't make them any more likable.Plot points are just kind of....there and quickly forgotten. The endings of most of these wrapups are RIDICULOUS and are at odds with what they're trying to convey.

1. The kid being a changeling story wraps up with the mother going to return the changling to where they took it from in the forest. She meets up with this guy that says "they won't harm you here because they're afraid of me." she sees she's surrounded by a bunch of changlings, and proceeds to shoot the guy and he dies by accident. The changlings, instead of killing her go "oh! okay! here's your son!" Wait.....what? That's the end? no twist? no...'she dies and the kid was already dead'? seriously? this mother character was one of the worst freaking characters! I was actively hoping she WOULD die. the fact that she or the kid DIDN'T die actually dropped this from a 3 to a 2.

2. Okay so with the santa story I was all for it when i was writing this review. Then i saw the ending 'twist'. it completely ruined it. look. you can't have a twist like "oh, of course this guy is really just crazy for no reason and is NOT santa fighting krampus because that makes more sense" when you have KRAMPUS ALREADY IN YOUR MOVIE. It's not far fetched to have him be the villain when he already IS killing people in your movie.

3. The krampus family thing had development that lead nowhere. you find out that the son who is a giant asshat is in actuality a sociopath who kills animals, but the mother and father were actually understanding each other and then developing as characters then "poof. dead." thanks for that? It reminds me of the actual Krampus movie. except....you know, even stupider.

4. okay, basement possession baby didn't even have anything to DO with Christmas. That could have literally taken place at any time of the year. The fact that it was Christmas had NOTHING to do with the plot. it almost feels like this was made for a different story but ended up being too short so they tacked it onto this and had the characters say "oh by the way it's Christmas!" a few times during their scenes. These were the most boring of the bunch as 3/4 of the scenes were slow walking with no payoff.

Speaking of payoff, with the exception of the santa scenes, none of the deaths were on screen and it looked stupid and cheap.

If it weren't for Shatner this movie would get a 1, but god help me, Shatner can make even the worst piece of garbage worth it. So Shatner, I toast you with a wassail. As for the rest of this stupid nonsense, it can go right in the trash bin. 2 out of 10.

Sentimentality and Scares

[pureinsanity07 · 9/10 · 17 December 2022]

I'm a big fan of Ginger Snaps, and that team did a remarkable job with A Christmas Horror Story. This anthology style film is a ton of fun, and each story has its own feel and identity. Plenty of thrills, action and gore and a hilarious performance by William Shatner. All the actors are on point and the film doesn't drag. It works as a Christmas movie, and has all the sentimentality we come to expect from holiday films. I watch it every year in addition to all of my other holiday viewings, and it gives me some laughs, a few jumps, and the gore is definitely there, especially towards the end. Highly recommend!

It's alright, kills the time.

[Luv2Spooge · 6/10 · 3 April 2022]

As most have said, the stories are somewhat uneven. All the stories started out great, but most of them ran out of steam and their ending was anticlimatic. The 1st story about the school was a complete bust in my opinion. What started out as extremely interesting case turned into just a cliche mess.

However, the main arch story was awesome and without giving spoilers, that ending was really unexpected.

A solid 6.

A mediocre Christmas horror anthology.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 7 December 2015]

Radio DJ Dangerous Dan (William Shatner) is hosting his annual Christmas Eve show while slowly getting sloshed; meanwhile, Santa is fighting off zombie elves, a group of teens are investigating a haunted murder site, a married couple's son is replaced by a 'changeling', and a greedy family have an encounter with Krampus, the anti-Santa.

It took quite a while for me to realise that A Christmas Horror Story was an anthology (the title is a tad misleading, suggesting just one story), and when I did, I was more than a little disappointed: I had been looking forward to seeing how they were cleverly going to connect all of the different plot threads.

As an anthology, the film is sorely lacking. Rather than concentrate on one tale at a time, the film cuts back and forth between the stories, making it hard for the viewer to become too involved in any of the action. Furthermore, none of the episodes have particularly effective endings, whilst the 'wraparound' scenes of DJ Dangerous Dan are fairly pointless and exist simply to add some star power in the form of the ageing Shatner.

On the plus side, the 'Santa vs the elves' story delivers some fun gore, the jolly old fellow slicing up several of the toothy little monsters with his staff, and the tale about the teens in trouble offers some eye-candy for the fellas in the form of pretty redhead Zoé De Grand Maison, who has a steamy sex scene, albeit one without any nudity.

My rating: 5/10. While I'd still rather watch this sort of thing over saccharine seasonal pap like Miracle on 34th Street or It's a Wonderful Life, there are many much better Christmas themed horror films to be had.

Wacky, fun, and doesn't take itself too seriously.

[w_kiefer · 7/10 · 22 December 2021]

While this is by no means an instant Christmas Classic or anything, and only really ever breaks out of B-movie status, it is still a fun, fast-paced, wacky film with some decent story telling, decent effects, and solid acting.

Shatner delivers, as can be expected, as well as George Buza, who plays Santa Clause.

The story is a little choppy, which is the norm for an anthology-type movie, and in the case of this one the story's are intermingled together, with the endings all happening at the end of the film as opposed to their own respective storylines.

The direction, however, is not without understanding and as the movie progresses you quickly see how the stories start to impact each other.

My only real complaint is the lack of a climax. While I get the ending, the other stories just kind of....ended. What was the primary reason behind all the craziness that holiday season in Bailey Downs? I would have liked to see a primary villain (Krampus perhaps?). While the stories are connected they are not really dependant on each other and their connections are more coincidental.

I would have liked to see a final act that showed that it was perhaps Krampus himself that was behind it all.

A bit silly but still an entertaining watch

[gvis · 7/10 · 29 October 2023]

A horror movie anthology that centers around 4 stories related to Christmas (except 1 which actually isn't).

Story 1: a very unoriginal story of young guys breaking into an empty building on Christmas eve. Not very orignial and not even very Christmas related but oh well. The lesser story in my opniion.

Story 2: Santa fighting off his elves turning into zombies. Sounds silly ? Wait for the end !

Story 3: a family steal a Christmas tree from a grove only to find out their son isn't the same anymore. Not a very orignial story either but I still liked it.

Story 4: a family visit their in-laws, and come into confrontation with a malevolent Christmas entity. Likely made in the wake of the Krampus movie.

Some reviewers complained that the story were interwoven and shown simultaneously, but that didn't bother me.

Not a masterpiece but you can do worse compared to the schlock that's made in the horror genre.

Santa was bad Mutha F%X&$ shut yo mouth ...Jus talking bout Santa .

[mikevonbach · 5/10 · 3 October 2015]

This film could have used some better editing it was to choppy and cliché . The old saying that less is best ,,,in regards to the special effects . This movie had all the elements that a slasher film is supposed to have , But the music , The monster make up . the sound effects are all over done . The only reason that i tried it was because of BILL SHATNER GLEN GASTON THE CREEPY GUY .I would recommend for some kids that want to watch a wacky movie and make fun of it .this rest of this review . is just some cut and paste stuff . Getting a new Christmas themed horror movie is always an interesting occurrence to receive, especially in the unique, and some-what weird way presented in this movie. "A Christmas horror story" has ideas, executes them.. but they seem to fall a bit down..

We get multiple stories in this one film, delivering about four stories all at once, making an anthology. I honestly felt it annoying, and a bit hard to follow with the choice the filmmakers decided to go with, that being clumping all the stories delivered all at once, flipping from one scene, cutting it, and moving to the next constantly. This made it slightly annoying in the sense of our attention gripping on one part of a story given, and having it suddenly cut off, heading to another. Following that note, of course, are the stories themselves. The stories we were given were slightly clichéd, they, however managed to lift themselves from cliché garbage to a slightly nicer, more unique kind of way. They passed the clichéd to be a bit newer, more refreshed due to the way each story was heading. So in a way, they managed to rise up, and succeed the audiences cooperation. Another factor involving the stories, the pacing. I honestly didn't like the pacing in this movie. It felt way, way too slow then what if could of been, regarding each story of the anthology. The elements of which were leading up to the finale, involving for example the characters getting stuck were feeble attempts to clutch out attention, and it just didn't really work, instead boring us more, the audience wishing the events / stories were over. The movie's poster shows a battle between Krampus, and Santa. Sadly. Don't be fooled, this film does not revolve around our favorite Christmas devil, Krampus. In fact we don't get action involving Krampus at all until around the end of the film, disappointing myself, and others hoping for some action involving Krampus. And even when we get to the battle, and action scenes, we still don't get what we were hoping for, instead small scenes, glimpses, and actions involving Krampus, once again, not exactly paying off successfully. Now that all the negatives are pointed out.. are there positives? Sure! The movie adds some form of relief with its tactic of forming each of the anthology stories together, of which, at the end of the film leads to a twist that was slightly mediocre. But manages to actually pay off. We also get interesting little Christmas morals here, and there to follow through with, minor little elements. Finally, as said before the twists featured in the film. Once again. It wasn't the best. But enough to hold the attention of the audience.

Very entertaining and well put together. The director sets a nice tone. Lots of fun... Blu-ray: Excellent A:9 V:10

[lathe-of-heaven · 7/10 · 19 November 2015]

Ah..., now this is the kind of fun, Retro Fantasy Horror film that I like. As opposed to your sadistic Eli PHUK'n Roth brutality films (not to disrespect those of you though who DO happen to like that kind, but Eli Roth wouldn't know how to bloody ENTERTAIN if his life depended on it. All he knows how to do is highlight suffering and disgust...)

This film however, although truly entertaining and funny at times, used humour very sparingly (well, maybe except with the Elves...) It was not self-referential and there was absolutely NO winking at the audience. There was a lot of genuine suspense during the movie. IF you happen to like this type of fun old fashioned Horror film, I honestly feel that there is a lot to like in it. As I mentioned, the humour thankfully is not overdone. There are parts that are genuinely funny, but I feel that for the most part, the film leans more heavily towards Suspense and Horror. This movie has a vibe slightly similar to say 'CREEPSHOW' Good, solid, scary Horror at times, but along with touches of humour here and there. Perhaps this one is a BIT more serious...

Probably, what will determine if you like this movie will be whether you enjoy more Fantasy based Horror films or not. Personally I do very much. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am also an avid fan of absolutely dead-serious, Scary as $hit Horror films too. Some of the greatest Horror movies of all time are quite serious. But, I have a real affection for Horror films that truly are entertaining along with being scary. Films for example like 'CREEPSHOW', 'LOST BOYS', & 'FRIGHT NIGHT' (the original) to name a few. But, some of my favourites are chilling ones like the Classic 'LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE', the deeply Psychological 'SESSION 9', or the recent extremely well done 'BANSHEE CHAPTER' (dude, I seriously had to change my PANTS after that one!)

As I have mentioned in many other reviews before, I personally lean much more so towards the Fantasy based Horror films. Ones either with a serious Supernatural slant, or ones based on Classic Gothic Lore like the Hammer Horror films, for example. So, I would be one who REALLY loved the 2010 film 'THE WOLFMAN' with B. Del Toro, where many people did not.

Anyway, sorry to digress there a bit, but when it comes to Horror movies, people can REALLY be different in what they like, so if I am going to recommend a Horror film, I want to make SURE that I am clear about the kind that I like so that you can hopefully determine whether YOU would like it.

I think what I personally really liked about this movie was that I appreciated the quality performances which the director was able to draw out of his cast, some of them quite young. Usually it is the HORRENDOUS acting that puts me off many of these modern Horror films, especially the low budget ones. But quite honestly, I felt that all here did an above average job in their roles. Oh yeah... there was ONE thing that I wanted to SURE to address (although, I would LOVE to UNdress that one young actress! Sorry... just something about those boots, skirt and wool stockings... :D ) Anyway, uh (cough) sorry about that... as I was saying... One thing that I want to mention that I VERY MUCH DISAGREE with that some here said, is that they didn't like the way that the stories were intercut together. Well, in my lowly and wretched opinion, I personally felt that the director did a frigg'n EXCELLENT job in doing that, seeing that that is quite difficult to attempt, much less pull off as well as he did. No, I honestly VERY much liked the way they did that because, to me, what it accomplished was that it kept the audience hanging between each story as it cut to another. I felt that it was extremely effective in further ratcheting up the suspense than if they had just done the conventional thing of telling each story separately. In that, I fully disagree with what others stated about not liking that aspect of the film.

So, there you go... I hope that I have been able to describe my personal impressions of the film clearly enough to be able to give you an accurate idea of what it is like and whether you might like it like I did. I really thought it was a very fun, scary, well put together Fantasy based Horror film; especially one about the Christmas holidays, of which there haven't really been THAT many good ones lately...

There's much better anthology's out there

[ivyi-03107 · 5/10 · 20 February 2023]

I think the biggest problem with this anthology is that they clearly felt that each segment wasn't strong enough on its own, so they cut it up. Which only ended up with the unfortunate effect of ruining all segments and making an overall weak film. If they had kept the 4 segments seperate it would have been average and fine. The segment meant to connect rhem featuring William shatner is basically a wasted cameo. As soon as any one segment builds tension they cut to something else. It's just not very good and not very scary despite being gory. Watch if you're bored but much better films out there.

Different times

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 8 January 2021]

For some reason my previous review got deleted and I can not find it anymore because a section where these where stored is gone. It's like a review horror story ... I'm just kidding or first world problems as some would say and obviously not as worrisome as the issues our characters here have to go through ... not even close to that actually.

Having said all that, the deletion of reviews here also did not have the always great Shatner narrating it, like this movie has. We get a mixture of stories that revolve around Christmas and may or may not have something in common with each other. It's something most may think about when they watch movies that have the short story touch to them. And there only is the yes or no option really.

You should not be easily offended, otherwise you may have a lot of issues watching this. Overall more than decent effort that may have different levels of quality for some, I personally did like them all more or less. The tone is set from the beginning and it carries throughout the whole thing nicely - well you know what I mean! Because there is evil here - but it is entertaining too (all in the context of remembering this is just a movie or multiple little ones)

Mediocre is Being Generous

[mleveringham · 6 August 2023]

I had high hopes for this one, with William Shatner at the Helm, pardon the pun. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed against the sharp rocks of bad acting, and lack luster intersecting story telling. I'm a huge fan of anthologies and I still can't grade on a curve for this so-called horror movie. Anthologies should focus on one story as a time, but even if you let the criss-cross yarnage pass, the endings will add insult to injury as well. Anyway, overall this film is a barely functional claptrap of painful viewing that I finished just barley before my patience ran completely out.

I might suggest this title if you want to see how Anthologies should not be made, or as an example of how throwing in one recognized name can be used as bait to watch a very bad film.

Ho ho eh

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 22 December 2017]

This film all takes place in the town of Bailey Downs, where both Ginger Snaps and Orphan Black originate. That's because they share the same directorial team - Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, and Brett Sullivan.

I will say that the special effects are really nice for the budget. But sadly, the film feels rote. There is no moment of surprise or wonder that things happen the way that they do. This is a film made for the Hot Topic hipsters of the world, those that scoff at Christmas while celebrating Krampus because it makes them feel cool and edgy to do so.

It's not like I wasn't entertained. But I wanted more. I wanted a narrative thread I could follow, I wanted a reason for these things to be happening versus them just happening. Maybe I expect too much. Maybe Amicus spoiled me. But I felt like I had just eaten several handfuls of Christmas cookies and was left with a stomach ache.

A pleasant surprise

[sprouty · 9/10 · 5 December 2015]

Let me start by saying I like generally horror films - not so much the torture films ("Hostel", "Saw" etc) - but things like "The Thing", "Halloween (Original)" The Exorcist, "It Follows", & "The Ring". So I was always gonna watch this because I also like William Shatner & Christmas. I was expecting this film was going to rate 5 or 6 but because it exceeded my expectations so much I am giving it a hefty 9.

It's better shot, acted and written than the average shocker.

The film nicely interweaves 4 stories and a semi-story of William Shatner as a DJ. All are nicely told and varied in tone. The film is really slick and well directed, shot, and edited together - especially since there were 3 directors. The dialogue is not always the greatest but heck its a horror film so its way above average for the genre. There are also plenty of nice scares.

If your idea of a horror is lots of explicit gore this film is not for you - although there is enough to keep the less gore obsessed fan on the edge of their seat. The focus is spread across 4 very different sets of characters most of whom you wouldn't usually see in a horror film. The exception are the young teenagers who decide to break into their school, in order to investigate two murders that occurred in the school's basement the year prior. This story is exactly what you might expect - and no worse for it - but the other stories are all great. I can't say any more as I think this film is best watched without expectations and definitely without spoilers.

A nice Christmas treat!

What the Dickens!? This ain't no joyous carol!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 26 December 2020]

To me, watching a Christmas-themed horror movie during the most wonderful time of the year is more traditional than eating a stuffed turkey, hanging stockings on the chimney, or turning off the radio when Mariah Carey starting whining. Since you can't keep watching the obvious classics ("Black Christmas", "Silent Night, Deadly Night", ...) year after year, we luckily have been blessed with a couple of awesome new holiday-horror in the past decade. "Krampus" was great, "Better Watch Out" was surprisingly formidable, and also this "A Christmas Horror Story" turned out to be a pleasantly horrific experience. This film is pretty much the Christmas equivalent of what "Trick 'r Treat" was for Halloween, and I happen to love that movie as well!

"A Christmas Horror Story" unfolds as an anthology, but the separate tales do not follow each other like usually the case. Instead, they are interwoven and very loosely connected to each other via character links and the fact they all take place in the wider area of a little village named Bailey Downs. As a sort of thin wraparound story, the mighty William Shatner also appears as a local radio DJ during the interludes.

The quality level of the individual segments differs enormously. Personally, I didn't like the tale of the three students privately investigating an unresolved double-murder case in the catacombs of their school. The denouement is fairly grim, I admit, but the whole thing felt too much like the set-up for a lousy found-footage flick. The chapter with the dysfunctional family encountering Krampus has loads of potential, but the running time is too short to properly deep dive into the fascinating folklore of the creature. The makers of this film probably didn't know that, almost simultaneously, writer/director Michael Dougherty was working on a long feature "Krampus" movie. I quite liked the story of a couple witnessing how their young son behaves increasingly strange and menacing after he went temporarily missing during the family's illegal search for a Christmas three in a private forest. The tale contains a few very effective shock moments and the underlying tension between the husband and wife is quite unsettling. But the masterwork of "A Christmas Horror Story" is undeniably the tale where Father Christmas (the aptly cast George Buza) must fiercely battle his own elves, because they turned into ravenous zombies. This chapter is funny, original and exhilarating, and that was before I was even aware of the awesome twist-ending.

Just..no

[AnnTWillis · 1/10 · 20 December 2018]

The only good thing about this film was the Norman storyline and you had to wait through so much other crap to get to the decent storyline. William Shatner was THE best part and the biggest reason for watching it. After watching the other Krampus movie we were hoping to find a fun kind of thrilling Christmas film, but this was just another horror film using Christmas as the backdrop-getting a good deal of the folklore wrong on top of that AND not really tying everything together! I wish I would have used those 99mins to watch a good film.