Once upon a Time at Christmas (2017)
Genre: Horror
Duration: 97 minuten
Alternative title: Er Was Eens met Kerstmis
Country:
United Kingdom
Directed by: Paul Tanter
Stars: Laurel Brady, Simon Phillips and Jeff Ellenberger
IMDb score:
3,7 (946)
Releasedate: 26 November 2017
Once upon a Time at Christmas plot
A couple dressed in Christmas clothes sow death and destruction in a New York village during the days before Christmas. The pair commit horrific murders that appear to be random. However, a group of people, including a student and a police officer, discover that the murders are committed according to a pattern. Now it's up to them to stop the mad duo.
Reviews & comments
Onderhond
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- 87698 messages
- 13092 votes
Very mediocre.
Once upon a Time at Christmas is a film that tries to fill a gap. Every year there are a few decent horror films that take on the Christmas theme, but the choice is not exactly overwhelming. Ideal for a smaller director to throw his film away.
This film is mainly a slasher with a strong focus on police work, apart from Crazy Santa himself there is certainly not much horror in it. The acting is rather dramatic, visually very poor. Some drone shots should give the film a slightly more expensive look, but above all ensure that the contrast with the rest is even more noticeable.
The bad guy may still be reasonable, but he doesn't have much to do. Look a bit crazy and chop with the axe, it is not very original, not very brutal or exciting and the plot behind the film is not immediately very inviting.
But the biggest headscratcher is that a sequel is already planned ... for 2019. However, Tanter is a good filmmaker and these types of films write themselves, so December 2018 should be easily feasible. However, one look at Tanter's IMDb page (with about 7 projects in various states of completion) already provides the answer.
As said, it fills a gap, it doesn't do that very well, but around Christmas and when you're looking for a thematic horror, there just isn't much choice.
2.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Noodless
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- 10095 messages
- 6206 votes
The first part is still doable and leaves you hoping for more. Unfortunately after that it all goes downhill in all areas. However, it starts off great with a number of kills and the murderous Christmas duo are still fun to watch. But then things go completely wrong. The acting starts to bother, the cool kills don't happen, the crappy story starts to ramble even more and the ending is annoying because the film ends at a moment when something was still about to happen. A sequel seems to be in the works, which apparently is true. 4/10
Translated from Dutch · View original
Shadowed
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- 11670 messages
- 6867 votes
Director Paul Tanter promotes his horror film as pure bloodshed, but in retrospect this is more of a detective thriller with a number of explicit acts of violence to continuously increase the pace. Fortunately, it turns out to be more interesting than you would think, since the chopping duo is designed in such an idiotic way that as a viewer you mainly wait for the slightly more normal characters and situations. A lot of twists towards the finale and the forced emphasis on eccentric character design have no effect, but the structure is fascinating and the two agents act very well. That makes a playing time of 97 minutes considerably more bearable and Tanter also does its best visually. Of course it is all cheaply made, but the camera work looks well thought out and the environments are beautifully chosen. However, this does not alter the fact that a lot of cast members absolutely cannot act (Sayla de Goede in particular) and quite a few horror moments are too limited in terms of practical effects.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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