Movie time! Movie time! Movie time! That’s what happens when one family’s Christmas of gift-giving gets interrupted by a stranded stranger. He won’t let the camera stop recording, especially when he pulls a gun on them and forces them to watch his collection of found footage horror films. He calls these films The Christmas Tapes and for good reason as their holiday cheer will definitely lift your body from its soul..
Blame the VW bug he rode in on, but this sick stranger is not going anywhere . . . at first it’s at the family’s insistence but then - when things go dark - there’s no getting rid of this guy, who insists on making the next Christmas classic film himself . . . even if he has to hold his audience hostage.
It’s Christmas Eve and the family at the center of this tale is opening one selected gift. Their daughter, Rachelle, gets a digital camera to further her film journey with and proceeds to hit record, documenting their get-together and the super weird guy who has hijacked their celebration.
But things go south when she steps out of the bathroom and is forced to watch a series of found footage horror tales this stranger has assembled for them. Welcome to Robert Livings and Randy Nundlall Jr.'s Christmas-Horror Anthology The Christmas Tapes, which definitely brings the Christmas creep into your home, parking it beneath the tree for this holiday season.
Dave Sheridan (The Devil’s Rejects), Greg Sestero (The Room), and Vernon Wells (The Road Warrior) star in a yuletide frightfest like no other as folk tales designed to make kids behave come to life right before our eyes in this movie within a movie. First up, is Travel Buggies which ends on a high note thanks to what it summoned, followed by The Christmas Gifts (which definitely gives a little back, as it were) in which Santa Claus gets his jollies by seeking revenge on the manager who fired him, and then The Christmas Spirit, in which one young couple, moving into their new home, finds themselves in the middle of a supernatural possession which cannot be ignored this Christmas season - even if they don’t even have their furniture yet.
Filled with bloody stocking stuffers and a great sense of humor which overcomes a lot of its budgetary shortcomings, The Christmas Tapes is a whole lot of fun. This horror Christmas anthology is the type of throwback flick that few filmmakers are interested in making anymore, which adds to its overall appeal. The film doesn’t take itself seriously as it embraces what made the horror films of the 80's and 90's, but with a modern found-footage twist as each film relies on that subgenre kick.
Merry f@#%in’ Christmas, ya filthy f@#%s! Terror Films will release The Christmas Tapes worldwide on digital December 12th. Here’s hoping you enjoy this box full of videotapes, too.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 110 mins
Director: Robert Livings; Randy Nundlall Jr.
Writer: Robert Livings; Randy Nundlall Jr.
Cast: Dave Sheridan; Vernon Wells; Greg Sestero
Genre: Horror
Tagline: The Gifts That Keep on Killing.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Terror Films
Official Site:
Release Date: December 12, 2022
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: a family's movie night on Christmas Eve is interrupted by a stranger, insistent on making the next Christmas 'classic' film himself.
