Thursday, October 19, 2017

'Red Christmas' BD/DVD/VOD: Horrific Aborted Plan for Family Celebration


Artsploitation Films offers a genuine nightmare before Christmas regarding the October 17, 2017 DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD releases of the future cult-classic 2016 Australian horror film "Red Christmas" that stars family-friendly scream queen Dee Wallace of "E.T." fame. The simple premise of this movie is that widow Diane (Wallace) gathers her adult children for one last Christmas celebration at her Outback estate before selling it. All of us with real or reel experience regarding these reunions know that they involve plenty of horror even without one of the present psychos being armed.

The following YouTube clip of a theatrical trailer for "Red" highlights the bright lights and dark humor of this film.


Flashbacks establish that monster Cletus is an actual garbage pail kid in that he is rescued from a trash can following an abortion procedure that roughly concurs with pro-lifers attacking the clinic.  We later meet the Elephant Man like Cletus as a cloaked, physically deformed adult with a creepy lisp. His early efforts to find birth mother Diane resulting in his being peed on surely contributes to his being p.o.ed when he arrives at Chez Diane bearing guilt.

The Christmas spirit compels Diane to invite this urine-soaked freak into house until the party goes out of bounds.

The ensuing mayhem looks great in Blu-ray as Cletus has Christmas stalkings for all against the backdrop of the gorgeous house and colorful holiday decorations. As publicity for the film points out, the entertainment value in these films relates to the creative ways in which the carnage occurs. Highlights include a scene that warrants referring to one sibling as a half sister and another that justifies commenting about a hare out of place. The latter also serves as a nice homage to E.T.

Things take a particularly nasty turn when Diane son Jerry, who has Down's Syndrome, develops sympathy for the devil. This creates suspense regarding the extent to which this offspring will switch teams.

The final showdown does have surprises and leaves the door open for a sequel.

The copious Blu-ray bonus features include writer/director Craig Anderson interviewing Wallace, bloopers, and a deleted scene.

Anyone with questions regarding "Red" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvvdguy.











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