One Hell of a Christmas
(2002)
review by Suspiriorum

One Hell of a Christmas was not originally intended to be a feature length film, but a 20 minute short shot by Shaky Gonzalez on video whilst he was waiting for the funding for his next film to appear. When a producer with the money to turn it into a feature later approached him, he accepted.

Carlitos is released from jail, determined to go straight in order to reconcile with his wife & his 5 year-old son. However, a friend brings to him a mysterious claw of some mystical power, & before Carlitos knows it, he’s caught up in a mess of drugs, demons & possessed cuddly toys.

The film may have been shot on a low budget on video, but it still looks terrific. The cinematography is quite gorgeous, looking quite a bit better than certain films made with significantly larger budgets. Indeed, the amount of time it took to set the lighting up took away any time saved by shooting on video. Shaky’s direction is superb, knowing when to pull back & leave things to our imagination, & when to shoot forward for so gag-filled thrills. He shows a great understanding of camera placing & movement in the creation of tension. This is a very promising film, particularly to have been made on such a low budget – I could compare it maybe to The Evil Dead or Bad Taste. In fact, it’s not quite as good as those films, largely due to the large number of references to other films. There is arguably not quite inventiveness that is unique to this film. There are tons of references, particularly The Evil Dead – with even a reworking of the famous hurtling "spirit" POV shots – but there are nods to everything from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to spaghetti westerns, & the result is perhaps a little too derivative. However, it is also enormous fun, with a neat sense of humour – the things that get possessed show a perfect sense of the ridiculous that keeps everything in the horror comedy scene. Indeed, One Hell of a Christmas isn’t really very scary. But then I don’t think that it was exactly meant to be.

In addition, there’s a pretty fine score, written by two composers, using effective orchestral-style synths & some acoustic guitar work, that helps to keep the suspense going very well. The performance are all pretty good too. Nothing absolutely amazing, but they enter into the fun spirit of the film, & it’s all the better for it. It may be just me, but I thought that the lead actor looks a little like a Mexican Bruce Willis in his vest. Overall, One Hell of a Christmas is a very entertaining, fun little comedy horror that deserves to get a cult following. Think that Evil Dead II is too mainstream? Then you’ll love this. Personally I can’t dislike a film that features a man being attacked by an evil looking possessed Santa doll.