Mrs. Claus

 

Mrs. Claus it opens up with an initiation that ultimately pushes a sorority sister too far, and ends up in a murder.

That is however, just to set up and we Flash Forward years later where her sister Danielle is pledging the same sorority and getting ready for this year‘s Christmas party.
(having just re-watched black Christmas, I gotta say, this is where the budget starts to show… Because it doesn’t look like a sorority house. Rather it just looks like the normal house somebody’s living in. It really is a difference.)

And then, Danielle is a threatening email from someone identifying cells as “Mrs. Claus“.

The slutty one gets it first with a garrote out of Christmas lights. It’s not a huge impact considering we were just introduced to her about two minutes ago after she rolled off a guy. Nevertheless, it’s a nice clever kill and a good start.

Around that same time the mother of one of the dead girls shows up… And it’s some coincidental timing isn’t it? Feels like we got a Friday the 13th situation going on here.

The decorations are all set up for tonight‘s Christmas party and Brinke Stevens is out there as a security person patrolling the streets, but Mrs. Claus is already inside the house. Her victims get a text before she shows up and spills their blood in a bad rubber mask. However, she’s about to have a whole new crop of victims as the front boys are about to arrive, ready to get smashed in the name of Santa!

While one of the frat boy guests complains about the very existence of sororities and how hazing leads to murderous behavior – do we have another killer suspect here? – Bring Stevens shows up to let the party know that our first girl did not ever make it home. It’s a buzz kill and starts to shake the party apart.(although I have to admit, I laughed at the one frat boy’s theory that serial killers like Freddy and Jason don’t go after ugly people… I just watched Friday the 13th part three last night, and I assure you, Jason totally goes after ugly people in that one). Separating them up is a good thing though, because it gives Mrs. Claus a chance to shank the whiny one with a large candy cane. 

Down in the basement, a couple of them are getting baked and talking about how the elves in North Pole probably have the best weed. Seriously, this movie has the best small talk.

To be fair though, they’ve got some pretty good kills as well. Somebody’s mixing up some nice looking blood… Dark and thick. They know enough not to linger on the kills, and give us more than enough banter to make us care about these characters. Indeed, the rest of the guests upstairs are sharing the worst Christmas dinner story ever… And it just feels like the sort of party I want to hang out at. Younger sister tells a little bit about how that Christmas was… The year her sister died. It gives an interesting perspective on the effects of horror movie murder has on the rest of the family. There’s no Christmas presents, instead there’s visitation and a funeral. 

Of course, this year, there’s text messages and murder. The image of Mrs. Claus coming for you in the dark is actually fairly effective, and a shot of earbuds dangling, with blood dripping down from them, it’s all really nice imagery. They work the creep factor and that, in addition to the creative kills on a low budget definitely make this film worth watching!

Two last thoughts, Brinke Stevens is in this a whole lot more than you expect. It’s a supporting role, but more than a cameo just to get a credit on the box cover. And second, we do get a twist at the end… And it’s not the one you expect. This thing is definitely worth spending 86 minutes of yueltide cheer on.

Advertisement