“Christmas Bloody Christmas” is senseless slasher mayhem at its worst. Now, it is up to you to decide if that’s what you like or not. In terms of a slasher movie, this one struggle to establish the slasher nature that we have come to expect from such movies. This is because there is no human element in the antagonist. Memorable slashers like “Black Christmas,” “Scream” and “Child’s Play” all had it. That is what elevates the mayhem. “Christmas Bloody Christmas,” owing to its concept of a mechanical Santa gone rogue, which is basically what happened with Skynet in the “Terminator” franchise, doesn’t hit the spot despite being relevant to the current times, i.e., technology and its purpose. Another reason, which is the more plausible reason for the film’s inability to qualify as a true-to-form slasher, is the negligible presence of horror. Granted that there is no real horror in slasher movies as much as there is fright and dread, this movie doesn’t have it. However, it is Christmas time, so why not have a bloody one for the sake of being a film buff? Ho! Ho! Ho!
Spoilers Ahead
‘Christmas Bloody Christmas’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
The US Department of Defense has developed cutting-edge robot technology that is primarily used as a weapon overseas. Sowell Robotic Products, however, has found a better use for it and used the technology to develop Robo Santa Plus, a robot that has replaced the regular mall Santa and is aimed to offer security along with fun and joy to families on Christmas. However, due to some issues, Robo Santa Plus has been recalled and is being taken back by the company. Christmas is knocking on the door. Tori (Riley Dandy), a record store owner and her employee/friend Robbie (Sam Delich) are celebrating Christmas. They have a great time talking about their favorite bands, films, and everyday curriculum. They then head to a friends’ shop with Lahna and Jay nearby before ending up in a live bar. It is this friends’ store that has a Robo Santa Plus that suddenly comes to life and kills Lahna and Jay before going into a killing spree. It follows and tracks down Tori and Robbie, leaving everyone else in the town and going after them. Will they be able to survive Robo Santa Plus? “Christmas Bloody Christmas” has the answer.
Bad Santa
There is always something about traditionally beloved entities that makes them horrifying, as films have proven. Take, for example, “Child’s Play,” where we had a doll as the creepy killer. Again, in “It,” we have a clown. Not to forget, one of the greatest antagonists of all time is a clown, the Joker. There are many films where dolls and clowns (even clown masks) have been used as horror elements. In the same way, “Christmas Bloody Christmas” is another take on a beloved character turned scary, our very own Santa Claus. It may sound like an overstatement, but “Christmas Bloody Christmas” does provide a different perspective on something that we hold very near and dear. Considering Santa Claus is a figure of legendary status, often associated with Saint Nicholas, who was also known for his secret gifting habit, the film bizarrely turns him into a bad person. It poses the eternal question: What if the person we have grown up loving tries to kill us? Replace Santa with your mother or father, and things immediately stop making sense, just like the movie itself. Maybe the creators didn’t want to take this too far and thus opted for a robotic Santa instead of a human Santa. When people see a robot malfunctioning, they accept it as a technical error and, despite the graveness of the outcome, accept the loss, learn to live with it, and eventually move on. However, a human Santa Claus running around killing people will certainly not be taken as a human error but as a crime. That’s when even “Ho! Ho! Ho!” will become scary. Well, keeping in mind that it is, after all, a Robo-Santa, science takes the hit and not humanity. This brings us to the next topic.
Is Man His Greatest Enemy?
Even though we said that science takes a hit, we also have to remember that science is a product of humanity. Artificial intelligence gone haywire is something that we have all seen in films, e.g., “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Down,” “Transcendence,” “The Terminator,” “Westworld,” and even “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” to name only a few. “Christmas Bloody Christmas” is another take on this concept but from a slasher perspective. The technology used to build Robo Santa was primarily a defense strategy for the US Government to defend itself against enemies overseas. Naturally, when Sowell Robotic Products got its hands on the technology, it decided to maximize its profit by offering security to homeowners during Christmas. However, the company didn’t consider what could go wrong and hence ended up making a killing machine that was bent on securing itself and its surroundings by killing people in its vicinity. Now, wait for a second and think. If this Robo Santa did become self-aware, it could create an army of its own and declare war against humanity. So maybe, before creating such robots that are based on intelligence that is entirely their own or, in this case, programmed to provide security, the manufacturers should take into consideration the things that could go wrong and work on fail-safe protocols as well. As we have seen in “Christmas Bloody Christmas,” what takes only an axe for a robot requires fire, electricity, and explosions for humans, and none of these are really user-friendly.
Do Tori And Robbie Survive The Attack Of Robo-Santa?
Robbie doesn’t survive Christmas, and Tori wouldn’t have either had it not been for her will to survive and not give in to her fear. However, it takes her a lot to destroy Robo Santa Plus but she is finally able to electrocute the robot and it blows up into pieces. Leaving aside the destruction of the robot, the movie seems to show that mankind’s creations can cause havoc that might take a long time to clean up. And it is mankind that will have to bear the consequences. On a lighter note, Christmas Bloody Christmas is a watchable slasher, but only if you take it at face value. There is no logic, and especially no motivation, which some may find irritating. It is always more effective to see a killer with a motive than one who kills just for the sake of it because where’s the fun in that?
“Christmas Bloody Christmas” is a 2022 horror thriller film by Joe Begos.
