Film Review: Scary Santa (short film) (2014)

SYNOPSIS:

Set on Christmas Eve, a young girl awakens to the sound of Santa in her living room. What she finds standing there is something she can barely comprehend. And she doesn’t have time to, either…

REVIEW:

At just 90 seconds long, this has got to be one of the briefest horror shorts that I’ve ever reviewed! What is amazing is how it still manages to pack a punch that even some feature lengths can’t muster. It taps into everyone’s inner child and the excitement that they feel around Christmas at the thought of gifts coming their way, luring the viewers into a false sense of security.

This is the moment when the film turns into a nightmare, and I feel like the brevity of it works in Scary Santa’s favour. A sudden shock that occurs and then disappears again before anyone has any time to comprehend what has happened!

It begins as a young girl hears noises coming from the chimney on Christmas Eve and so she sneaks out of bed to go and investigate. As opposed to finding a cheerful old man delivering presents however, she finds something much more sinister, otherworldly even. The visuals and sounds both enhance the creepy element to this film, as I found that I wanted to look and not look at the same time – so, much respect to Dionysis & Manos Atzarakis for putting this together.

Why not get into the Christmas spirit and check out Scary Santa then? My advice would be not to watch it right before bedtime though…especially on Christmas Eve! Just remember, there’s a reason that you’re not supposed to see Santa Claus…