A Review of ‘A Very Flattened Christmas’: A sometimes side-splitting slasher
A group of friends struggle to uncover the identity of a ruthless and oddly-disguised serial killer while he bumps them off one at a time.
‘A Very Flattened Christmas’: A sometimes side-splitting slasher
Cast: Key Tawn Toothman, Trevor Vincent Farney, Mark Mannette, Mark D. Anderson, Jesse Bailey, Shanna Berry, John Doornbos, Lucas Farney, Noah Farney, Blaine Frazier, Beckie Jenek, Lexx, Paula Makar, Kaemie McCanless, Naythan Smith
Critic’s Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
Director: Shane Wallace
Duration: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Genre: Horror/Comedy/Mystery/Thriller
Language: English
Release: 2024
What’s it about?
A group of friends struggle to uncover the identity of a ruthless and oddly-disguised serial killer while he bumps them off one at a time.
Review:
Viewers are in for an unusual blend of gory horror and droll humour set during an eventful Christmas Eve. Yes, A Very Flattened Christmas is guaranteed to evoke a fair amount of gasps and giggles. While the alternation of gushing blood and melodramatic hijinks may be off-putting at times, this offbeat flick remains watchable for the most part. It’s a celluloid outing that also strives to pose as a murder mystery and a whodunit, populated with some oddball characters that carry the narrative through to a decidedly bizarre and implausible end. Though there are instances where the audiences won’t know whether to cringe or cackle, this is a mostly satisfying parody of horror films.
The movie opens with a bleeding J (Naythan Smith) clutching a bag of marijuana while being hunted down and fatally lacerated by a shovel-wielding man dressed in goat's clothing. At a most irregular memorial service for the deceased, we are introduced to most of the cast. This includes the comically intense Dale (Mark Mannette), the morose Max (Key Tawn Toothman), his sweet old flame Maddie (Kaemie McCanless), the paranoid Dan (Trevor Vincent Farney), the profane and pompous Rick (Jesse Bailey), his sidekicks, and the congenial Mohawk-donning Stewart (John Doornbos). Dale and his goofy wife Jerry-Ann (Beckie Jenek) pursue a profitable job at clearing out wild animals killed by highway vehicles. Assisting them is the loud-mouthed Lorribell (Laura Makar), who suddenly goes missing.
Meanwhile, Rick and his cronies gate-crash an office party thrown by Dale and the others, where Dan expounds on his premonitions of more bloodshed. Surely enough, Rick and his two buddies are sliced open with the needle of suspicion turning towards Dan. Assigned to the case, Detective Bradley (Mark D. Anderson) and his partner Francine (Shanna Berry) begin investigations and interrogations. More mutilated dead bodies start turning up as all the people involved start fearing for their lives. Who could be the mysterious serial killer? The person in question also gets his (or her) jollies by abducting some of his victims and subjecting them to creative forms of torture. With time running out, who will blow her (or his) cover and solve the mystery?
Fans of the horror/mystery/thriller/crime genres are bound to notice certain scenes and dialogue that are tributes to such classics as Fargo (1996), Seven (1995) and the Halloween, Friday the Thirteenth and Hostel franchises. Several scenes are effectively embossed with eerie versions of popular Christmas songs. But the acting occasionally falls flat, especially considering most characters aren’t supposed to be taken seriously. Brief interludes of a movie-within-the-movie, about a super-hero out to save Christmas from a villain with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice, enhance the film’s tongue-in-cheek tone.
Director Shane Wallace tries hard to translate his whacky script (co-written with Key Tawn Toothman) to screen, with moderate success. While the duo make a sincere attempt at fleshing out their characters well, they could have striven for a more compelling denouement. However, they do dish out some fairly intriguing revelations. Yet, offsetting intense scenes with instances of endeavoured levity or randomness don’t always work, leaving the viewer more puzzled than amused. On the whole though, here is a slasher film that for a good deal of the time, will keep the audience… in splits.
